A Legacy of Souls: Execute the World
by Medigo
Summary: The world is ever changing, and dueling changes with it. They have finally come to the point where they can create their own world, inside the reality of the dueling network. There the artificial meets the real. But not everything sticks to their program. What starts as small glitches soon grows into chaos, and the duelists are caught in the middle of a terrifying revolution.
1. Link To the New World

_Author's note:_

_Due to the visual way in which duels and link monsters work and the limits of text, I have had to insert a small workaround.  
__Each monster summoned and, when important for the duel, set spells and traps will have their current zone listed alongside their stats.  
__The Layout of the field is this. The first turn duelist always taking the top rows, the second duelist the bottom rows. Each column being numbered by its zone._

_[Zone 1][Zone2][Zone3][Zone 4][Zone 5]_

_[_] [Extra Zone 1] [_] [Extra Zone 2] [_]_

_[Zone 1][Zone2][Zone3][Zone 4][Zone 5]_

_I hope this makes it a little easier to follow._

_(also this chapter will be a little longer to set up a lot stuff)_

**Line 001: Link to the New World**

Technology: everything in this day and age supported itself with technology. When he woke up, he only did so because of the alarm on his terminal. The food he ate in the morning, came out of storage instantly prepared by one machine and the dishes got cleaned by another. The doors opened automatically, the window shudders turned with a simple voice command. Even the park trees across the road outside his window were only maintained by automatons that delivered daily nutrients. To an untrained eye it might look like a normal city from a few decades ago, but the one who lived in this apartment could not unsee the advancements around him. And everywhere he looked, he saw a window into a world of even greater comfort. His phone, his TV, his many terminals and personal mainframe; all of them connected to the global net with countless opportunities for anonymous lifestyles. No matter where he went on the planet, he could always become someone else with the push of a button. And with the invention of a special headset, he could be somewhere else.

The makers called it the Synthetic Reality Dueling Network, the players often nicknamed it STHEREA or the Dune. For a price, and a few small details like your mail address and birth date, one could create an link into this new world. The Transcend set would create a forcefield around your body to protect you and immerse you into the network. Out there you were just a man. In here you were a duelist, a beginner or master of the kind of games card game. You started with nothing but a pack of cards and a basic yet customizable avatar. From there you could go wherever you wanted. The world of STHEREA started out small, yet more and more areas were added overtime. Castles, mountains, seas, islands; whole regions existed for the players to duel or do quests in: fighting each other or virtual opponents. It was still a limited space, comparable to a small state. Not everything existed for everyone everywhere at once either. But unlike in the real world, everything existed for a reason, there was no chaos. And He was at peace with that, he who called himself 'Void' in this world, wanted nothing more.

This world looked and felt good enough to fool the human eye, like a dream made real. Yet one could never see these kinds of massive structures or monsters in the same place where you worked, ate and slept. There was a certain visual quality to this network that told the brain that everything was still fake. In the end everything came through a virtual lens anyway. It was not your body that walked these paths, no matter how much it looked like your true self. And the image you created could not stray far away from who you were outside of STHEREA, or at least not from your mental self-image. (Though turning yourself into a dragon or ten foot all giant was still sadly impossible). He himself chose to match his avatar with his real appearance, with short black hair, green eyes and a standard male body. The avatar linked with the mind, to allow the user full interactivity with the created setting. You just jumped right in, depending on which map coordinates or name you chose to enter. Quickjump: the ability to teleport anywhere you wanted was a blessing. New sectors were added to this world every month, eliminating the concept of borders all-together. And nobody would want to travel the distance the realistic way, nobody had to.

Right now, there was just one place to load up if you were a true duelist anyway. The royal capitol: a medieval-styled city with charming cobblestone streets, small shops, large walls and a giant castle at the center. It had no name, it simply served as one of the hub worlds of the network where duelists from around the world could gather. And this already busy location became extra populated once the company that created this world; Exeter, announced they were doing a special event for charity. The best duelists would compete in various challenges within the city to earn rewards and higher rankings. They could take sponsors to raise funds, and earn something on the side as well. This gathered enough interest to draw in thousands, virtually the entire playerbase of STHEREA showed up. And so too of course did he. Void did not care for getting sponsors or real-life currency, but the in-game profits were too tantalizing to pass up. For him all that mattered was dueling as many duelists as he could, to win as many cards as he could.

"?" And the goal was to score the most points by taking on other opponents, a simple enough concept. Void though mostly challenged ADIs, Artificial Dueling Intelligences. They were the NPCs that popped up everywhere, taking the form of famous monster cards. He far preferred the straightforward banter of their kind. They could not say no to a duel either, and would not distract him. Occasionally he would find a human adversary and overcome their deck, but he did not search them out. Perhaps that was not the path to victory, but he did not keep track of his points anyway. However it was on this day, where it all started, that he found a distraction that he simply could not ignore.

"Leave me alone!" He overheard someone cry out. "I said I just wanna watch!" It came from one of the city's sidestreets, a woman shouting. Curiosity and concern took hold and made Void look in their direction. Nobody else seemed to be around, just her and another duelist. Her avatar-body looked plain and grey, just like his. But the one she struggled with whore a fancy set of pearl-white armor and a red cape. Not the most outlandish of outfits you could buy for yourself in STHEREA. Void did not know what his deal was, but this woman clearly did not want any of it. A lot of people just came down here to enjoy the virtual world itself or to see others duel. He did not normally interfere with other people's business, you could not actually get violent with someone else down here. But something made Void want to step up. "Hey! She does not want to duel you! You should.." Yet when he got the attention of this armored assailant, he realized what he was actually looking at... Not a duelist, but a duel monster. "What?"

"What's going on here?" Void wanted to ask. But the woman who got harassed ran off immediately without so much as a thank you. "Figures." At least that disproved his theory about this being a part of the fundraiser somehow. But what did cause the incident then? ADI's were not supposed to behave this way. Void should have recognized this one on the spot, it was the Lightsworn Paladin Jain. Knight and warrior types were common opponents found within the royal capitol. Except they never went out of their way to provoke or even challenge other players. "Who would stop my noble quest?" Jain still spoke in a stilted knightly manner, which would be a part of his pre-programmed script. They could say quite a lot of lines and dynamically adjust their responses. But his movements and actions seemed a bit too dynamic. He jerked around and pointed his sword at Void. "That would be me. What were you doing to her?" The woman got away, he would have to deal with the leftovers. "What I am going to do to you instead! Have at you, lawbreaker!"

"Is that a challenge then?" Void sighed and grabbed his dueldisk. The device could hardly be called a disk these days. Gone were the lanky cumbersome blades and projector that could only project limited lifeless holograms. The game itself would project whatever monsters one summoned, even the cards. Now a disk served only as link to Exeter's card database: a bracelet around one's arm which drew from the digital deck. His took after a classic red-core design without additional touches or decorations In a way he did like it more to physically touch his cards, and he did have a few packs back in his actual home. But perhaps it had been for the best that dueling worldwide shifted to the virtual; trying to build a real life collection proved unsustainable. "Yes, for the crime of interfering with my duties, I challenge you!" The game also decided who would have the first turn unless players came to an agreement beforehand. He would not be getting any with this faulty AI. "Your move then." And the game favored the AI in this way too. At least he might score some points out of this.

Jain's LP: 8000 Void's LP: 8000 -TURN 01-

"The first of turns shall be mine!" The scrupulous knight disregarded his opponent and materialized his cards in front of him just like Void did, except one carried a unique quality that his lacked. "I add my Skill as well!" Usually each duelist would start with five cards from their deck. "Of course you do." Void's opponent instead drew four cards, and one from his skill pool. Skill cards were a special class of cards, whose effects ranged from simple to outlandishly complex. Each AI carried at least one; a prize to be won through their defeat. "But of course! To defeat my enemies with nothing less than my full power would be too grave an insult!" At the start of a duel, one could decide to limit their handsize by drawing their skill card as their fifth card instead. Such cards were visually transparent and could only be used once a duel. This option was available to player characters as well. "Well, you do what you must." And yet Void opted not to follow Jain's lead. All five of his cards were drawn from his deck. "And you would not? Hah! Your confidence shall be your downfall!" Now the duel could truly commence.

"I activate the spell of Solar Recharge!" Jain shouted as he tapped the floating card in the middle of his 'hand', flipping it around to reveal a spell. "By discarding one of my fellow Lightsworn, I can draw twofold!" One more card, Jain the Twilightsworn Fighter, disappeared while two new ones were added to his hand. "And Solar Recharge shall also dismiss cards from the top of my deck in equal measure!" His recharging card discarded two more Lightsworn monster cards (Lumina the Twilightsworn Shaman & Lumina the Lightsworm Summoner). "No surprises there." Void smirked None of these ADIs used anything outside of their toolbox. "Verily!" The paladin continued by tapping two more cards in his hand. They shifted to a face-down horizontal position before him. "I shall set these cards, before I end my turn!" One card was placed down as a monster, while the other was set behind it as a trap card. Void noted their positions; both on the very left end of the field [Zone 5]. "Now show me what colors you wield, interloper!"

-TURN 02-

"Oh? I am the interloper? Is that right? I believe you have that backwards." Void glanced to his side, at the spot where the woman used to be. Was she the only one getting attacked? Or did this happen elsewhere too? "You are the one acting out of sorts. And whether that's a bug or a feature, I don't plan to back down now! I normal summon Balancer Lord in face-up attack position!" Before Void appeared his monster; a cybernetic sword and shieldbearer(4/1700/1200) [Zone 4]. His faceless head was framed by a three-spiked helmet and his transparent body armored with neon-lined and red crystal studded metal. "Cyberse? What bizarre creatures." Jain seemed perplexed. Understandable, given that the Cyberse were a brand new series of cards developed for this virtual world alone. "I did not know you could develop a taste for types. Well, I like them. You will know his effect at least. Balancer Lord allows me to summon one more Cyberse monster, by paying 1000 of my own lifepoints! And I shall summon Cyberse Wizard!"

Void's LP: 7000

The Cyberse employed a wide variety of classes in their database, including magicians like the greenhaired wizard (4/1800/800) [Zone 3] in futuristic white robes, complete with pointed hat. "Let's go! The battle phase!" Void began his assault, seeking out his one target. "I attack your face-down!" The wizard fired pulses of light from his wand to shatter the card that the paladin had hidden. Its true appearance was revealed during that battle. "You have fallen for my trap, oh orthodox one!" It was a white wolf(2/200/100) wrapped in a black and gold coat. "When Ryko the Twilightsworn Fighter has flipped, he can banish one of your monsters by banishing a Lightsworn comrade from our grave!" Ryko's flip effect went off just before its destruction. "Tsk." And Jain chose to banish his namesake, the Twilightsworn General, from his graveyard. In return one of Voids monsters was stabbed by a red dagger held within the beast's jaws: Cyberse Wizard. "Oh?" He succumbed to his wounds and vanished in an intense flash. Yet Balancer Lord was spared. "In that case, I'll end it with a direct attack!" The other cyberse monster swept his sword through the opponent, taking of a decent chunk of Jain's lifepoints down with it.

Jain's LP: 6300

"Ugh. You cannot trick me, interloper. I knew you would use your Lord's power if I dared to banish it instead of the Wizard." Jain gave his reasoning after he recovered from the hit. "Well at least your logic still seems functional." Balancer Lord possessed a second effect, which allowed its user to special summon one Cyberse monster from their hand if it was ever banished. It made sense that Jain would rather take a direct hit, than deal with whatever Void could have waiting in his hand. "But the name is Void. Not interloper." Meanwhile, as smart as they were.. ADIs were still limited enough to not bother remembering the name of each human opponent they faced. Still made them pleasant enough to talk too, just to see what sentences they strung together. "I shall set a card to end my turn."

-TURN 03-

"Ha! You will not win with faint praise. Not once I show to you the full glory of our light!" The AI drew his next card and activated a spell card: March of the Dark Brigade. "My Dark Brigade spell banished four cards from my deck, after I choose one of my fallen Twilightsworn comrades to add to my hand!" For that sizeable cost, the dark march returned Lumina the Twilightsworn Shaman. And Jain wasted no time in normal summoning her. "Come forth, Shaman Lumina!" A tan and blonde woman(3/1000/1000) [Zone 5) leaped down unto the pavement, her usually white dress now further adorned with the twilight colored cloak. "Lumina can return one of her kin from the banished realm, by banishing another who rests in the graveyard!" Jain quickly used Lumina's effect: banishing Ryko the Fighter to revive the very card that beast had banished. "Come, my own brother sworn to the day and night! Jain the Twilightsworn General!" Jain's twilight counterpart(4/1800/1200) [Zone 4) was special summoned in attack mode. Just like Lumina, he hid his holy silver armor behind a dark cape. "Now, behold! I activate my skill: Twilight Reaper! And it targets your monster!" Unexpectedly, Balancer Lord was wrapped from head to toe in a black and gold cloth. Its effect... was rewritten.

"Now, behold! I activate my skill: Twilight Reaper! And it targets your monster!" Unexpectedly, Balancer Lord was wrapped from head to toe in a black and gold cloth. Its effect... was rewritten. "Okay. That one is new." This skill was treating his monster like it was something else entirely.. "Yes. For this turn, whenever I discard cards from my deck. You must do the same! Allow me to demonstrate!" Jain now activated the effect of the card Jain. "The General of Twilight banishes another fallen comrade, to reduce your monsters attackpower!" Said effect removed the Lightsworn Summoner Lumina from the graveyard, and stole 300 attackpoints from Balancer Lord for each of Lumina's level stars. As the Summoner was a level 3 monster, Balancer Lord(800/1200) lost 900 attackpoints

_Twilight Reaper, SKILL Card  
__Target 1 monster, until the end of the turn, that monsters effect becomes "when an opponent's card effect sends a card(s) from their Deck to the Graveyard, send the same number of cards from your Deck to the Graveyard."_

"Now, when another Lightsworn monsters effect activates, the Twilightsworn can discard cards from my deck! Lumina will discard three and Jain will discard two!" Jains weakening effect triggered Lumina's milling effect, which subsequently looped back to Jain as it triggered his milling effect. Overall, five cards were cut from the top of the ADI's deck. "Which means I have to discard five cards too." Void was about to comply, when.. "Wrong!" .. his opponent activated his continuous trap. "You have to discard eleven! I activate The Light of Destruction! Now you must discard three more cards each time you discard a card through your own effect!" The trap amplified Balancer Lord's own deck destruction, Void lost eleven cards in one move. "Pinned down from both sides."

"This is just the beginning!" Jain shouted as he suddenly pulled card from his graveyard. Of the five cards that he discarded (Jain the Lightsworn Paladin, Wulf the Lightsworn Beast, Lightsworn Sanctuary, Twilight Eraser, Punishment Dragon), two could be activated again from the graveyard. "Wulf the Lightsworn Beast is special summoned, thanks to him being removed from the deck by another Lightsworn!" The first, a golden axe wielding white wolfman(4/2100/300) [Zone 2] helped himself out of the grave. The second would help someone else. "And when Twilight Eraser lands in the grave, it may summon one Lightsworn from my hand! Lyla the Twilightsworn Enchantress!" The fourth member of the twilight brigade was another spellcaster, the darkhaired witch Lyla(4/1700/200) [Zone 3]. Along with her cloak she also wore a black wizards hat and held a grey staff. "The field has been prepared. The materials are 3 monsters with the same element but different types!" That was when Jain spoke the words Void knew all too well. "A link summon?" This opponent was about summon a Link monster.

Link monsters could be created from any materials as long as they fit the requirements and rating. All Lightsworn carried the LIGHT attribute. So the dueling paladin took a warrior (Jain), a spellcaster (Lumina) and a beastwarrior (Wulf) to link summon a creature with a link rating of 3. The materials transformed into vortices of energy and they connected with an eight-point star grid that materialized before the artificial duelist and was placed in the left extra zone. That was the purpose of the two zones in the middle of the field, that was where monsters summoned from the extra deck would be put after their summoning. "Come, Curious the Lightsworn Dominion!" From that grid the link monster emerged: the holy gold and white-robed cardinal(2400/LINK 3) of the Lightsworn. Link monsters possessed no defense points and could not be summoned in defense mode. Instead they were surrounded by their link markers, arrows that pointed to other zones on the field. In the case of Dominion {Downleft/Down/Downright} [Extra Zone 1], one of its markers pointed at another monster: Lyla the Enchantress. The two were now linked. But that was not all Curious could do. "When Curious is link summoned, it can send one card from anywhere in my deck to the grave!" The Lightsworn duelist looked through his already thin deck and found a spell. "I choose Twilight Twin Dragons!"

"Interesting." If there was one thing Artificial duelists were good at, it was planning ahead. However, he was no slouch in this area either. So he could now see the horrifying full scope of Jains strategy. "When Twilight Twin Dragons is sent to the grave by a Lightsworn! I may take Punishment Dragon back from my grave, by banishing four cards from the top of my deck!" The spell started it all, the twins of judgment of punishment waited in the grave and the latter was pulled back. At the same time, Lyla used her own effects. "When a spell activates while Lyla is on my field, she can destroy one of your spells or traps! Though she needs to banish another fallen Lightsworn to do so!" The enchantress removed Wulf from his grave, so that she could destroy Voids sole trap card. And of course, like her twilight brethren, Lyla had a selfmilling effect. Back when Curious activated his power, she discarded three cards from Jains deck. But Curious could also discard three cards by himself, whenever a card was sent from the deck to the grave.

Six more discarded cards (three lightsworn, two spells, one trap), three separate discard events; both these numbers meant that Void was forced to let go of 16 more cards. Seven were fed to the skill, nine to the Light of Destruction trap. He was almost dead... "Ah but.. I do still have this!" Almost, but not quite. "Before you destroy my trap, I will activate it! Three-Strike Barrier!" Smirking, Void erected a triple-folded forcefield around Balancer Lord. "What is this?" The paladin stammered; Lyla missed her target. "Three-Strike Barrier can only be used when my opponent controls three cards. It can either defend my lifepoints, or my monster! Now Balancer Lord cannot be destroyed by an attack for the rest of this turn!" Voids opponent luckily controlled just two monsters and one continuous trap. Timing was on his side. "Unbelievable. You will wish you had saved yourself instead!" Undeterred, Jain used the last two cards in his hand. He placed a trap card down and summoned his newly retrieved dragon. "As four or more lightsworn are now banished, I can summon Punishment Dragon! He and his Lightsworn comrades will strike your protected Lord!" Between the spells and monster effects, plenty of Lightsworn were now banished.

Thus the black-feathered and red-clawed great dragon(8/3000/2600) [Zone 4] could take form and linked with the Dominions other marker. "Battle!" Balancer lord faced three attacks. Thanks to the Three-Strike Barrier it endured Lumina's black magic blasts, Curious's holy light flares and Punishment Dragon's crimson flames. "Rgh." Nevertheless, a monster in attack position could not absorb all the battle damage. Void suffered the overflow. "My turn, I presume?" He recovered swiftly. It was not real damage in the end. Though he half expected it to be. "If you so choose! But what can you do now, with your best tools stolen away!" The paladin bragged about his accomplishments for fair reason. In one turn he'd reduced Void's deck to a mere 6 cards. Though its own deck was not so filling anymore either, sitting at an even ten. Punishment Dragon was an issue as well. At any time it could decide to return all non lightsworn cards in the graveyard back to the deck. And Void needed to use some of those this turn.

Void's LP: 2300 -TURN 04-

"You want to know? They do say the network learns from every duel. Well I can already tell you... that you made three mistakes." Despite this, Void retained his positive demeanor. "One: You neglected the tools in my hand. Two: ALL the cards in my deck are helpful. You should not left me with six!" He drew his next card and activated a spell. "I activate the spell, Mind Control!" With a chuckle, Void started the counterattack. "No!" Mind Control took control of an opponents monster for one turn, the Punishment Dragon in this case. It [Zone 2] was placed right next to Storm cipher. "But that monster cannot attack!" The paladin protested. "I know. But what it can be used for.. is a link summon!" And he had removed one problem from the equation. "So we have come to mistake number three: Just because cards are in the graveyard, does not mean they are beyond my reach! I activate Monster Reborn Reborn and special summon one of three monsters from my graveyard! I choose one of your monsters, now you can choose one of mine!"

Void's next spell would take whatever card the enemy chose, and banished the other two choices. As one would expect, the ADI made his decision faster than any human could. "Then bring out your weakest monster!" It settled for a Cyberse that looked like a living data stack(2/100/600) [Zone 5] with glowing eyes and tiny claw-arms. Two other cyberse with more attackpoints were deleted from the proverbial trashbin entirely. "Thank you for choosing." Under the current conditions, Void could finally begin his own linking process. "The materials are 2 effect monsters!" Balancer Lord and Stack Reviver linked into one, creating the grid for a link 2 monster that summoned itself to the other extra monster zone. "Underclock Taker!" It was an upside-down spinning top(1000/LINK 2) {Right/Down} [Extra Zone 2] with three spikes around the sides and a disc for a head. "And when Stack Reviver is used to summon a link monster, it can revive one other monster that was used a link material along with it!" The stack droid used up its memory to bring the Balancer Lord(4/1700/1200) [Zone 4] back to life, and placed it directly underneath UnderClock Taker to link the two.

"Underclock Taker, makes one of your monsters lose attackpoints, equal to the attackpower of a monster it points at!" The Underclock cyberse stabbed Lyla and Balancer Lord with two of its spikes, creating a current of energy between them. Balancer Lord's power was used to drain Lyla(0/200) down to nothing. "That is your link monster?! It should have targeted the Dominion! Now it languishes in its inferiority!" Display of arrogance aside, the ADI had a point. None of Voids monsters could safely take down Curious as of right now. Even if he tried, Jains trap would say something about it. "Don't worry. It will all add up soon enough. Since Balancer Lord left the field, he escaped your skill. So I will I pay another 1000 lifepoints!" Balancer Lord could use his own effect once more to enable a second normal summon. "I normal summon two Cyberse: Launcher Commander and Storm Cipher!" Two monsters were placed around the Lord: Storm Cipher the mighty heroic warrior(4/2400/0) [Zone 3] with a body encased in armored crystal and wings of hexagons and a hovering cyberse machine(4/1700/1200) [zone 5] of army-green metal and a dozen ballistics.

Void's LP: 1300

"You would keep putting your life in the balance for these machines?" Jain was baffled by his opponents recklessness; his lifepoints were almost entirely depleted. "Is that concern? Hm, ironic that I get it more from you than from anyone else I know. But do not worry, everything has a purpose. As long as I control Launcher Commander, all my other cyberse monsters gain 300 attack and defense points!" Underclock Taker (1300 atk), Storm Cipher(2700/300) and Balancer Lord(2000/0) all enjoyed the presence of their new commander. "And this card can tribute one cyberse monster to destroy one of yours!" Balancer Lord became the chosen sacrifice. Its essence was loaded into the missile launcher of the Commander and fired away like a rocket. Curious the Lightsworn Dominion disappeared in a blaze of destruction, as soon as it impacted with the launched lord. "And now here we are! This time it is gonna be something more suited to your level, paladin Jain." There was only way to get enough materials for a link 2 monster. But monsters with a higher rating could also use the links of those below them. "The materials are 2 effect monsters!"

"I take Underclock Taker and Punishment Dragon!" Underclock counted as two links, and the mind controlled dragon shaped the third. "Meet your end: Decode Talker!" They became Void's third-link cyberse(2300/LINK 3){Downlight/Up/Downright} [Extra Zone 2]. From head to toe his body was covered in smooth gold-edged darkblue armor with wing-like shoulder blades and bright pink power orbs. It revealed nothing but the red glint of his eyes. "Decode Talker gains 500 attackpoints for each monster it points at!" Void did not place his monsters haphazardly, both Storm Cipher and Launcher Commander were now linked with the new linkmonster. In addition to its own powerboosts, Decode Talker(3600 atk) profited from the Launcher Commander's continuous effect. "Now what did you say again? The full glory of your light? Then allow me to show you the full glory of my cybernetics!"

"Storm Cipher, attack his monster!" Storm Cipher was indeed a powerful on his own. Unfortunately it could not declare direct attacks as a trade-off, which simply forced Void to attack with it first. The hexagon cyberse surrounded the Enchantress with blades of light. "I will not fall now, Void!" Jain declared dramatically as he unveiled his own trap card. "Twilight Cloth! I banish all fallen Lightsworn to give my monster 200 attackpoints for each banished soul!" It was another cloak of the twilight, sown from the clothes of the remaining six Lightsworn in the graveyard. "But what is the point of that?" It was an unexpected move, and also a pointless one. The Twilight Cloth only added 1200 attackpoints to Lyla(1200/200) in the end. Storm Cipher still managed to kill her. And Jain still did not have enough lifepoints left to survive the next few attacks. "This duel is not over until the last light dies! This war is not over until the last of you falls! I will remember you, Void! Now finish it!" Whatever it meant, now was not the time to hold back

Jain's LP: 4800

_"Void?!"_ From the very getgo this had not been a normal now it ended... with the enemy calling out his playername? "This is some trick, right? Well, you did ask me to finish this. So I will! Commander, Decode... direct attack!" More missiles flew Jains way, and the Decoding swordsman finished the enemy off with a forceful and powerful stroke of his great energy blade. "Graaaahhh!" At that moment the ADI unleashed a rather chilling scream, and broke into a thousand data fragments. The enemy was vanquished, reduced to duel gems and one skill card. That was all the loot one would normally gain from such a duel; all the worth inside an artificial duelist. "?!"

Jain's LP: 0

One did not normally see giant swirling portals get dropped as a reward. "What on earth?" What else could it be? The destroyed avatar left a vortex behind with a clear opening in the middle. And on the other side he could see several structures like pillars. "Is this..intentional?" Void turned his head left and right, wondering if anyone else was seeing this. Nobody had interrupted him the entire duel. Apparently that event draw a lot of attention to another part of the city. Or.. could this perhaps have been a part of the same event all along? Or perhaps he unlocked another secret? Void might have dueled countless of ADIs, but there were plenty of random sidequests that he skipped over, because he always felt more comfortable doing the predictable. So was he being tested somehow? Did he need to tell this to anyone else? Or... _"I might be the first to even find this.."_ The answer lied only on the other side, and the portal seemed to be closing slowly. For once in his life, he simply could not ignore the unknown. He gathered his spoils and took a big step through the gateway.

...

It closed behind him, abandoning him to a dark and desolate place. "..Good day?" Nobody around to answer. He was alone. Light streamed in from the left, so there was an outside to this area. But where did he end up? He tried to check his position on the map, his dueldisk could also be used to access his account settings and current location. Unfortunately the coordinates he received did not match up with any known sector. He could not even tell how far he had jumped. And since when could one travel through the network in a way besides quickjumping? He came for answers, instead he just got more riddles. "No." He could not give up at the first sign of trouble. They brought him here for a purpose, whoever 'they' were. "Hey!?" Perhaps that man could tell him! The one he spotted hunched over in a corner of this tomb. "Hello! Did you come here the same way I did?" The man looked rather tired, which should have been a warning sign. "Hello? Is everything.."

"Gah!" Void saw what became of this man as soon as he got near him. His face had been scraped clean off and his avatar covered in digital scarring. This was not a duelist anymore, this was just a body. "What..." This could not be part of the game. But why.. why else would this be happening? What did he stumble into?

(To Be Continued in Line 002: Dynamic Variables)

**New Cards used by Void  
**Balancer Lord  
Cyberse Wizard  
Stack Reviver  
Storm Cipher  
Launcher Commander

-  
Underclock Taker  
Decode Talker

-  
Monster Reborn Reborn  
Mind Control

-  
Three-Strike Barrier

**New Cards used by Jain the Paladin  
**_TWILIGHT REAPER_

-  
Ryko, the Twilightsworn Hunter  
Lumina, the Twilightsworn Shaman  
Jain, the Twilightsworn General  
Wulf, the Lightsworn Beast  
Lyla, the Twilightsworn Enchantress  
Punishment Dragon

-  
Curious, the Lightsworn Dominion

-  
Solar Recharge  
March of the Dark Brigade  
Twilight Twin Dragons

-  
Light of Destruction  
Twilight Eraser  
Twilight Cloth


	2. Dynamic Variables

**Line 002: Dynamic Variables**

It did not make any sense. "What..." None of this made any sense. "He.." A lifeless body, there in front of him. It was a picture one could rarely and immediately accept as reality. "Hey.." And this wasn't even reality! This person, this floor, this tomb: it was all part of a fake world. Void didn't know what the hell was going on. _"Okay calm down."_ Still, he was not seeing things. There had to be a logical explanation for this. Just because corpses were not your usual set dressing in a game approved for all ages, did not mean it was impossible to come across one. He could hardly imagine why someone would put this kind of image in here though. "..." If it was a background image at all.

_"Nothing ventured." _He bent down to closer study the 'body'. There was no blood or damage to the surrounding area, though he did not expect to see anything to that extent anyway. On the other hand, Void quickly realized this was not just a prop or simple projection. He could move this person, and when he rolled him around he saw a big chunk of his chest was missing: shattered like glass. The same kind of damage caused the most haunting image as well, the missing face. Was that what did it? Did an attack that severe, deactivate his avatar? _"Maybe this is an ADI somehow? Despite his appearance?... No, that does not fit everything either."_ ADIs did not usually leave their entire body behind. Neither did avatars. If you logged out, your data went with you. The more he thought about it, the less clear it all got. Void shook his head. The answers were somewhere. _"I should.."_

"HEY!" So caught he'd gotten in this scene, that he forgot to mind his surroundings. "Others?" A trio of duelists had entered the area, one immediately spotting Void and his 'companion.' And as soon as he started hollering, the rest followed. "What the hell happened to him?" The first one demanded an explanation. Ironically he looked something like a corpse himself; was a thought that Void decided to keep to himself. His pale skin resembled that of a frankenstein-esque patchwork, his clothes and capes (yes, multiple) were tattered and his brown hair wild. "Whatever it was. It did not look very pleasant, hohoho!" The second, who spoke with even more booming voice, was dressed like a fancy crimson-suited pirate with a great red beard, hairy arms and a golden dueldisk for a left hand. He was probably not as old as he made himself look. "Actually, I think may be a bit more serious than that." The third was a blue-eyed girl in a pale-blue raincoat and skirt, with stark-white and thick curled hair. She sorta blended into the background compared to the loudness and garishness of the other two.

"Damn right it is serious! His entire face caved in! I mean, cripes... Have you ever seen a thing like that!?" The zombie-kid took the forefront and walked right up to Void. "What did you do to him?" His words caught him off guard. "Me? You think I did this?" Void stammered back with as much incredulity as he could summon. "I don't see anyone else around. Do you?" So there it was: the accusation. "How exactly would I do something like this to begin with?" Talking to people already frustrated him, trying to prove his innocence made it unnecessarily complicated. "For all I know you hacked the game somehow to hurt that guy pretty badly! I don't understand how any of this stuff works either, but I am sure its possible!" Rather than backing away however, the kid doubled down on his opinion. "That does not prove anything! Kid, think about this. If I caused this, would I be still be here?" And it did not help that conversation was not Void's strong suit. "Kid? Who're you killing a kid? I bet you're barely any older than I am!"

Fortunately it seemed there some saner voices in the halls. "Easy now lad. We should be jumping to conclusions." The 'pirate' stepped in and placed his hand on the kids shoulder. The girl meanwhile walked towards the body to inspect it herself. "Now he's got the right idea. Who are you people anyway?" At least he could be talked too. Though it would help if they knew what to call each other. "You wish to know my name do you? Well, I am the SkyLander from the World of Tomorrow! Hahahah!" This guy clearly enjoyed the lack of a character limit for playernames. "I see. Sky for short then. You can call me Void" There was no way he was going to say that mouthful of words each time. "Ha! 'Sky' will do just fine! But I could ask you the same thing, Void. Why are you here?" Something was going on, clearly. What had he missed? "For the same treason you are, I figured. I defeated an ADI and..." Apparently not as much as they did.

"The ADIs? C'mon man! You expect us to believe that an NPC did this?" Going by his frantic gesticulations, the other guy was still far from calmed down. "I was not saying that. I mean.. I can't be sure it did not happen that way, now that you mention it. But I didn't see who did this. What I did see was one of the ADIs going haywire, attacking other duelists for no reason. Once I defeated it, a portal opened to this place."

"Portal? What portal? We didn't use any portals to get here? Did you use it to sneak in and hide!? And when you saw this guy, you decided to silence the witness?" Mister zombie scoffed. His annoying theory was getting more and more layers. "No! What? Stop jumping all over the place! I thought that I had either unlocked a new part of the game, or come across a glitch. I did not think anyone else would be here. How did you get here then?" Having more duelists around could have been useful, if this ADI situation had become dangerous enough to result in casualties like this. On the other hand, these being the first people he met here did not help his usual stance on player-player interactions. "You did not know? We received an invitation with coordinates in our personal inbox. Strange." At this point Skylander's tone shifted, to a worrying degree. "I was invited too! So your story does not match! That proves it!" The mood was turning against him. "Invited? What do you..."

"Hieronymus." And there was still the girl. "I beg your pardon?" Her presence nearly faded from his memory. "This guy is called Hieronymus. He's an admin, one of those sector judges. I recognize him outfit from when he ruled at the castle event yesterday." This was going from bad to worse. "An admin?" They were all looking at a real person. "But then.. what the hell happened?! Where is he now, why did his avatar stay here?" Skylander started to sound like he needed to fear for his own life. "Dunno. He could be dead... or just be logged out." She did not have a comforting answer one way or another. "But what could even do this to a man? To an admin even! I was sure that they had more power than anyone in this world! Yet there he lies!" If the judges of STHEREA could not deal with this problem, who could? "I think I know, Sky. The only thing that could do this kind of damage in here is a duel. Which means you must have dueled him to do this!" This was the last straw for Void's accuser. "I am going to take you down! Nobody messes with people on my watch!"

"Fine! What do you propose then? You know you cannot use brute force in here." Void gave up on trying to reason with this kid. "A duel of course! Don t even think about running away" With all the anti-violence safeguards in place, the only way to settle a dispute in here was with words or cards. "I have nothing to hide, or fear for that matter." Void did not expect this to take long.

And apparently they did not need to go far to find a spot for their confrontation either. "A Coliseum?" It appeared that the place he arrived at was a concourse for a classic circular arena. The zombie kid led him to an open area, where a duel ring awaited. Above the walls one could only see a blue sky filled with clouds. At any other time he would have looked over the edges to see if he could pinpoint his new location. But they had other plans for him. "Hey what's going on?" Even more duelists had since arrived. There were too many to keep track of, talking with each other on the stage seats or walkways when Void and his opponent marched in. They must all have been invited too. "This guy took down a judge, and I am going to punish him for it!" The kid shouted loud enough for everyone to hear.

"An admin?" One woman in a kimono gasped. "Interesting." Another man in a suit and tie muttered. " #$%! Is that why we're here? To die?" A person in a hood sounded rather upset, getting muted by the offensive-word filter. The news drew a lot of concerns from the crowd, some even rushed back inside to see what the commotion was all about... Others stayed to observe the duel. "I do not understand. But if it means a duel, I am all for it!" The only one to get excited over it was a man in full roman armor. He blended right in with the local aesthetics. "Lad, do you need to go this far? We should just report this to the authorities." Skylander meanwhile did not like where this was headed one bit. "The invitation said not to bring anyone else into this. Look what happened to that admin guy! We cant trust anyone else!" The kid took his position, Void did as well. "Trust goes both ways. Why should I trust you? You have not even told me your name yet." The reason for his opponents stubborn nature could simply be due to idiocy, he figured. Or it could be that he was trying to hide something himself. "I am Kahn, Bionis Khan!"

Void's LP: 8000 Khans' LP: 8000 -TURN 01-

There went that theory. Bionis Khan did not back down, and immediately turned on his dueldisk. "I add my skill to my hand!" Just like the previous opponent, he drew just four cards from his deck and received the first turn. "I summon Vendread Revenants and end my turn!" The arena sand began to rumble and stirring due to the movements of the Revenant: a swarm of mutated zombies(4/1800/200) [zone 3] with glowing eyes and long claws. "And I... wait. Where is your skill?" Took him long enough to notice. Just like the last duel, Void did not call upon any skill cards. "I do not have one. Or have need for one." He answered matter-of-factly. "No skills?" Skylander was astonished. Almost everyone these days used skill cards. "Pfeh, more like you couldn't get your hands on any! It's almost as if you just started dueling today!" Khan ended his turn. "Like.. what the hell kinda name is Void anyway? It sounds like you couldn't come up with anything and just left it blank! And your outfit is just bland! If you really were a duelist, you would have come up with something better!"

"Or perhaps I did not want something better. Extra flourishes and customizations are nice, but when I made this avatar I just wanted to get through the menus as fast as possible." Void figured now was a a good a time as any to be completely candid. Especially since Khans arguments were not halfbad at making him look suspicious. "And here I thought it was an inside joke about coding." The girl in white randomly commented from the sidelines. He could not really tell if she, or anyone else, believed him or Bionis more.

-TURN 02-

"My turn!" It did not matter. Beating his opponent would get him to stop yelling. "Since you are the only one to control monsters, I can special summon Linkslayer!" Slashing through the air, the new cyberse made his dashing entrance. The linkslayer(6/2000/600) [zone 1] was a ferocious warrior in golden lynx-shaped armor. "And of course, I can also normal summon! So I will bring out Cyberse Wizard!" Another reliable cyberse set foot in the arena grounds: the cybernetic spellcaster(4/1800/800) [zone 3]. "Cyberse Wizard's effect switches one of your monsters to defense position! Only that monster can be attacked this turn, but it will now take piercing damage!" It was as easy as firing a spell from his staff. And the Wizard saw only one target. "Hmph!" Khan was forced to make the Revenant defend themselves. But with 200 defense points, they could not defend much. "Linkslayer attacks!" The lynx cyberse jumped across the field to land a lethal blow with the energy blades on his claws. The undead horde returned to the earth.

Khans LP: 6200

"Nice try." Thanks to the Cyberse Wizard, Linkslayers blades could pierce right through the Vendreads defense to damage Khan as well. "But my Vendread are immortal! When Revenants is destroyed, it simply comes back!" Indeed, the splattered remains quickly regenerated into the same zone and turned back into the same monster swarm [Zone 3]. "I was well aware of that, Khan. That's why I used Cyberse Wizards effect to begin with." The straightforward double attack had also been an option. But in that case, Linkslayer would have dealt less damage and Cyberse Wizard would have destroyed itself if it attacked a reborn Revenants afterwards. "But your Vendread zombie banishes itself if it leaves the field again after using that effect. They will not get a third chance at life." Having said that, and having set two cards in the spell/trap zone, Void ended his turn. Though Bionis took up most of his attention, he also kept an eye on the duelists around him. What if one of them was the culprit instead?

"What kind of attack was that? He didn't even use every resource in his hand." "If Khan is making it that easy for him, he might as well." Some were not too impressed or interested, like the woman in the kimono, or a brawny shirtless man. Others were cheering him on already, like the roman centurion. "Whose side are you guys on! I am the good guy here!" Bionis let out a growl. "And you! You're under-estimating me, aren't you? Don't! That last move was just a test to see what kind of cards you were using. And it was a setup!"

-TURN 03-

He drew the next card from his deck. "Then again maybe you aren't acting cocky. Maybe you're holding back because you don't want to show everyone what terrifying monster you used on Hieronymus! Well, I am gonna make you use it! I summon Vendread Striges!" If a pack of mutated zombies was not enough yet, now the bionic duelist normal summoned a murder of monstrous crows(2/500/2000) [Zone 2]. The undead black birds either possessed too many claws, too many beaks or too many heads: it was a nightmare all around. "And then I activate the spell Revendread Origin! Let's conduct some genetic splicing! Haha!" Horrific were the sounds unleashed by the Revenants and the Striges as their bodies burned from the inside out.

"A ritual specialist. Of course." Revendread Origin was a ritual spell. By taking the levels, the flesh, of one or more sacrifices; a ritual monster with the same level or lower could be ritual summoned from a players hand. "Oh yeah! I ritual summon Revendread Slayer!" The endresult of six levels worth of sacrifices took the form of an undead fighter(6/2400/0) [Zone 2]. Leather straps and a gold scarf covered his ash-black body, insectoid legs protruded from its back while his eyes flared with hellfire. "Revendread Slayer! Attack Cyberse Wizard!" The Slayer's choice of weapon was a fiendish one as well. It intended to cut the wizards head off with the axe-blades that grew from his wrists. "I activate Security Block!" The Wizard was in luck, thanks to Voids defensive measures. He flipped his quickplay spell and created a face-shaped cyber shield in front of the attacked cyberse. "My cyberse monster cannot be destroyed or take damage from this battle!" Revendread Slayers axe bounced off of the shield, leaving his bloodlust unsatisfied for this turn.

"You saved one monster, whatever! I'm still gonna get your other one! I activate the effect that Slayer absorbed from Revenants!" Not content with his monsters current level of power, Khan added an extra mutation to the mix. A third claw grew out of the monsters torso, and reached across the field to constraint Linkslayer. "No wonder you wanted to keep your tributes on the field." The white-haired girl undercut Khan just as he was about to reveal what was going on himself. "Rgh. Y-yeah! Since the Revenants were on the field when they were tributed, they gave the Slayer the power to banish one special summoned monster each turn! Your cat-thing slayer!" Linkslayer was crushed and smashed repeatedly, leaving no trace of its data for the graveyard. "Striges gives Slayer an effect this way too. It lets me draw a card whenever the monster he was sacrificed for fights something else. Though I have to discard something too." Back then Bionis chose to discard a monster, a Zombie Master, after he drew a trap card. "I end my turn!"

"Okay. That was a bit better." The crowd muttered after Khans latest display. One sentence in particular grabbed Voids attention. "I suppose a ritual duelist makes sense to be here as well." It was something said by a woman whose avatar lacked all color besides black and white. "What do you mean 'as well'? Why are all of you here?" If he knew that at least, he would be getting somewhere. "You mean you don't recognize me? Or him? Do you know anything?" His ignorance unfortunately did nothing but aggravate her. Khan was not the only one looking down on him. "Lad. They wanted us. We're.. " Skylander felt more helpful, and would have spilled the beans if not for Khans protests. "Hey!" Which came swiftly. "Don't you start telling him stuff now! I already said we cant trust him! If he cant even beat me, he is definitely not in the same league as us!" It would seem that these people knew each other on some level. This was an issue, as Void himself never payed much attention to who was or was not famous in the dueling circles: online or offline. But, at least now he knew where Khan was coming from. "So this is about skill to you."

-TURN 04-

"Then let me show you what you would everyone likes to call an 'ace'. After all, what have I to hide?" He was not holding back deliberately, he was held back by his cards. That changed his turn. "I summon Link Streamer!" First he called out a satellite-winged bird(4/1600/1800) [Zone 1] of red and gold metal. "And when I control cyberse monsters, I can special summon Backup Secretary from my hand!" Backup came in the form of a young woman(3/1200/800) [Zone 4] with short purple hair and a futuristic eye-covering visor. She wore a black suit-dress with purple neon lines along with a transparent cape and skirt. "When a cyberse monster is summoned, Link Streamer's effect activates!" The streaming bird sent out a radio wave towards the field, and gave life and energy to a clump of cyberse data(1/0/0) [zone 5]. "He makes a data token! And I will use that data token, to link summon Link Spider!"

The token disappeared into the liking grid. "The material is 1 non-effect monster!" Tokens did not normally carry an effect, so any token would do as a link material for the black wheel-legged spider cyberse(1000/LINK 1) {Down} [Extra Zone 2]. "Yeah big deal. Link monsters. We all saw it coming." The opponent scoffed. "If you did, then why did you not use your monsters effect to stop it?" Void did not think he would need to remind the vendread duelist that Vendread Slayer could banish special summoned monsters during his turn as well. "You think I am dumb or something? You're obviously building up to something big, so why waste my effect on the small fry?" At this point, it would hurt the many cyberse more to wait for them to combine into one vulnerable high-link monster. "A logical explanation, for once." Void chuckled.

"Now where was I? Oh yes. Link Spider can summon a normal cyberse monster from my hand to the zone it points too!" As Link Spider had been summoned to the extra zone in front of Revendread Slayer, it pointed down to Void's own 2nd zone. "I summon Bittron!" The body and eight eyes of the spider lit up with a powerful blue light, as it created a pathway for Bittron, a floating white cyber-helmet(2/200/2000) [Zone 2] with two bright blue eyes behind the visor. "And now, the materials are at least two monsters! I link three, to link summon Decode Talker!" Bittron, Link Spider and Backup Secretary disappeared into the link grid. Three monsters went to the grave to release on from the extra deck: Decode Talker(2300/LINK 3) {Downleft/Up/Downright} [Extra Zone 1]

"Aha!" Opportunity struck for Khan. "Get him, Slayer!" The Revendread warrior retaliated with the revenants claw. Decode Talker was targeted and would be banished forever if it did not act quickly. "That was your mistake, Khan!" And fight back it did. "Decode Talker can negate an effect that targets it, or any monster it links too, by sacrificing one of my linked monsters!" Right now Decode was linked with both Link Streamer and Cyberse Wizard. The Decode knight grabbed the former with its left hand, and absorbed its energy completely. "And it destroys the source of that effect!" Once Link Streamer was gone, Decode Talker grabbed its blade and cut a wave through the eager claws of Revendread Slayer. "You dick!" Khan blurted out as he was forced to defend his monster. "I can negate the destruction of my Vendread! I mean my ritual spell can!" After be banished Revendread Origin from the graveyard, its second effect triggered and negated the destruction of Revendread Slayer. The ritual monster's banishing effect was still cancelled however.

"I trust you remember Cyberse Wizards effect?" Void pushed on and let the Wizard cast another spell against Khans monster. "Rgh." Revendread Slayer was switched to defense mode, and would now take piercing damage from its attackers. "Decode Talker attacks the Slayer!" Because Decode Talker(3300 atk) was not just pointing to Cyberse Wizard with its markers, but Revendread Slayer as well; it gained two powerboosts. It only took one run with the blade to tear a hole through the ritual monsters chest and blow him up into chunks of data and ash. Am I meeting your expectations yet?" Maybe now he could start getting some answers. "So maybe you are at least a decent duelist. That doesn't prove your innocence!" Khan cursed. "But it proves that he could be useful." The girl in white rejoined the conversation. "Huh?"

Khans LP: 2900

"You wanna know the truth? Well its easy to see the pattern. A lot of players here are high up in dueling rankings. Whoever called us, wants to have the best duelists in one spot. So, I guess you would be one of them too, Void." She created a holographic image with her dueldisk and showed him a list of current records, complete with profile pictures. "The top?" Her, Bionis, Skylander and some of the people in the audience showed up there. "But you do not know who invited you here?" He asked them all. "We were not told. But all we needed to hear was that a large reward was involved." One duelist, the brawny one, finally gave him the answer. "You do not know? It wasn't Exeter?" If anyone could have rounded them up and created this location, it would be the company that built the network. "I don't think so. Mysterious aint it? How could we refuse?" The white girl with blue eyes snickered. The more things made sense, the less he seemed to understand.

(To Be Continued in Line 003: If Not Innocent)

**New Cards used by Void**  
Link Slayer  
Link Streamer  
Backup Secretary  
Bittron

-  
Link Spider

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Security Block

**Cards used by Bionis Khan**  
Vendread Revenants  
Vendread Striges

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Revendread Slayer

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Revendread Origin


	3. If Not Innocent

**Line 003: If not Innocent**

Khans LP: 2900 Voids LP: 8000

The duel between Void and Bionis Khan was getting heated. Voids' Decode Talker(2800/LINK 3) managed to combine his forces with the linked Cyberse Wizard(4/1800/800) to take down the Revendread Slayer. "Why are you telling him this? Didnt you listen to me?" And this setback was enough reason for the duelists around him to treat Void differently. Differently than how Khan wanted his opponent to be treated. "I heard ya. And I disagreed." The white-haired girl shrugged his tirade off. "Yeah. Who made you the leader anyway?" The rest of the crowd started to turn on him as well. Void now saw why; these were apparently all high-ranked duelists who were used to their own prestige. Weakness among them would not be tolerated... This was why he preferred dueling alone. "So all of you received the same invitation?"

"Well if you are asking me I wasn't technically invited. I found my own way here." She laughed. "What? And you didn't tell us?!" Khan snapped at her. "How did you get here then?" Skylander interrupted him. "I stumbled upon a portal, just like he said." That was her story. "No. That does not fit at all! I got an message telling me to come here and how! We all did!" That was Khans story. And he assumed it was the same for everyone else. But only a handful nodded to his words. "Not quite. I defeated a very tough opponent and wound up in this place as well." The Centurion of the group admitted. So did a few others. "It appears there was more than one way to be invited, Khan." Void deduced. "Then why didn't they say anything?" He snarled at the girl again. Her reveal shattered half his theory. "I wanted to see how this would play out. Also you're not the only one that's confused, Bio boy."

-TURN 05-

"But this still doesn't prove anything about whether he should be here or not! He was still at the scene of the crime! Bottomline, this duel aint over!" All their talk was for naught, and ultimately.. so was Voids attack. "The last thing you did was destroy my Revendread Slayer. And when it is destroyed, Slayer can add a ritual spell to my hand and a vendread monster to my graveyard!" He used the destroyed ritual monsters effect to give himself a second copy of the Revendread Origin spell. The grave meanwhile was fed with a second copy of Revendread Slayer. "Dueling is all you understand it seems." Void sighed. He was in this for the long haul. "I set a card, and pass the turn to you." There was not even one guess needed for how the next turn would play out. "Finally. Now guess what, I activate Revendread Origin!" If the first ritual did not succeed, he would try and try again. "This ritual spell can also use monsters that are already dead as tributes, and it can ritual summon a Revendread from the graveyard! The previously discarded Slayer was banished from the grave, so that its more battle-experienced namesake(6/2400/0) [zone 1] could be special summoned from the grave and return to life.

"Summoning this right in front of an extra zone was a bad idea. I wont do that again!" There was only one monster pointing at Decode Talker now, though that did not make Slayer the superior fighter. "I am not going after your linkmonster yet. Ohnonono. That wizard has been a pain in my ass for far too long now!" He revealed another spell, Vendread Nightmare. For now its activation was all that mattered. "Attack Cyberse Wizard!" First the Slayer would need to kill. The mutated wrist axes came in for a cross cleave. "My monster can banish a zombie whenever he battles someone else! And he gains 300 attackpoints permanently!" Now that Khan knew Void was not going to protect his cyberse, he piled on the damage. First the Slayer(2700/0) absorbed the essence of Vendread Striges, causing the veins in its body to pulse and burn. Then it delivered the fatal blow and eradicated Cyberse Wizard. "Now, I was gonna save this. But I need to get some damage in already! Its time for my skill!" And then his trump card came into play.

Void's LP: 7100

_Necro Impact, Skill Card  
__When your Monster destroys an opponents Monster as a result of battle, you can banish one card from your graveyard.  
__Special Summon the destroyed monster to your opponent's side of the field in face-up Attack Position. Its effect is negated and its ATK becomes 0._

"I see." The vendread duelist banished the Origin spell from his graveyard, allowing Slayer to attack one more time in a row. And its victim was the freshly dragged out of the grave Cyberse Wizard(0/800). It looked a lot worse for wear now, its cybernetic suit suffered from digital rust. "And since my monster killed yours, Vendread Nightmare now gets to do its thing! Once a turn itwill drop a thousand attackpoints to a Vendread that destroyed something already!" The haunting wails of hooded phantoms surrounded the ritual zombie, and drove it(3700/0) mad. "Now Die!" The Slayers own effect factored in again as well. The last undead buried in the graveyard, Zombie Master, was now banished to fuel a Revendread(4000/0)'s rage. For the second time, Cyberse Wizard met a grisly end as the Slayer cut its head off. "I'd like to see you overpower this now, haha!" Khan placed the last card in his hand face-down on the field. It was another trap. And that reminded Void. "Well if you do like it." He could activate his own trap now. "I activate Cyberse Beacon!"

Void's LP: 3100

"What?" The trap beacon sent of a signal into Void's deck. "I can use this trap if I took damage this turn. It claims a cyberse from my deck." It did not care how much damage was inflicted, just that it was. "I take this one, Balancer Lord." The opponents monster was strong, but nothing Void hadn't overcome before. "Khan. With a skill like that, I see how you managed to get this far. But power is not everything. I will show you what else can be good for you!... That sounded better in my head." Now he just had to hope his next drawphase would be just as generous. There was a demand for two link materials.

-TURN 06-

"My turn!" Hope turned out to still be good for something. And so were his favored combos. "I summon the Balancer Lord, and use its effect to normal summon Stack Reviver!" The cyberse knight(4/1700/1200) [Zone 3] took one thousand of Voids lifepoints: the cost of its second summon ability. It was a price well worth paying to bring out Stack Reviver(1/100/600) [Zone 2]. "The materials are two cyberse monsters!" Link monsters could also be summoned to any zone that another link monster pointed to. The Stack Reviver and Balancer lord vortexed themselves into a twice-marked grid. "Flame Administrator!" Soon after that, the grid exploded into flames and released the new cyberse: a blocky orange/red construction robot(1200/LINK 2) Left/Bottomright [Zone 3] with a crown-like head.

Void's LP: 2100

"While Flame Administrator is on the field, all link monsters gain 800 attackpoints!" Things were heating up. The Flame cyberse's fiery aura empowered itself(2000 atk) along with the Decode Talker it was no linked to. And that was not the last connection to be made with this summon. "Stack Reviver summons Balancer Lord back to the field in defense position!" The linked Stack cyberse revived the other link material that went to the graveyard along with it. Once Balancer Lord [Zone 1] reappeared, Decode talker(4100 atk) pointed at two monsters with its markers. "How did you.." Khan could not believe that his opponent edged him out this narrowly. "You can see that for yourself, I hope! Or better yet, you can feel it! Decode Talker, attack Revendread Slayer! Again!" The duel took another turn at the familiar; the link swordsman and ritual zombie clashed again to come to the same result. Revendread Slayer was slain by the blade of decoding. His master was wide open. "Flame Administrator! Direct attack!" The other linkmonster punched Bionis Khan, knocking him back several feet. "GHuh! You..."

Khans LP: 800

"That's enough!" At that time the duel came to a forceful halt. "You two don't have to duel anymore." Two duelists emerged from the walkways. "What makes you say that?" Void saw them leave for the concourse before: a blue-eyed blonde in a tuxedo suit and a red-headed woman in a wine-red labcoat. "The fact that you are likely not the culprit." The man smoothly clarified. "He's not?! How can you be so sure!" Khan demanded a little more than just a few words. "Oh you can place your trust in me, of him if you should so choose. That admins avatar might have been damaged, but its memory logs were still intact." The woman said with an amused tone. "We both, separately, took a little peek and saw that this Hieronymus chap never came across any duelist with his playername or his type of deck." The 'suit' further explained. "You can get into his memory? That's cool." The white-haired girl grinned. Several other duelists were less happy with where this information came from. But the information was out there now. This led Void to a more difficult question however. "Then.. did you see who did do this to him?"

"If only it were that easy." The redheared woman shook her head. "Whatever did it to him left no trace. None that I could find. If I had more time maybe.. " She seemed eager to get back to her subject. "Time? Time to do what?" This womans hobbies were no business of his, yet Void could not help but wonder how she managed to get this much data in the first place. "To do some further probing, I imagine. They do not call her doctor Scarlet for nothing." An increasingly troubled Skylander interrupted again. "I admire your spirit, Scarlet. But perhaps that should be left to professionals. And you, you should not be encouraging this." The pirate duelist knew her, but he seemed to be unfamiliar with the other guy. "Normally I would agree. But I do not see any of them around. The only ones that answered the call, were us." The suited man pointed at the audience stands. The only duelists there were players. "Letting the professionals have our fun? Pfeh.. You have a daring appearance, you should act like it." The mere idea offended Scarlet anyway. "What did you say?!"

"Hey!" Between all the talking and posturing, one duelist began to feel left behind. "We were in the middle of a duel here! You know!" If Bionis Khan had to hear one more sentence, he could have gone mad. "Yeah... But its kinda like there is no point to it anymore. Is there?" The white-haired girl waved her hand around dismissively. "There is always a point! As long as we don't know for sure who did it, then this guy could still be the killer! Maybe he is just good at covering his tracks, or he has multiple decks! And even then.. even if I can not prove anything, he needs to know what he is up against! I am Khan, the number one national ritual champion! I am not gonna lose to anyone!" Now that the Slayer tasted destruction again, he could add another ritual spell, Revendread Evolution, to Khans hand and send a Vendread monster to the graveyard. Since Khan ran only two copies of Revendread Slayer, he could not send a third to the grave to be used a sacrifice. Instead he sent a Revendread Battlelord. That however did not mean he was going to give up on his slayer.

"I activate my trap card: The Deep Grave! Now, as soon as your turn ends, I can special summon one monster from either graveyard!" His trap targeted the one monster Void knew Khan was going to target: Revendread Slayer. "You must really love that card." He was getting tired of having to beat it over and over again. This whole day was symbolized in that one monster. "You wanna complain now? This is how I duel! I make the rules!" At this rate, Void would be facing twice the power that he did last turn. And with Vendread Nightmare still in play, it was only a matter of seconds before his Revendread overpowered Decode Talker. "I make my own rules as well, Khan. The materials are two effect monsters!" Void prepared Flame Administrator and Balancer Lord as link materials. "What? You have another link 3 monster?" Khan stammered in surprise. "More than you can imagine." This was not even the final step. Void could summon as many link monsters as he wanted at his current pace.

"Now what?" It seemed fate did not want to see this reality come to pass. Without warning all the lights in the arena dimmed. To be more accurate, the virtual environment turned down the brightness. "What the... Hey you! What did you do?" This fallout came paired with another arrival. This time it was a duelist covered in cybernetic attachments, wires and bleeping lights. "Me?" The boy cried out. He probably did not expect this kind of welcome. "Yeah you the cyborg guy! Turn the power back on will you!" Such timing could hardly have been a coincidence; Khan of course thought. "Huh? I had nothing to do with that! I just got here! And I am having problems too! I just lost my connection, how am I supposed to stream from here! Does anyone know?" Those did not sound like the words of someone who wanted this to happen. Either it was an act, or he he was truly lost like them. "Well if not you, then who did..."

"The person you are looking for.. is me."

A low hum preceded his words. "Whoa!" He made his entrance distinct from all others. They would walk in with the legs that carried their avatars. This one appeared against the sky, as a carved open rift between the clouds. "Okay, that is a real fancy trick. But who are you!? Another judge?" Skylander asked the voice in the sky. "I am as much as a judge as you are. Which is to say, not at all!" The mystery man laughed it up "You can call me static. Or Mister Static, if you want to be polite." The rift's dimensions grew wide enough to reveal the vague image of a person. His features and colors were buried behind layers and layers of compression, static noise and all kinds of visual tearing. "Aha. Mister Static, are you the one who called us here?" Void quickly inquired. "Bingo. I was the one who left the clues for you to pick up. It took a while, but eventually everyone found their way here. Isn't that right, Neo?" Mister Static seemed to be looking at the cybernetic duelist, who was starting to feel sheepish for being the last one to show. "And now that all 20 candidates are here, I can begin giving you your instructions."

"You have Instructions? Who gave you the idea that we would be following them?" The lady in the kimono clamored, causing her fellow duelists to join the riot. "Because this is a matter that concerns all of you." The static man responded sternly. "If that is the case, why call us specifically? Cant you let someone else do it?" The cloaked duelist whined. She sounded like she would rather be anywhere else right now. "I could, if I did not take my screening process very seriously. I chose all of you, because you were the highest ranked duelists in the system. The most capable fighter in their country.." Once their recruiter sang a few words of praise, the commotion went down slightly. "Highest ranked? Then how come I have never heard of this guy?" Khans doubts about Void were not diminishing on the other hand. "I use a different algorithm. And when it comes to trust, options are limited. This is not a task I can leave up to the judges, and certainly not to the game itself. Because.. the game is what has gone wrong. As some of you have already noticed. There've been some erratic ADIs wandering about."

_"I_ noticed." Void did not know who this man was, but it felt good to be vindicated for once. "Erratic? Erratic how?" The others would have to see the problem as well now. "Let's just say that they have been going off script, challenging duelists without being provoked and moving beyond their sectors. We only started receiving complaints today. Because of this weeks fundraiser it took a while to notice. We don't know what causes this bug, but we do know what fixes it.. Can anyone tell me what that is?" The solution seemed deceptively simple. "A duel. You want us to duel them." Void answered immediately. "Hey no fair. You should have let us guess too." The white-haired girl moped. "Bingo again. You're on a streak! But then he already saw the issue first-hand, so that's technically cheating. Heheh. Regardless, our friend Void is correct. Whatever made the ADIs malfunction disappears when their status resets after a defeat. So in order to smother this glitch before it spreads too far, we decided to enlist the help of the best. There are only so few available admins, and so many ADIs."

"I have a question" This time someone other than Void decided to speak up: the monochromatic girl in uniform. "If that is true. Why recruit just 20? I understand that you cannot fight artificial intelligence with more artificial intelligence. But it sounds like you need bigger numbers than this." Though her concerns did align with his. Void too wondered why so few warnings were sent out. "So you think you cannot do it on your own?" Mister Static countered her questioning. "Of course we can! I could probably do it all by myself! If I wanted too.." Someone else shouted. "But why would we do this? What is in it for us?" Not everyone was so altruistically inclined. "Your rewards shall be.. oh what is a nice word to quantify it all... bountiful! We did this for your sake as well. If we recruited more, there would be less spoils to divide." The static man was sending signals as mixed as his self-image.

"You just do not want more people to hear about this. You want this to stay quiet." Void saw right through it. "He does!? Is that why I cant stream any of this?" The cybernetic duelist Neo cursed. "Yes. Those are the rules. You cannot ask outsiders for help, or even tell them what is going on. If you do so, your role in this mission will be over and you will become ineligible for the reward. You may record whatever you want and upload it at the end through."

"What! Then.. wait.. is this just another quest?" A sudden conclusion, yet to some a logical one. "A quest?" Not to Void. But there were things he did not know. "Think about it. Special recruitment, rewards, difficult enemies and hidden locations; it sounds like another grind quest to me. I've come across quests before where I was told I couldn't stream anything live before." This was a story Neo could believe much sooner than one where ADIs were malfunctioning for no reason. "Tch. The story did sound flimsy, like an excuse to reuse assets and call them new enemies. Its that zombie campaign all over again." Skylander nodded. "What? But how does that connect to the dead admin guy? Don't forget about him!" Khan yelled and turned his eyes towards the static one. "Hey! What do you know about that judge! Tell me!" One of these times he was going to get the truth from someone! "I cannot say I know what you are talking about, except that it has already been resolved." He answered enigmatically. "As for whether or not this is a mere sidequest for you, or reality. Well you can have the fun of deciding that yourself. But if you ask me, I would take it seriously."

"I don't care either way, as long as these rewards you are talking about are real." The confident brawny man from before, Void made a mental note to nickname him 'the loud one', was drawing a lot of duelists to his side. "They are. We will pay you handsomely, with currency, gifts and fame. And all you have to do is go out there and find them. The errant ADIs should be easy to recognize." It was, after all, not as if the ingame duelists possessed an unlimited set of animations and/or dynamic scripts. "It sounds like a deal to me, I almost wish I could join you, honestly. Now I am not saying the one who bags the most ADIs gets the most out of this, but I am not not saying it!" Mister Static added even more incentive. "Excellent! I cannot wait to quell this corruption!" Not that a lot of duelists needed it. The Centurion looked like he wanted to leave right now. "Wait..." Still, none of this sat well with Void. "Excellent indeed. We made this arena specifically for you. Nobody but us can quickjump to this location, so consider it your hub area. And that is my cue to leave. If you need me, stick around. And remember, have fun!"

"Wait!" It was too late, the rift closed and took Mister Static with it. "Everyone. Wait.. Think about this." Instead he tried to share his unease with the duelists around him. Unfortunately most did not care to listen to just him. "I bet there will be some rabble-rousers at the royal capitol! I am gonna take those punks down, oh yeah!" One of them, a tall wrestler-looking woman, quickly teleported away. "Good idea! I shall assist you!" The Roman Centurion headed after her. "I want to see one of these beings for myself now." A giddy Doctor Scarlet took off her own way, via a red stream of light. One by one they left. "But. but what about us? We're still dueling here!" Bionis Khan could not believe it. "Hey!" Even Skylander was walking out on him. "Sorry mate. This seems a lot more important. There is no glory in this duel here anymore." He gave him a shrug and disappeared using his own quick-jump animatic: via a human-sized flying airship.

"Gah!" At last the zombie kid saw now that he was just wasting time. "This isn't over between you and me, Void! You are my rival now!" So he disconnected from the duel. In a safe zone, nobody would lose points for quitting anyway. "Rival?" He shook his head. No time to spend on nonsensical claims. "But you saw the judge. You have to know there is more to this than what that guy told us!" Why was nobody listening? Did they really all think this was another game? "Whatever. I have better things to do now." Khan scoffed and left his opponent behind, confused and angered.

Khans LP: 0

"Wow, they really dont want to listen to you. Thats a bummer,aint it?" The white-haired girl stuck around to rub more salt in his wounds. "Apparently not." Sometimes he felt like he was surrounded by fools. "Dont sweat it. I got your back. Like remember what I said about the portal and me? That was just a lie, I got one of those emails too." She bluntly revealed. "What!?" Now she told him? "Psh, well yeah. I felt bad for you, also it got Bionis to be quiet for a bit and that's always a bonus. I still believe you though. Or at least I believe you believe it." She helpfully stated. "Oh yeah. Should probably give you my name. Its Madam Blanche." "What? Like the icecream?" Void asked. "Exactly. You get me." She smiled and pointed at him with locked hands. "And come on, that body was pretty gnarly. I'd be nutty to brush that off."

"Wait what body are we talking about?" Neo was not going anywhere either yet, mostly because that information was new to him. "Down in the concourse. Didn't you see it?" This was strange. Void saw Neo come in from the north, so he definitely passed through that area. "No. I didn't see anything." Very strange. "What!?" Void forgot about everything else and ran into the concourse. "No." Neo spoke the truth, 'Hieronymus' was not there anymore. It looked like _they_ were not the only ones who were dealing with this problem.

(To Be Continued in Line 004: Something Old, Something Blue)

**New Cards used by Void  
**Flame Administrator

-  
Cyberse Beacon

**New Cards used by Bionis Khan  
**_NECRO IMPACT_

-  
Vendread Nightmare

-  
The Deep Grave


	4. Something Old, Something Blue

**Line 004: Something Old, Something Blue**

"You're not just pulling my leg are you?" When Neo arrived, he was told of the 'dead' judge that Void came across. Yet he never got to see the body; it was gone now. "I saw it. I know I did." And after all that grief he went through, Void was not about to act like it'd never happened. "You saw it too, Blanche." There were others that corroborate his story. "I dunno. Maybe we're all crazy?" If they wanted too. "That is not funny." Void grumbled. "Yeah okay, sorry. I did see the guy too. But he's gone now, so maybe it wasn't such a big deal after all? I'd believe it if these avatars had a delayed despawn effect or something. The real guy is probably getting his body fixed right now by the people in charge." Blanche proposed as she leaned against the wall. "What was it like then? Was he just..dead-looking?" At the very least, Neo now believed them. "More like.. shattered. Imagine your chest is made of glass and now has a huge hole in it." The girl described it succinctly. "Geez. That can happen here?"

"Our friend Mister Static might have had something to do with this. Or someone else moved it.. for some reason. Where did those two go?" The last ones to see the body were the redhaired woman and the man in the suit. "You mean Scarlet Fever and the other guy? They teleported out to go after ADIs." Neo reminded him. He did see the woman leave, but now he was more interested in the other guy. "You don't know his name?" It was apparent that not every one of these duelists knew each other. "No. He's new. Like you and a few other guys. But if you want information, you can just ask." Neo offered it freely. "Not necessary." Void made other plans. If he wanted data on the familiar duelists, he could just look it up online. "Its not even night-time yet. Dont be a square, Void." But Blanche caught him trying to initiate the log-off sequence on his armband. "I mean, you could run now. But that will look like you are trying to hide something. I can hear Khan yell about that already." Despite her sardonic tone, there was a truth to what she said. The more they worked together, the better. Though that would lead to his least favorite activity: social interaction. "Fine."

The two duelists led him back to the dueling stage. A few duelists were still here, so Neo started with them. He first pointed at a tall man with long black curls: donning a cape and cowboy ensemble. "Okay, the big grumpy guy over there is Sundown Mephistar. Neat name, horrible attitude." As they walked past Mephistar, the man spat on the ground. "Lovely." Void frowned. "Ehr yeah.. I never met the guy before, but he apparently scored a lot of ADI kills." That sounded a lot like him, though that did not mean they would work well together.

"Then over there you have Wagnerock and Crescent Aurora. Those two always hang around each other. I think they know each other in real life too." Neo now pointed at the tan skinned man whom had earlier received the nickname 'The Loud one.' He spoke with a blonde freckled woman. They must have been quite the pair, both wore crowns and Wagnerock walked around shirtless at all time while she wore a conservative longsleeved dress with muted colors. "Shouldn't you be out there dueling already, Wagner?" Neo shouted at them. "I am giving them a headstart. They will need it!" He boasted back. Crescent made up for his confidence, by seemingly being too shy to say anything to them. "And there is.. Huh. I don't know that guy at all actually."

The last duelist still around was a strange looking fellow. "Oh, a good evening to you." Void had never seen a man willingly wear a jesters outfit, but his coat looked practically like one. A tophat framed his head, while the top of his face was hidden behind an eyeless mask. This man gave off bad vibes from moment one. "Hello..." Neo approached him anyway. He was the kind of guy who accepted any audience. "Yes, Neo, was it? I shall also introduce myself. Midsummer Nightmare, at your service." He spoke with a heavy accent that Void could not place. "And what are you doing?" Void inquired. "Investigating this new area of course. I feel not enough appreciation is given to its design and the mysteries it may still hold." Even moreso than the others, Void felt like he was talking to someone in an entirely different world. "Riiiight." Blanche interjected "Well did you find anything? Besides the fact that we are surrounded by clouds and more clouds." She'd checked the edges of the arena herself. The whole construct seemed to be floating in the middle of the sky. "Alas, all is devoid of life so far. There is but one floor and it is depressingly empty now. But I shall keep you informed." Midsummer made a bow and headed b.

"Was that it?" The blue-eyed girl felt tedium settle in. "Let me see." Neo checked his records quickly. "There's still Doctor Scarlet: or Scarlet Fever as she's also known. There's Zettai, she's the one who has that nifty black and white avatar. Imperium Rex the centurion gladiator, Grand Donna the Monday-Smashing wrestler, El Veyron the speed duelist champ, Skylander the flying pirate and you met Bionis Khan. I think I missed a few, but that's most of the ones I know."

"Well, that was helpful." Void nodded. Down the line he would have to start remembering these people's names and faces somehow. "For now. We should probably try to find some of those ADIs." They were not going to show up in here, after all. "And I have a suggestion as well." He looked behind him and saw Wagnerock leave along with Aurora. Those wo already had the right idea. "We should go in teams. That way if something happens to one of us.." He did not want to see a repeat of what happened with the judge, regardless of how it happened. "That's so nice of you, Void. I'll take it." Blanche immediately volunteered herself before Void could even decide. "Teams? Are you sure about that? Isn't this a winner takes all situation." Neo was more reluctant than that. "I don't care who wins this. I just want this issue solved." Void did not care about possible rewards either. "Well, lets not waste any time then!" Blanche enthusiastically pulled on Voids arm. "Ehr.. okay. I know where to go to." Looked like she was ready to quickjump. He typed in some coordinates on his disk.

"Heh. Good luck Neo." She grinned and teleported away with Void. "But." The cyborg duelist reviewed his own options. "Too late again..." Between the masked weirdo and the cowboy, he would rather have gone alone.

...

"The sanctuary? You come around here often?" Having seen most sectors, Blanche quickly recognized the location Void took them too. It was the holy greek-style temple that stood just outside the royal capitol. "No. But the ADI that attacked me was a Lightsworn monster." And this is where one went to challenge them usually. "I get it. Tracing the glitch to the source. You think was like point zero for the corruption?" She asked him. "You mean Ground Zero. And yes." He replied while also correcting her. "Excuse me, sir actually." She rolled her eyes. "That isn't much to go on either, is it? If a corrupted ADI is here, how do recognize it?" There were a few duel monsters walking or flying about: lowlevel spellcasters like the Mystical Elf or highlevel angels like Parshath. There were no human duelists at least, everyone was too caught up in the fundraiser. The thought did occur to Void that it was a major coincidence that this breakout started during such an event. "We look for anything out of the ordinary. Any monster speaking oddly or acting in ways it shouldn't."

"You mean like him?" Blanche pointed a potential target: a huge robot walking through the sanctuary garden. "...It's a start."

"Excuse me!" Blanche and Void walked down the temple steps to enter the garden. "Are you lost?" Their target was Armoroid, a mid-class machine duelist. ADIs like this were more commonly seen in modern sectors like Cosmic City Cosmopolis. It definitely did not belong here. "You will have to duel me, to proceed!" But Armoroid acted as if it belonged here. "What do you think?" Blanche whispered to Void. "Perhaps not every glitch results in extreme behavior differences. That said, I do not think its presence here is intended." Even if it was not causing any problems, it was likely better to take it out. To that end, Void readied his deck. "Eh, you can sit this one out." However, Blanche beat him to the punch. "What?" The girl activated her dueldisk and walked right up to the robot. "A challenger!" Armoroid froze in its tracks. "Yup. Come at me big guy." She drew her cards, and her skill. The latter adjusted her starting hand, adding an unknown monster to her hand. "Blanche.." All Void could do was observe. "Sorry Void. You cant have all the fun!"

Armoroid's LP: 8000 Blanche's LP: 8000

-TURN 01-

The first turn fell on the mechanical duelist. "I normal summon Mixeroid!" Like all other roids, the machine that Armoroid summoned was a cartoon version of a known vehicle. In this case a green cement truck(4/0/2200) [Zone 1] with cartoonish eyes instead of headlights and wheels on axes that were as mobile as arms or legs. "And I activate Machine Duplication on it!" Two Mixeroids (4/0/2200) [Zone 2 & 3]made their way to the field as well, in attack position. Machine Duplication special summoned two copies of the same machine, as long as their attackpoints did not exceed 500. "Mixeroids effect activates! It destroys one roid to summon another roid from my deck. But that roid cannot have a wind-attribute like Mixeroid does!" One of the Mixeroids tossed itself into the cement mixer of the first. Its destruction led to creation as well, to the special summoning of a water-type fleet carrier, Carrieroid(4/1000/800) [Zone 4], scaled to size of course. "So far its just acting out its routine." Void was not sure yet if this ADI was even malfunctioning. It was not even throwing out unusual lines.

"Now I activate Future Fusion and Megaroid City!" The armoroid put two spells down: The continuous Future Fusion spell made no immediate impact. As the name implied; the future would resolve the matter. That was not the case with Megaroid City. Field spells would change the landscape dramatically in STHEREA. "Oh." The sky around Blanche turned blue, while a mechanical city-base rose from a lake of water behind the robot duelist. Void fell within the Megaroid city's visual range as well; he could see futuristic roads, docks and launching platforms protrude from the city. "Looks like Cosmic City is expanding." The white haired girl laughed to herself. They were far away from the actual Cosmopolis. "Yes. This is our power. Megaroid City can destroy one card, to add a Roid card to my hand!" Armoroid ignored their chatter and used the field spells effect on another duplicated Mixeroid. The cement truck drove into the city, and out came an Emergeroid Counter trap card. He placed that card face-down in the spell/trap zone. "I end my turn!"

-TURN 02-

"Hmmm. Who should I smash first, Void? What do you think?" Blanche asked as she looked over her hand. "I.." "No wait, don't tell me. I know what you're thinking.." While he was still trying to understand why she gave him that question, she normal summoned her first monster. "Assault Wyvern, attack!" It was a nasty sharp-looking wyvern(4/1800/1000) (zone 3). It glared at Mixeroid with its crest en jaw-spike framed face, flew on its six purple wings and struck with a spiked black tail. "Blanche, wait! His field spell!" Void tried to warn her, but she was already attacking and invoked Armoroid's counter-attack. "When my roid does battle, Megaroid City will send one roid from the deck to the graveyard to switch its defense and attackpoints!" Armoroid discarded a Shuttleroid from his deck to the grave, to make the last Mixeroid(2200/0) stronger than his attacker. "Void, void. I got it." With a single card, Blanche turned the tables back to their original position. And that card was.. "Here you go, I activate Honest." The virtuous angel honest who could be activated from the hand. Any light-elemental, like Assault Wyvern(4000/1000), would gain attackpoints equal to whatever it was fighting. "Impossible!" Armoroid let out a metallic gasp, as Mixeroid got impaled by the wyverns tail.

Armoroid's LP: 6200

"You might wanna lower your treshold for that word there." Blanche followed up her attack with another effect. "Now that my Wyvern's killed your monster, It can summon a highlevel dragon from my hand. I know what to pick here too.. Because thanks to my Skill, Blue and White Dawn, I always start out a duel with this guy!" Though it was forced to tribute itself, Assault Wyvern could be replaced by a creature with far more renown. "Tada! Blue-Eyes White Dragon!" A suddenly very excited Blanche gave her infamous shining white dragon(8/3000/2500) a loud entrance. "Blue-Eyes... of course. That's why.." Now Void figured out her color scheme was so 'pale' yet her eyes so bright. "You got me again. Man, we must be like psychically linked. But anyway.. Hey Blue-Eyes, get that Carrier for me." Though no damage was inflicted upon its master, the defending Carrieroid suffered a destructive fate at the center of the dragons attack. The burst stream that was released from its jaws atomized the ship whole. "See. I know what I am doing. Just relax."

_Blue and White Dawn, Skill Card._  
_At the start of your duel. If your Deck contains 1 or more "Blue-Eyes." cards, add 1 of them to your hand._

"Fair enough. I didn't take you for the beatdown type." Blue-eyes decks were common and strong, but pretty straightforward. Her skill was the same. "What can I say? If I want a hammer, I'm gonna have a hammer." She gave him a lazy grin and passed the turn to her opponent. At least she was enjoying herself. "..." Void was not used to sitting back and watching others duel. That was something else that Void could admit.

-TURN 03-

"My turn!" Either way, the ADI definitely did not seem to be enjoying itself. If it ever could. "Your time is up!" With one turn passed; Future Fusion moved into phase one of its fusing effect. It took the materials of a fusion monster and sent them to the graveyard. "I choose my Barbaroid fusion monster!" Armoroid selected a strong fusion at that, one with five roids as its fusion materials. On the next turn it would be summoned. But for now, five roids were sent to the graveyard. That did not mean there would be no fusing this turn though. "I pay half my lifepoints to activate Mixeroids effect from my graveyard! It, and all other roids in the grave, will be banished to special summon a "roid" Fusion Monster with the same Level as the number of those banished monsters!"

Armoroid's LP: 3100

It was the ultimate mix: a tenth-level process composed of all three Mixeroids, Carrierroid, Shuttleroid and the five 'future fused' roids. The ten machines combined into a city-sized robot(10/0/5000) [Extra Zone 1] with a body made out of roads, construction cranes and buildings. "Super Vehicroid Mobile Base!" One could say Megaroid City itself transformed into this fusion machine. "A fusion..." This was not Void's area of expertise. It seemed that normally the Mobile Base could only be made from another roid fusion. Except Mixeroid bypassed that demand, at the cost of destroying whatever it fused during the endphase. "This base is home to all my kind!" With that declaration, Armoroid unveiled the power of the Super Vehicroid. Its chest opened to make a pathway for more vehicles. "Each turn it summones one roid from our deck, whose power is lower than your monster! Come, Drillroid!" A drill-nosed and drill-handed tank(4/1600/1600) [Zone 2] drove out into the field, and pointed its weapons at Blue-Eyes.

"And we will equip our base with Torque Tune Gear!" The normal summon this turn was used up by what looked like multi-colored gears connected to small and large exhausts: a living engine(1/0/0). "It equips itself to another monster we control, and gives it more power!" Naturally this tuning engine attached neatly to the Mobile Base(500/5500). "Union monsters huh." This would make the next battle phase less pleasant for Blanche. "Now, we strike!" Megaroid City's effect discard Expressroid from the deck to switch the stats of Mobile Base(5500/500). And so, the fused roid delivered a powerful deafening punch to Blue-Eyes White Dragon's and broke it into a thousand shimmering fragments. "Oof!" Afterwards Drillroid drove up to the girl in white and landed a direct hit with its drillers. "And... that was more ticklish than anything." Whatever ailed an ADI, it did not make their attacks feel any different.

Blanche's LP: 3900

"You are not safe yet! Mobile Base can return any active roid to my hand, to move its own position!" Drillroid turned around on its treads and made a steady retreat into the city. The Super Vehicroid retreated as well, moving down one row. "I see. Now he can fusion summon again." Like all other monsters summoned from the extra deck, you could only fusion summon fusion monsters to an extra monster zone or to zones pointed at by link monsters. Mobile Base [Zone 2] was no longer using that extra zone. "We place one more card down and end our turn! Torque Tune Gear's effect will now activate!" Mixeroid's destruction would come start knocking soon. But even a machine could make a sacrifice for another. Torque Tune Gear de-equipped itself to block the destruction of the Mobile Base, allowing Armoroid to keep his fusion for a little while longer. "This is gonna be tricky. You're a smart guy, Armoroid." Blanche passed it a few complements. They might as well have been spoken to a wall, with how quiet the enemy was during her turn.

-TURN 04-

"Hmm. Maybe I was wrong. Though that doesn't explain why you are here." She was starting to get her doubts. "Don't expect it to answer you." As much as Void enjoyed listening to them, ADIs just could not interact in any meaningful way. "I suppose. Still wanna win tho.." The very next card she drew was activated in the same instant: Mystical Space Typhoon. "So let's get rid of that field spell. Its kinda annoying." The typhoon always destroyed one spell or trap if left unchecked. "You shall not win!" Armoroid was forced to counter it, he needed his field spell or else his fusion was a sitting duck. "As long as I control a fusion roid, I can activate Emergeroid Call to negates your spell!" The counter trap silenced the mystical storm, saving Megaroid City. "Touchy." Blanche narrowed her eyes. "Maybe you are just pretending to be a dim bulb."

"I do not know what you are talking about." It replied bluntly. "Don't you? Well, you will know this lingo. Your countertrap is gone, so I can do this." Two more spells touched the field; the first of which called itself Dragon Shrine. "I send two more Blue-Eyes White Dragons to my graveyard." This spell discarded at least one dragon from the deck. And if that dragon was a normal monster, another dragon could be sent as well. "And then I will fuse all three, with this." The second spell was Dragons Mirror: a fusion spell for dragons that took materials from the field.. and the graveyard. "Fusion summon! Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon!" Once the three dead white dragons passed through the mirror, they were gone... banished to create their combined form. The great three-headed Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon(10/4500/3000) [Extra Zone 2] stood faces to faceless with the Mobile Base. "But his monster is still stronger than yours. What are you planning?" In a battle between fusions, Mobile Base would win aslong as Megaroid City existed. "Have a little patience, Void." She also placed one monster [Zone 2] and one trap card face down. "Turn's over."

-TURN 05-

"And so is your existence." Future Fusion had been on the field long enough for its final effect to come into play. "Arrive, Barbaroid, the Ultimate Battle Machine!" The fusion materials were prepared last turn. Now the fusion itself resolved, and a titanic red robot(12/4000/4000) [Extra Zone 1] emerged. Instead of arms and legs it moved around on cannons and disc-shaped missile launchers of various sizes. Even its cycloptic head carried enough firepower to level an army. "Barbaroid can attack two monsters in one turn! And whenever it destroys a monster, 1000 points of damage are inflicted!" Armoroid still wanted more. "Mobile Base!" The Super Vehicroid special summoned one more roid from his deck: himself. The space-shuttle transformer Armoroid(8/2700/2000) [Zone 1] landed next to the Mobile Base in attack mode. "Spell card: Limiter Removal!" And all that combined power could be elevated again. Limiter Removal doubled the attackpoints of each machine on the field (Barbaroid: 8000 atk, Armoroid: 5400 atk). "Battle!"

"Well. I guess you've got it all figured out. Are you happy now?" Blanche looked pretty much doomed. Even if she did survive Barbaroids attacks, Mobile Base and Armoroid would be there to finish her off. "We will not be happy. Not until we get what we want!" And in this moment of presumed victory, the ADI finally abandoned its script. "What you want?" Void flinched. Only now he started to wonder, if this 'we' the Roid kept mentioning was not just him and his cards. "Thank you." At any rate, Blanche heard what she wanted and revealed her trap card: Mirror Force. "Goodbye." Barbaroids cannon blasts impacted against a barrier of light. "No!" Mirror Force would destroy any attacking monster. The blasts were reflected back towards the Battle Machine, the Armoroid card and the Mobile Base. "Nooo!" Their strength no longer mattered, each roid was blown to smithereens. "No. No! No." The ADI went numb, repeating itself over and over. "I think I broke it."

"No! I still have...my skill: Roid Force!" The Armoroid protested. "If I use it, I can decrease all damage I take by 500 points for each roid in my graveyard!" It declared prematurely, as it ended its turn.

-TURN 06-

"About that." Blanche revealed the card that her deck so graciously provided her. "I think if I use this. None of that will matter." It was the spell: Neutron Blast. "No!" The Neutron spell worked in tandem with Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon: giving it the power to make three attacks instead of one. And no effects could be activated during its attack, not even skills. "I don't know what to tell you. It just wasn't your day." Each of her fusion dragons heads charged white light between its teeth. "Destroy them for me, Blue Eyes times three!" The triple neutronic burst tore up the roads and parted the water. Armoroid's defending monster was destroyed along with Megaroid City and the Armoroid itself. So deafening was the destruction, neither duelists could hear Armoroid's final words.

Armoroid's LP: 0

"Well. The ADIs are definitely going cuckoo. But that one was easy enough." Blanche felt let down. "I do not think all of them will be." Void shared her tone for a different reason. In the end this duel did not provide him with any new information. "Blanche. I am going away for a bit. I have to get a better view of the entire situation, from the outside. Don't worry, I will not tell anyone else about what is going on." He did not plan on bending Mister Static's rules yet. "But here I thought we were becoming close friends. We were this close to sharing our real names and everything!" The girl did not seem to mind one way or another. "Real names? No, that wont be necessary." Working with others was already a big step, he was not ready to bring his personal life into this matter. Then again who was he kidding? He had more of a life here then out there...

(To be Continued in Line 005: Between Declaration and Initialization)

**New Cards used by Madam Blanche  
**_BLUE AND WHITE DAWN_

-  
Assault Wyvern  
Honest  
Blue-Eyes White Dragon

-  
Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon

-  
Mystical Space Typhoon  
Dragon Shrine  
Dragons Mirror  
Neutron Blast

-  
Mirror Force

**New Cards used by Armoroid  
**Mixeroid  
Carrierroid  
Shuttleroid  
Drillroid  
Torque Tune Gear  
Expressroid  
Armoroid

-  
Super Vehicroid - Mobile Base  
Barbaroid, the Ultimate Battle Machine

-  
Machine Duplication  
Megaroid City  
Future Fusion  
Limiter Removal

-  
Emergeroid Call


	5. Between Declaration and Initialization

**Line 005: Between Declaration and Initialization.**

Back in his own apartment, there were no dragons, mutants or machines. Here was just an average man. But the lack of excitement at least came paired with a sense of security.. and oversight. From here, behind his own computer screen, he could perhaps finally take in the scope of the situation. Though..looking at something from the outside was not always that easy. _"No reports of any incidents, at all?" _He half expected there to not be much news about malfunctioning ADIs, but to see none at all surprised him. The fundraiser was taking up all of the attention on all live media, forums and news sites. Yet some encounters must have happened already, like with that woman. Did he not look hard enough? Or.. _"They are already suppressing information about this." _At the same time there was not much to find on his fellow duelists, beyond what he already knew. Some were more known than others; Veyron and Zettai were tournament champions even. And it was very easy to get to know Neo, there were at least a hundred recorded stream vids on his personal profile. Inversely, some duelists kept their profiles private: duelists like the bizarre Midsummer and also Madam Blanche.

**##Careful careful.**

"!?" An personal chat message popped up in his window.** "Who is this?" **He typed back.** "You know who I am. And I am sending you a quick warning. Do not pry too much into your new friends. Outsiders may start to notice. Reality is not a safe zone. Instead, why not try Cosmopolis? A city of infinite possibilities!." **The visitor typed faster than humans ever could. "Static? Outsiders?" Void tried to get more out of him, but the chat window closed itself as he typed his next sentence. It also erased all traces of their conversation. "What the hell.." Now Void was not naive enough to assume nobody could figure out his personal info if they wanted too. But that had been mister Static, he would need to have a lot of fancy tricks to influence that much control over the message channels. That fit with the profile of someone at the top of the company's foodchain. What was he affraid of then? Weren't the problems inside the game, and not outside?

"Tch." The answers would not come to him here. Duelists could only stay inside the network for five hours, but nothing stopped him from returning now while the day was still young. His lunch would keep his body satisfied so that the mind could return to the world within.

/-/

'Void' logged back into STHEREA and immediately jumped back to the 'ARENA OF THE BEYOND'. The location was still not marked in his history and you could only warp to it manually. But it did somehow output that sector name as long as he stayed inside of it. "There he is!" He was immediately and loudly welcomed to the battle stage by Skylander. "Heya Void. How was life on the other side?" Blanche also waited for him there as she had promised before he left. "Informative." He quickly passed on what he'd learned, though he kept the part about Static to himself for now. "I could have told ya that. Should've just done what I did. Check it out. I used the loot from that Armoroid to buy this hat. Sweet, right?" He could see how she spent her time: her white hair was now adorned with a fuzzy blue beret. "You visited the shops?" Each city sector had its own digital market. That was the place to be spending your rewards most of the time. "Well I like it! You should try it too. You could use some decorations!" Skylander let out his boisterous laugh.

"I have better things to do." His eyes gazed beyond whatever new object these two were wearing and counted the number of duelists present. Sundown Mephistar still hung around, and a few new faces replaced the old. The woman in the black cloak sat in the lower ring. He excused himself and walked towards her. "I do not think we have met." Normally he wouldn't try to approach someone directly. But this situation demanded it. "What? You didn't look into me? I would have.. I mean... I looked into you. I mean.." She awkwardly stumbled through her sentences and looked away. He could not really see her clearly anyway, besides the cloak she also wore a black veil in front of her face. "I actually did, I'm sorry.. Uhm.." He did manage to connect this girl's avatar with the user called Chiaroscura001. Her profile was set to private and he was just not quite sure how to pronounce that name either. "No. No its my fault. I had to pick that long name, and I wasn't even the first. Call me Scura.. everyone else does." She sighed morosely. "And you want to ask me why I am not fighting with the others, aren't you?"

"I was not planning too." Though the thought did cross his mind. "Liar. I know you think this is a serious problem. But.. I don't see what I can do if it is. And if it isn't, I am not gonna catch up to those other guys anyway. I don't even know why I was chosen. And I do not really feel like going anywhere, so.. " It sounded like her mind could not be changed. "I see.." As much as he disliked her decision, he wouldn't push her. She was not going to be of any use with that attitude. "Don't worry. I am not gonna do something stupid either." Scura would just wait here and see if things got worse. "I suppose that works too. Goodbye for now then."

Two more talking in the walkway: a blackhaired woman in a priestess kimono outfit and a man in dark grey samurai robes. This duo was known Yoro-Himiko and her tagteam partner Zanbatou. One apparently never dueled without the other, and they attended tournaments and events rarely. Void could not even get close to them before they spotted him and warped away behind a curtain of cherry blossom petals. "Guess I know how they feel about me." He recalled them mocking Bionis Khan and him both when they dueled. "Dont take it too hard. They just like to act mysterious. Hahah, a lot of us do apparently! But we're all in this together!" Skylander rejoined his company. "Quite." It was nice to know some duelists could still be straightforward. "The way I see it, you gotta keep trying until you get your way! Which reminds me of what Blanche told me about your idea. I concur! We should all head out in a teams!"

The pirate made a dramatic turn and pointed at his target. "Ahoy, Sundown! What do you say to a team-up? We can traverse these error-filled lands faster as a duo!" The cowboy's eyes peeked out from under his hat. "Makes sense.." He muttered and unfolded his arms to point back. "Just don't go about calling us a duo. And I choose the targets." Those were his demands. "You've got yourself a deal!" Skylander shook on it. "And do not do that either." Mephistar grimaced. Soon the two were off.

"The wild west and the Caribbean sea working together. Just as nature intended." Madam Blanche clapped her hands a single time. "And you.. are still stuck with me. So... find any leads?" She just wanted to get out of here. "Nothing official. Just a tip.. from Static." With Skylander gone, he told her the rest of the story. "'Mister Static' Static? You saved that juicy bit for you and me? Didn't think you could be that sneaky, Void." She snickered. "It could only have been him. And lets just say I do not trust anything that comes from that source." This way, if a trap had been set, fewer would walk into. Unless they also received Static's tip of course. "Sounds like a hoot to me. When do we go?"

"Now"

...

Getting into Cosmopolis was easy. Finding a specific target would be harder. This massive metropolis filled with hero-approved skyscrapers, ultra stadiums and flying cars rivaled the royal city in size and scope. "Sooo.. You looked all of us up eh? Do you have a favorite yet?" As they wandered between towers of buildings, the girl made some small talk. "I do not see people that way. And I did not pry too deeply if that is what you are asking." Private profiles could be cracked open with the right tools. But he would never do that to anyone. "That fills my heart, man." She mock-teared up and patted her own chest. "By the way. That static guy said infinite possibilities right?" "Yeah? Why?" She was getting at something. "Maybe he meant the infinite energy generator?" Blanche pointed in the direction of a fortress-sized power plant. You could see it from far away, looking like a lighbulb with never ending red light. "That's a good a lead as any." Of course this machine did not really give off infinite energy. It was just a virtual construct that looked similar to a Meklord Fortress, populated by machine duel monsters.

And now also a duel monster known as Kozaky. "What? Is he doing here?" Void blinked. The half monster/half scientist actually had a special spot inside the game, a safe zone laboratory where any duelist could visit to ask about factoids and trivia that judges normally would not know off. So seeing him out here, on the walkway bridges underneath the infinite generator, caught their immediate attention. "Trying to talk to them, I guess?" The scientist yelled at the monsters around it, at the Meklord Army drones and mechanical Allies of Justice. None of them listened however. "Hey, Kozaky! What are you so mad about?" Blanche decided to cut the cord and walked right up to the ADI. "Finally, someone who listens!" He responded positively at first, even when he noticed he was talking to actual duelists. "I want to teach my fellow beings! But they will not listen! You are clearly already smarter than them! I wish they were as well!"

"Is that all you want?" Void approached him as well. They were clearly dealing with a glitched ADI, but he did not expect the glitches to have such nonviolent goals. "Oh I getcha, revolution through education. Maybe he is trying to spread whatever made him act different." The blue-eyed girl winked at Void. "I doubt it. But he has to be taken care off either way. And now it's my turn again." Void activated his dueldisk. Even if Kozaky did not normally fight back, he would not under-estimate this opponent. "Oh you wish to be taught through dueling? I can work with that! Let me learn all about you!" The fact that Kozaky immediately accepted the challenge only proved his concerns that these artificial duelists had a dangerous mindset underneath their cover routine. "Well that's fair." Blanche said as she sat down. "I kinda feel bad for him though." At the very least Kozaky had no idea why it was being targeted. "In a way, me too." Only humans understood the evil they were capable of.

Void's LP: 8000 Kozaky's LP: 8000 -TURN 01-

The two duelists drew their cards, with Kozaky adding a skill to his hand. "What is your reason for not using skills anyway?" Blanche asked as Void would have at least won some skill cards by now. "Because I know me. If I started wanting them, I would not stop until I had them all." He shrugged. He did not really have a deep reason. "I summon Lady Debug." A more insect-like yet still cybernetic monster(4/1700/1400) [Zone 3] left Void's hand. This pink-haired bug-eyed creature owed her name to the ladybug wings on her back. "Lady Debug can add another level 3 or lower Cyberse monster from my deck to my hand, when she is normal summoned." Void explained before he made use of this effect. The Lady chose to add a 'Dotscraper' card to her masters hand. "Then I place one card face down behind her and end my turn." The ball was in Kozaky's court now. "You dont like going first, do you?" The discomfort was not exactly hidden on his face. "Of course. Those who go are at a disadvantage, especially when they do know what to expect."

-TURN 02-

"What else does one expect from a scientist, but science! Let's start the class with some paleontology! Fossil Dig adds a higher level dinosaur to my hand!" His activated spell dug into his deck and unearthed a Duoterion dinosaur card. "That one?" This narrowed down all archetype-possibilities to just one. "Indeed. I am a duelist of all sciences. And today I will teach you chemistry! I discard Duotherion from my hand to add a Bonding spell to my hand: Bonding D2O! Then, I normal summon a creature of molecule H: Hydrogeddon!" A quadrapedal dinosaur(4/1600/1000) [Zone 1]crawled out of a bursting geyser: its body composed of water. "But there exists a state beyond Hydrogen: Deuterium! But you already know it by another name!" Kozaky made his Hydrogeddon disappear via a transformation spell: Transmodify. That spell could tribute one monster to summon another of the same type and element. Though its level would be one star higher. "Duoterion!" It was a second Duoterion: a more carnivorous and bidepal water dinosaur(5/2000/1400) [Zone 1].

"Once a turn, when Duoterion is summoned, it can revive another creature of hydrogen or oxygen! So I shall add a second element of Deuterium!" The second Duoterion resummoned the one(5/2000/1400) [Zone 2] that was discarded.. "Now, what happens when you combine oxygen with heavy hydrogen?!" Now that he got every necessary material, the scientist could combine them through the effect of Bonding D2O. "You get a cluster!" This was not a fusion summon: Bonding D2O tributed the two Duoterions on the field and an Oxygeddon monster in his hand, to special summon a specific monster from the deck. "Water Dragon Cluster!" Dinosaurs tended to evolve into dragons a lot in this game. In this case the three chemicals created a two-headed dragon(10/2800/2600) made from water. "Water Dragon Cluster can reduce the power of your monsters to zero when it is summoned! And their effects cannot activate for the rest of the turn!" The dragon surprised the Ladybug with a spherical prison of water. Inside the sphere, she(0/1400) was powerless. "Water and electronic do not go well together!" Kozaky laughed as he entered his battle phase and made Water Dragon Cluster crush the defenseless debugger with its tail. "Tch."

Void's LP: 5200

"But water is always in a state of flux! Its form is never permanent and Water Dragon is the same!" Swiftly but not unexpectedly, Water Dragon Cluster's body separated down the middle. Each head (8/2800/2600) [Zone 1 & 5] now controlled its own snake-like torso. "Water Dragon Cluster can be sacrificed to summon two Water Dragons from my deck, despite their normal summoning requirements." This was a quick effect: so the two duelists were still carrying out a battle phase. Fortunately, Water Dragon Cluster could only summon its halves in defense mode. "Now to contribute my own invention! Skill Card: Defense Paralysis!" Unfortunately, Kozaky found ways around that. His skill switched both Water Dragons(1800/2600) to attack position. Fortunately, it also lowered their attackpoints for this turn. "This is the fruit of my genius! Attack directly, my dragons!" Two straight hits from his monsters was still nothing to sneeze at. Void even felt himself being pushed back. "Do not underestimate my kind, duelist Void!"

Void's LP: 1600

_Skill Card, Defense Paralysis  
__Change any defense position monster(s) to face-up attack position and , until the end of the turn, reduce their ATK by 1000 points._

"Your kind? Do you even know them? Do you even know who else is like you?" Blanche tried a different approach. If she could just ask it about their newfound knowledge, perhaps it would give them a way to find all of them at once. "I know who has been targeted. Not enough." Kozaky seemingly sighed. "You will not tell us, because you can't. You know nothing." Void did not believe it: that this thing was actually aware of its own circumstances. "He knows more about chemistry than I do. Maybe that's the glitch, that they are getting smarter?" Kozaky was a lot more wordy than Armoroid at the very least. "All he knows is facts. I don't know where he is getting his information from, other places or sites. But I have talked to hundreds of ADIs and I know that this game simply does not have the kind of AI to even allow such development." ADIs were entertaining duelist simulators, but nothing more. "Now, it is my turn." The turn passed and the Water Dragons(8/2800/2600) regained their original attackpoints.

-TURN 03-

"I special summon Linkslayer!" Calling the lynx-armored slayer(5/2000/600) [Zone 5] did not use up tributes or even a normal summon as long as its master controlled no monsters. "Linkslayer's effect: I can discard up to two cards to destroy the same number of cards in the spell/trap zone!" Void released Dotscraper from his hand in order to destroy Kozaky's sole trap card. "Ah, you value your own intelligence greatly. But you do not know everything either! I activate Bonding DHO!" Void did not have a lot of luck with his timing, since 'Bonding DHO' could be activated before Linkslayer could destroy it. "The elements of oxygen, hydrogen and deuterium are bound, to recreate the cluster!" Simply by reshuffling Oxygeddon, Hydrogeddon and one Duoterion from the graveyard into the deck, Water Dragon Cluster(10/2800/2600) [Zone 3] could be resummoned from the graveyard. Its effect immediately stripped Linkslayer(0/600) of its powers and effects. "Can you not accept that my intelligence is superior!?"

"It is not about that. I do not duel just to feel smarter than my opponent." Void insisted. Though a part of him did feel that way. "All the information in the world cannot help you win." Void did note that every monster summoned so far avoided the extra zone columns. Was it trying to avoid the mistake that Paladin Jain made? Water Dragon Cluster was not the only monster to be special summoned during that chain reaction though. "If Dotscraper is sent to my graveyard, it can special summon itself to the field!" A thousand data blocks rose up from the graveyard and piled up until they formed the body of a small yet large-headed cyberse(1/0/2100) [Zone 4] with green eyes. "I also normal summon Draconnet." A digital dragon-like cyberse(3/1400/1200) [Zone 2] flew in. There were no eyes on its head, and its glowing blue body was marked with web patterns and symbols. "When it is normal summoned, I can special summon a cyberse-normal monster from my deck in defense mode." Draconnet used its wifi-transmitting tail to connect with a card in the deck: Bitron(2/200/2000). [Zone 1].

"Oh here we go." Blanche was looking forward to this moment.

"The material is 1 level 4 or lower cyberse monster! Link summon: Link Disciple!" The Dotscraper got disassembled and fueled a single-link grid. The eponymous disciple(500/LINK 1) {Down} [Extra Zone 2] appeared above where its link material used to be. Link Disciple was a black and grey cyberse-style wizard, lacking in legs but surrounded by red marker-shaped spikes. It also wore three silver spikes above its faceless head like a crown. "And Link summon: Link Devotee!" The next link monster demanded the same kind of materials as the Disciple. Draconnet vanished and turned the Devotee(3/LINK 1) {Up} [Zone 4]. Link devotee looked similar to the Disciple with which it was now linked, except it used cybernetic blades as its limbs and a spike-embedded halo extended from its shoulders. "My link monsters are now co-linked! Link Disciple can sacrifice one monster it points too, to draw one card. But I must shuffle another card from my hand into the deck." Void could only tribute the Devotee, and exchanged one card in his deck with another in his hand. "But when a co-linked Devotee is tributed, it creates two link-tokens!" As the Devotee pointed back up to the monster that took its life, it left behind its blade-arms as separate monsters (1/0/0) [Zone 4 & 3].

"Five monsters. That's a lot of materials." There was almost nothing Void could not summon now. "But you cannot link summon link 3 or higher monsters! Not during a turn in which Link Devotee was summoned!" Kozaky began to protest. It was getting nervous. "Another fact that wont protect you... The materials are two cyberse!" Instead Void sent Linkslayer and the token beneath Link Disciple to the graveyard as link materials for the Flame Administrator(1200/LINK 2) {Left/Downright} [Zone 4]. The fire cyberse linked with Link Disciple, and gave both link monsters 800 attackpoints. (Flame Admin: 2000 atk, Disciple: 1300 atk) "And for this one, I need two effect monsters, to summon Code Talker!" Link Disciple and Draconnet transformed into a familiar-looking knight(1300/LINK 2) {Top/Bottom} [Extra Zone 2]. "Code Talker huh." It was the base form of any code knight like Decode Talker, a cyberse swordsman in silver armor. "Code Talker gains 500 points for each monster it points at!" Only the bottom marker linked with something: Flame Administrator. That Admin also provided Code Talker (2600 atk) with more power.

"That still is not enough to defeat me!" The scientist insisted. "I wasn't done yet! I activate my field spell of Cynet Universe! This spell adds 300 attackpoints to all Link monsters!" Cynet Universe boosted the powers of Flame Administrator (2300 atk) and Code Talker (2900 atk). For this brief finale, both duelists were transported to a dimension of cosmic cyberspace. "Cynet Universe can also return one link monster back to my extra deck!" Void explained as he used his spell to return Link Disciple to the extra deck. "Come again, Link Disciple!" The other Devotee-token acted as the final link material of the turn as Link Disciple (1600 atk) [Zone 3] was link summoned to the left of Flame Administrator. "And now, since I link summoned a monster, I can activate Breakoff Trap Hole!" A hole opened up beneath the roads. "All unlinked monsters are sent to the graveyard!" The only monsters safe from the trap hole were Void's link monster. "My dragons!"

Kozaky's water creatures were not. They fell down into the darkness and were sealed deep in the earth. "Ah.. ahaha! Your math... is still off! It wont end this turn!" Though he was defenseless, Kozaky still possessed more lifepoints than Void did attackpoints. "It will. I special summon Backup Secretary!" Seeing as how he controlled plenty of cyberse monsters, the purple-dressed secretary(3/1200/800) could easily back their numbers up to reach the fatal 8000. "In one turn, Unbelievable." Kozaky's only defenses now were his words. "You cannot do this. If you defeat me here, all my knowledge will be lost!" And so he began to plead, to the amazement of the others. "Is he... asking you to spare his life?" That was a first. "It's too late for that now. It's a lie." Void did not want to think that this was anything but a trick. "Dont do it! All you have to lose is credit! I have to gain much more!" The groveling continued regardless, sounding more and more desperate. "I can not.."

"No, you cant. So don't." A third party intruded on the scene. "You?" It was the as of yet nameless tuxedo-suited man. "It's trying to trick you into surrendering. You can not afford to." When did he show up? Neither Blanche nor Void could tell. "You're right." Thankfully he did it just in time to remind Void of what he truly felt. "It's either you or me, Kozaky." If he lost, he could very well suffer the same fate as Kozaky. "Yes, it is." The scientist submitted to his own fate once the battle began. Flame Administrator, Code Talker, Link Spider and Backup Secretary blew away its lifepoints with their fire, energy and swords.

Kozaky's LP: 0

"That was pretty cold, Void." Blanche was impressed and disturbed at the same time. "It had to be done. Right?" Void would hear the why from this man. "Who are you anyway?" For starters, he could find out what his deal was. "You want a name? Agent Asterisk will do. I believe I can rely on you. But I can not tell you what I learned yet. Not here and not now. Just believe me when I say... these ADIs can hurt us a lot more than you think. Not just our avatars, but our bodies in the real world as well."

(To Be Continued in Line 006: The Deepest Point of Heaven)

**New Cards used by Void  
**Lady Debug  
Dot Scraper  
Draconnet

-  
Link Disciple  
Link Devotee  
Code Talker

-  
Cynet Universe

-  
Break Off Trap Hole

**Cards used by Kozaky  
**_Defense Paralysis_

Duoterion  
Hydrogeddon  
Oxygeddon  
Water Dragon Cluster  
Water Dragon

-  
Fossil Dig  
Transmodify  
Bonding D2O

-  
Bonding DHO


	6. The Deepest Point of Heaven

**Line 006: The Deepest Point Of Heaven**

"I'm confused." There did not seem to be any rhyme or reason to the behavior of the ADIs, not enough to fit a single theory. They were too disorganized to feel like an intended new quest for the game, but too smart to be an accidental glitch. "How can they hurt us in real life?" It didn't help that here was a man giving them warnings out of nowhere. "That I cannot answer at this time. But nobody has heard from Hieronymus in the real world either. And that is highly concerning." He called himself Agent Asterisk, and he had answers. "I fought an ADI myself and it tried a similar tactic as the one you defeated just now. Once it realized its remaining minutes could be counted on one hand, it pleaded with nearly exactly the same words. They want to win, and they want us to lose."

"So you were worried that we could wind up with our avatars destroyed, like the judge? But how do you know about his status in the real world? What aren't you telling us?" Void recalled the fact that Asterisk saw 'the body' last. "For that matter, how did you know where to find us? I didn't tell anyone where we were going." This was getting more suspect by the second. "Maybe he really is a secret agent." Blanche shrugged. He certainly dressed like one. "Of course not. I'd be a fool to wear that on my sleeve. I just have some good luck.. and a helpful source. Without giving too much away, I can tell you that I know as much about the damage done to our friend Hieronymus, as the company does."

"What?" Void was not sure he heard that right. "Astounding, isn't it? But that is what came in through the grapevine. It's not confirmed yet, but my experience tells me it is better to always assume the worst. That is why I am glad I got here in time to warn you." Who knew what would happen if Void had actually listened to Kozaky. Perhaps he would be the one lying on the ground there in bits and pieces of data and duel crystals. "..." In fact in those final few seconds Void did almost fall for the lie and started considering spairng Kozaky. "Clearly you came to us first because we're the best. But I think the others would like to hear this too." The blue-eyed girl suggested. "If you are willing to vouch for them. But you didn't hear it from me. So, did you have anyone in mind? I knew were a few of them are.." Asterisk opened the map on his dueldisk. "Because of your sources?" Void wondered out loud. "Not as such. Some of our partners are simply not the most discrete of duelists."

"Oh yeah, Skylander said he would be going to the sea region. I mean, of course he would. Pirates gotta pirate." The sea sector lied in between most other regions, and spanned a wide area. "Correct, Madam Blanche. I imagine these are the ones you are looking for." Skylander was not the type to keep his location private either. No matter where he went, others could follow. "That was too easy. We should talk to them about that as well." Void did not want any outsiders to get curious. "Indeed. Shall we go then?" Asterisk was one button push away from performing a triple quick-jump. "Hold on." First though, Void knelt down to pick up Kozaky's gems and skill card. "So that doesn't bother you?" Blanche still seemed disturbed by the idea that the scientist could have been 'alive' in some way. "It's no use to think about it now. So I don't." Void lied: Kozaky's words were not leaving his mind any time soon. However, that did not mean that the ADIs were becoming self-aware. It just meant that their script was not.. randomized. "Let's go."

The trio arrived at the very edge between beach dunes and a great ocean. Most of STHEREA's action took place on the main 'continent', divided into many sectors and zones. But a few isolated dueling spots existed on the outer rim, on small and large islands. And in between lied the great lake: a bottomless field of virtual water. Void caught himself staring. Rivers and lakes did exist nearby, but he got out so rarely that he coud not even remember the last time he saw the actual sea. "Careful, you don't wanna fall in. They have very good water physics to make you feel wetter than ever. Trust me, I know." To demonstrate, Blanche splashed some water against Void's face. "Hey.. " He caught the drops. They did feel rather realistic. "You mean you tested it out by diving into it?" Void asked. That would explain why she wore a raincoat in a bizarre sort of way. "You mean you never tested it?" She started to grin evilly. "No." He replied and made sure to not turn his back to her while he stood near the water. "Asterisk, have you seen them yet?"

"I am affraid I have." The agent pointed a few meters to the east, where a small dock met the great sealake. "They're already dueling." Skylander faced a dweller of the deep, the original Legendary Fisherman that roamed every sector rich in water. Sundown Mephistar stood a few feet away to watch the duel. A duel that had only just now begun, with the pirate duelist having the first turn. The trio came only a few moments too late, and were not yet noticed by the others.

Skylander's LP: 8000 Fisherman's LP: 8000

-TURN 01-

"Gyahah! Go my skill of the Mythical Depths, unleash the ocean!" Though his turn had yet to start, the ADI could activate his skill to subsequently activate a field spell directly from the deck: A Legendary Ocean. "Hoho!" The sea grew troubled with waves, as an ancient Atlantean city slowly emerged from the depths and gave the ADI a platform to stand on. This field spell always treated itself as 'Umi', the original ocean card. "Great..." Blanche moaned. The water level rose and soaked their legs. "I told you" The Legendary Ocean would empower all water-type monsters by 200 points of defense and attack. "Typical fishermen. Always need a bit of land to call home." Skylander was not surprised by his choice. "Not using a skill?" Sundown noted that the pirate did not follow his opponents example. "I never use skills when I go first, Mephist. Besides, I don't think I will need one." The Fisherman was a low-rank ADI, normally not even worth the effort. "Do not under-estimate them!"

_Mythic Depths, Skill Card  
__Activate "Umi" from your deck._

"You.." Sundown side-eyed the duelists as they stepped foot on the dock. "Void! Blanche! What are you doing here? You know the sea is my domain! You can let me clean it up!" Skylander saw them but did not hear them. "Sir Skylander. We did not come here to interfere but to warn you. I have reason to believe that dueling the ADI's is more dangerous than people would have us believe." Asterisk began his plea. Unfortunately he gave it to two stubborn-minded duelists. "And you are?" Sundown did not like him simply because they were never properly introduced, and Skylander seemed to wrapped up in the duel to listen. "Of course. Where are my manners? My name is Asterisk, and I know a few things." The agent quickly explained to him what he told the others before. "But there is no proof of that is there?" Sundown bitterly concluded. "And even if it were true, you cannot stop this duel now. I do not think that even I could talk Skylander out of it now.." Indeed, the pirate duelist did not even seem to realize they were talking.

"Fisherman! How about I bring in my own home!? I activate the field spell: Fandora the Flying Fortress!" Light expanded beneath the duelists feet. "Hey now." Those at the edge of the dock, Sundown and Skylander ,were carried upwards by the flying pirate ship Fandora. Steady in the air she floated on sails and red dragon wings. "Next time, warn me." Sundown did not take kindly to sudden transportations. "Sorry, partner. I just prefer the air." Fandora was a good indicator of who filled out the rest of his deck. "All hands on deck! Let's begin the sound-off with you, Beat!" _They_ were the skyfang mercenaries, also known as 'Fur Hire' monsters due to their dual man/beast nature. The first member that Skylander normal summoned was Beat the grey-haired porcupine Bladesman(3/1200/500) [Zone 3]. "Beat's effect, call for one of your comrades!" Each Fur Hire's first duty, their main effect, was to special summon another Fur Hire monster from the hand. Beat called upon Sagitta, the black raven Maverick(5/1200/2400) [Zone 2], in defense mode. "Sagitta inflicts 500 points of damage for each monster like her on my ship!" The Maverick fired two shot froms her bow rifle, and pierced right through the shoulder of the Fisherman. "Guh. The first blow is yours, gahah!"

Fisherman's LP: 7000

"You welcome the pain now?" Skylander surmised as he activated the unique effect of Beat the Bladesman as well. Each turn a Fur Hire monster got special summoned, Beat could retrieve another Fur Hire monster from the deck. "They cant feel pain, Sky." Sundown grumbled. "Don't give me that, Mephistar. Just go with the flow!" Skylander came to a decision and let Beat add a Rafale Fur Hire monster to his hand. "I set these cards down in the spell/trap row. That was it for my turn!"

-TURN 02-

Control went from the skies to the sea, and the Legendary duelist was looking forward to repaying the damage. "A blast from the past, I summon the Legendary Fisherman II!" As long as the Legendary Ocean was on the field, the levels of all water monsters went down by 1 star. These waters were perfect for a straight normal summon of the previously fifth-leveled and now strengthened Legendary Fisherman II(4/2400/2000) [Zone 3]. "Attack his Bladesman!" This younger version of the fisherman swam up close to the flying fortress on his black dolphin and fired an arrow through Beats chest with his crossbow. "Huh. That was his only attack?" After the near one turn kill that Kozaky performed on him last turn, Void did not know what to make of this ADI taking things slowly. It gave him a good feeling about Skylander's chances though.

Skylander's LP: 6800

"Nice countershot! But I was prepared for that!" The death of Beat triggered a trap that would stay on the field for a long time. "Training Fur Hire, Fur All Your Training Needs! When one of my brigade is destroyed, this card will replace them immediately with one of a lower level!" Instead of a Bladesman, the pirate called out a slingshooter. Donpa the purple fox and Marksman Fur Hire(2/500/1000) [Zone 3] got special summoned from the deck, in defense position. "Then I activate my other set card: Mayhem Fur Hire! This is a quick-play spell that brings my monster back to life!" The mayhem magic could special summon any Fur Hire from the graveyard, which meant that Bladesman Beat [Zone 4] rejoined the Fandora crew. "And when I summon one of his friends. Donpa can destroy one of your cards!" The marksman readied a sharp rock in his slingshot and released. "But my Fishermen cannot be harmed by your effects while the legendary ocean surrounds us all!" Fisherman I boasted while Fisherman II hid deep beneath the surface. "Aha! I am not aiming for your monster!"

"Oh!" Donpa targeted the field spell card! One little displaced rock would topple the whole of Atlantis and send the ocean city crumbling into the abyss. "That's better." The fact that all wetness disappeared from their clothes at the same time was a welcome departure from reality for Blanche. The sea itself did not go anywhere though, Legendary Fisherman II(5/2200/1800) was merely forced to resurface. "Then it is my turn to defend my realm." The fishing duelist placed two of his own cards in the spell/trap zone and ended his turn.

-TURN 03-

"Yes. Now the sky will crash down on you! Watch closely, Sundown.. and you too Void! You might enjoy this!" Instead of drawing from the top of his deck, Skylander pulled a specific Fur Hire monster from the middle. "On this ship of Fandora, I can draw whatever member of the crew I need!" The field spell's effect placed a Helmer - Helmsman Fur Hire card in his hand. "Donpa! Call forth the Helmsman, and then fire your shot!" The first effect of the Marksman led to the special summon of a blue scaled and fishtailed-helmsman(3/200/2200) [Zone 5]. And this in turn triggered Donpa's second effect again. "The target is his monster!"

"Do not think I will fall prey to him twice!" Fisherman I lashed out as soon as the Marksman marked Fisherman II for death. "Sea Stealth Attack! This trap activates an Umi-card from my deck!" Bubbles sprang from far below. "Not again!" The atlantian city repaired itself and came back to the duelists above; a new Legendary Ocean sent its waves across the dunes. "I second that sentiment." Even Asterisk grew tired of getting caught up in the splash zone. "He is learning." Void did not have time to worry about that. He saw Legendary Fisherman II(4/2400/2000) avoid Donpa's destruction effect behind the liquid cover of the ocean. Skylander would need to up the ante to get ahead again. "That's what you get using a slingshot instead of a gun." Sundown basically pointed out the same thing. "Then maybe I will bring out the big guns! Besides, Beat can use his effect again as well!" Summoning Helmer triggered both Fur Hire's effects. The Bladesman cut through the deck and selected Recon the Scout Fur Hire cardto add to Skylander's hand.

"Now behold!" Helmer gave away the last space on his ship, using his first effect to special summon Recon, the balloon-riding scout and female fox counterpart(2/1000/500) [Zone 1] to Donpa. Immediately after that special summon, Helmer could use his second effect to discard one Fur Hire-card (Rafale) and draw another for his controller. "Our link summon! The materials are three monsters with different types! I will choose you, Sagitta, Helmer and Donpa!" One Maverick winged beast, one Helmsman seaserpent and one Marksman beast: all three gave their lifes for their captain and commander who waited beyond the link grid. "Come out, Folgo the Justice!" A great manwolf(2400/LINK 3) {Downleft/Up/Downright} [Extra Zone 2] with brilliant silver manes and fur-lined red coat: that was their leader. "When Folgo appears, he can call another comrade and special summon them from the deck to defend the ship: one whose name differs from those used as his link materials! Sound-off! Seal!" Seal, the wise Strategist(4/1600/1000) [Zone 5] and goat-faced man with a long white mustache calmly approached in defense mode.

"But more importantly; Recons effect activates! While Donpa destroys what it can see, she targets what it cant see!" The fox scout spotted the last trap face-down on the field with her scope and took her chance to shoot at it as soon as Seal was special summoned. "And when a card is destroyed, while I control three or more unique monsters Fur Hire! Folgo can draw three cards from my deck!" Recons arrows found its target and shattered it with ease. "I believe you call that a bullseye: Sundown!" Skylander reaped the benefits and drew thrice: gaining two more monsters and a trap card. "I cant believe you keep saying 'fur hire'." The pirate loved the pun more than the gunslinger cared. "Heh. It g.. Ghuh?" His fun could not last long either. "Where did that.. come from?" Another fish swam to the surface: a Nimble Sunfish(2/1000/100).

"He summoned it with his spell..." Void gasped. From the watery dunes one could see all that transpired. "Whitefish Salvage?" And now Skylander saw it too by checking the logs on his dueldisk. "The card he set face-down was Whitefish Salvage?" Recons effect wound up destroying a set spell that special summoned a fish monster from the deck when an opponent destroyed said card. "A bluff?" This surprise rattled the normally stoic Sundown as well. "It couldn't be!" Skylander got outsmarted by an ADI, the same ADI who now grinned his bared teeth at him. "You wont keep that smile for long! Recon, summon Bravo!" Two more times he special summoned a monster Fur Hire from his hand. With her effect, the fox scout summoned the redhaired fire reptile Fur Hire; Bravo(4/1900/200) [Zone 2]. "Bravo, call Wiz!" And with his first effect, the lizard fighter summoned an octopus sage Wiz(6/1600/2800) [Zone 3]. "If I cannot break your defenses, I will strengthen mine instead!" Wiz healed its controller by 500 lifepoints for each Fur Hire monster on the field. So Skylander regained 3000 lifepoints in total.

Skylander's LP: 9800

"Bravo's effect activates too! Now all my monsters will gain 500 attack and defense points!" Once the last Fur Hire member appeared on the field, the fifth member Bravo passed his flames to everyone on board. Simultaneously, the Legendary Ocean boosted the stats of the water-type Wiz by 200 points. Beat(1700/1000), Recon(1500/1000), Folgo(2900 atk), Bravo(2400/700) and Wiz(2300/3500): they were ready to dive into the sea and hunt some fish. Alas, the defending Seal Strategist(2100/1500) would have sit this round out. "Just how many monsters are there on that ship now?" Skylander wanted to show off the skill and speed of a modern-day duelist. And in the back of Void's head there burned a less than pleasant thought, a thought that Skylanders skill exceeded his own. "I always try to get everyone in on the fun!" The pirate chuckled with pride. "Heck,I am thrilled that you are putting up more of a fight, Fisherman! But make no mistake, this will hurt!" At least his way the fun could keep going. "Attack, my Hired skyfangs!"

"In that case I activate Sea Stealth Attack's second power! It banishes one sea creature for one turn!" As the battle truly took to the seas, one member decided to hide even further. Legendary Fisherman II disappeared from sight fully and left Nimble Sunfish alone to take the hit from the attacking Bladesman Beat. "And Numble Sunfish shall assist me as well! As the sea has plenty of fish!" If the Numble Sunsfish died because of an attack, it would simply special summon another Nimble Sunfish(2/1000/100) [Zone 3] to the field in defense position. And to do so, a fish-card had to be discarded from the deck. "Ha! I knew you would! Recon!" The fox scout destroyed the second Nimble Sunfish, which summoned a third(2/1000/100) [Zone 3]. All the while, the ADI discarded his cards: Citadel Whale and Fishborg Launcher. "But you cannot sacrifice your monsters forever!" The squid-mage Wiz crushed the last Sunfish with his tentacles, leaving the Fisherman wide-open for two direct attacks. "Bravo! Folgo!" The pirates of fire and justice were all too happy to oblige. They drew upon their target with knive claws and giant broadswords, slashing him back against the pillars of the sunken city. "Graaahh!" Every hit counted.

Fisherman's LP: 1700

"Good. He is making a comeback." Now all Skylander needed was a good lineup of traps. "I set one card, and end my turn." Unfortunately, Skylanders deck was more geared towards offense and one-turn kills.

-TURN 04-

"Huh... My turn..." The fisherman wheezed. Now that he was back in control, Sea Stealth Attack returned the second Fisherman [Zone 3] to the field. "You have done well. But we..mastered the sea first, pirate of the skies!" Fisherman II left the field. "What? A tribute summon? No.." This was a special summon, a special evolution of the fisherman. "By sacrificing Fisherman I or II, I can call out Legendary Fisherman III!" The black dolphin awaited its new rider: the same burly Fisherman(7/2500/2000) but older and with flaming red hair. "Legendary Fisherman III cannot be affected by spells or traps. And when it is summoned, all your monsters will be banished. Sent to the depths!" The ultimate fisher threw his net around the entire Fur Hire brigade. "No, guys!" Wiz, Beat, Recon, Seal and Folgo; none of them could escape the master of the sea. The net took them and destroyed them permanently.

"Stay calm, Sky. He cant attack with that monster if he uses that effect." Sundown pointed out. "Maybe. But I need to make sure he doesn't summon more! I activate There Can Only Be One!" This was his last defense, but a good one. The continuous trap truly did make it so that there 'could only be one'. One type: neither duelist could control two of the same types as long as this card existed. "And my Fisherman is a warrior, so no more of him can exist. However.. !" A small bubble popped from the ocean to release an aquarium-bubble robot(1/200/100) [Zone 1] with an aquatic insect inside. "This is a fish! When the only creatures in my grave belong to the water element, Fishborg Launcher can special summon itself from those depths." There was a reason he discarded this card in the previous turn. "Oh boy." Blanche and the rest could see the reason coming. An even bigger shadow loomed beneath them. "And while I cannot control a second fish, I can replace the first!" The shadow broke through and swallowed the Legendary Fisherman III along with Fishborg Launcher. "I summon Citadel Whale!"

The real terror from the deep: a titanic citadel-sized narwhal whale(7/2350/2150) [Zone 3]. The ocean that empowered it(2550/2350) was its battlefield, and the cannons on its back were its weapons. "Of course. You can special summon Citadel Whale from the graveyard too." The summoning of Citadel Whale required two water monster tributes: and this animal _could_ attack. "This is where the sea claims the sky, pirate!" The Legendary Fisherman was not done yet. "I discard Mermail Abyssnerei from my hand, to destroy another water monster in my hand!" Now it even started using Mermail cards. Those were not supposed to be in his deck either. Unless it could pull whatever it wanted from the database. "And that destroyed monsters attack is added to another water monster!" With the attackpower drained by the white-haired mermaid, from a destroyed Levia Dragon Daedalus (2600 atk) monster card, Citadel Whale(5150/2350) had turned into a nightmare like none other. "He's done for." The worst of it all was.. the first instance of battle damage would be doubled during a turn in which Legendary Fisherman III successfully used its effect. "Guh!"

Sky's LP: 0

"Just.. in one turn?" Before he realized it, the duel was already over. Citadel Whale flew above Fandora and pierced the flying ship with cannon shot after cannon shot. "Sky! Get out of there!" Everything turned to smoke and cinders around the duelists. Sundown managed to jump away, while Skylander stayed behind. "Guys? What is... happening to me?" He did not feel right anymore. He could see why... there was a hole in the middle of his torso as well. The fatal shot went right through him and his fake body struggled to create the proper sensation. "His avatar!" It was the same story, the same kind of damage done to Hieronymus. "My god." Asterisk had been right all along and he did not like to be right in this horrifying instance. "Guess.. I am going down with the ship." Between that and his ship crashing into the virtual ocean, there was no saving him. And yet something about this made him laugh. "This really is... a wild dream." He finally passed out, and his eyes went blank. The next second, the water claimed what remained.

"One down." The Fisherman said to himself before he retreated back into the water...

(To Be Continued in Line 007: Absolute Binary Zero)

**Cards used by Skylander  
**Beat, Bladesman Fur Hire  
Sagitta, Maverick Fur Hire  
Donpa, Marksman Fur Hire  
Helmer, Helmsman Fur Hire  
Recon, Scout Fur Hire  
Seal, Strategist Fur Hire  
Bravo, Fighter Fur Hire  
Wiz, Sage Fur Hire

-  
Folgo, Justice Fur Hire

-  
Fandora, the Flying Furtress  
Mayhem Fur Hire

-  
Training Fur Hire, Fur All Your Training Needs  
There Can Only Be One

**Cards used by the Legendary Fisherman  
**_MYTHIC DEPTHS_

-  
Legendary Fisherman II  
Nimble Sunfish  
Fishborg Launcher  
Legendary Fisherman III  
Citadel Whale  
Mermail Abyssnerei

-  
A Legendary Ocean  
Whitefish Salvage

-  
Sea Stealth Attack


	7. Absolute Binary Zero

**Line 007: Absolute Binary Zero**

Nobody liked to be the bearer of bad news. "There's some!" But someone would have to be it, and today that role got filled by Blanche, Sundown and Void. They returned to the collosseum, seen by only half as many people as they were hoping to see. "You seem relieved about that. What happened?" Scarlet was the first to spot them. "Is this everyone?" The panic could be seen written on their faces: mostly Void's. He spotted Wagnerok, Crescent, Bionis Khan and a tracksuit wearing duelist he did not recognize. The rest were absent. "No.. Are we too late?" Void assumed the worst. "Hey, they could still be out there.. dueling. Or maybe they're just asleep." Blanche seemed more composed, enough to bring up less bleak scenarios. "Fear will not help us get anywhere." Sundown, though angered, managed to keep a steady head as well. "Will someone please say what is going on?" Of course, the lack of context made the others like Khan impatient instead. "It's Skylander. He's gone down."

"What?" Khan looked visibly rattled. "Down? As in, lost?" The nameless duelist acted more confused than anything. "He was defeated by an ADI. And now he is gone." Voids own comprehension of those recent events were barely adequate themselves. It all seemed too unreal. "That is not good." Crescent muttered only for Wagnerok to overpower her with his own voice. "Pfah! That blowhard was the first to lose the game? I could have known!" His laughter drew an angry glare from Khan and an even angrier outburst from Sundown. "You muscle-bound moron! This is serious!" The gunslinger growled enough to silence the loudmouthed duelist. "It sounds like it. How did this happen? What exactly took place, and where?" Ms Scarlet, though not as upset-sounding as the others, had many concerns as well. "Skylander dueled an ADI in the ocean zone. He got a hole blown clean through his avatar and he sank into the water. Asterisk is still out there, trying to find him.." Void would not even know where to begin looking. Both Skylander and his opponent vanished without a trace.

"This may not be as bad as it looks. Perhaps he simply logged off.. or his body respawned elsewhere. The great lake is not supposed to be as deep as the sea after all" No avatar could actually sink to the bottom if it did not exist. "If that's true. He would be back here by now!" Bionis yelled. "True. He still has the coordinates of this place. Still, I want to see the site of the incident for myself. Before Asterisk muddies everything up." The doctor turned her dueldisk on. "Muddle? Do you two have a thing going on or something?" Blanche was curious. "You could say that. He doesn't approve of my methods and I dislike his. But I can set that aside for now. I suggest we re-coordinate our forces. To prevent further accidents." Void nodded. "I agree. We should all split up into teams and warn those we can find!" Perhaps this time they would listen and realize that they were not just playing around.

"Wagner. I think.. he's right." Crescent decided to speak up for once as well. "Gheh. I know he is. I was about say the same thing! _We_ will go look in the forests. Neo and Yorohimiko were supposed to be down there." Wagnerock complied and quickjumped out with his usual partner. That went smoother than Void expected. "It is a good idea. I shall lend you my hand." The nameless duelist walked up to Void and took off his helmet, revealing a pointed face with gelled hair and a thin mustache. "We have not spoken yet. Call me Veyron. It is unfortunate that we meet under such circumstances." The man extended his hand. "It is. But we will make the best of it." He sounded pleasant enough. He was about to accept his handshake when Bionis interrupted. "I am going with you too. I still don't trust you." To which Void shrugged. "Very well." They could not turn down extra help. "But do we even have an idea of where to go?" The ritual duelist saw little point in having two separate groups look for people they could not track.

"I do, actually." Veyron coughed. "Miss Scura informed of where she was headed, before she left." "Scura?" Void only now realized that she had moved from her usual spot. "Where did she go?" This could not be good. "She said she had enough and was going to challenge Zettai. I do not know why however, and I could not stop her." Veyron revealed. "Zettai? Of all people?" Bionis freaked out. "Is that a bad thing?" Void was more concerned with the fact that she wanted to duel one of them to begin with. "Yeah it is. If anyone takes this game more serious than they should, its her!"

...

Scura's LP: 8000 Zettai's LP: 8000 -TURN 01-

"You have some nerve." Zettai, the duelist in black and white, found herself ambushed by the cloaked duelist Scura, right after she wrapped up a duel with an ADI in the Sogen mountain area. "It's your fault for telling everyone where you were going." Scura barely gave a reason, and refused to cancel out. "So this is about squashing the competition? It will not help you." Both of them drew four cards from their deck along with a skill card. "Is it? I guess it is. Oh, and the first turn is mine too. Why wouldn't it be?" Scura sighed. No matter how random the network could be, things never seemed to go her way. "I guess I will set one card down. Two cards.." She placed a monster [Zone 3] and a trap card face-down, both in the same column.

-TURN 02-

"Don't act like you have already lost, after you came all the way out here! You wanted a duel with me, you will have one!" Zettai sneered as her turn came sooner than she expected. "There had better be more to you than what you are presenting!"

"First spell! Foolish Burial Goods! This card sends one spell from the deck to the graveyard! The second spell!" One spell buried the other; Sky Striker Maneuver -Widow Anchor. "Now the third spell! Sky Striker Mobilize - Engage!" Because I do not have any monsters in my main zones yet, I can draw a Sky Striker card from my deck!" She took the next spell from her deck with a quick and sharp pull of the arm. "Heh. Fourth spell! Sky Striker Maneuver - Afterburners! The conditions for its activation window are the same." Because she did not control any monsters still, she could summon a blade of flames. "And its effect destroys one monster on the field!" Zettai grabbed the afterburner blade with her own bare hands and instantly closed the distance between her and her target. "Whaha?" Scura hollered as her opponent plowed the burning sword into her set monster: Dust Knight(4/1400/1200). "And when I have three spells in my graveyard, AfterBurner destroys a spell at the same time!" The blade swung further and turned a Floodgate Trap Hole trap card into ashes as well.

"Eheh.. how?" While the cloaked duelist was still reeling, the opponent withdrew. "That was not a quickjump! How the &%^#$ did you do that?" She moved around like her feet were strapped to jetpacks: each step made her jump ten feet. "Confused? The laws of physics mean nothing here. I can do what I want with my custom mods." Mobility was not the only thing she could modify. "Now, I summon Raye the Sky Striker Ace!" Her own appearance got enhanced as well! As soon as played her monster card, the duelist and monster merged into one hologram. "Haaaah?" Scura never noticed before, that Zettai basically wore the same skirt, tie and school uniform as her own Sky Striker monster card, just with longer leggings. So all that changed, when she normal summoned Raye the Ace(4/1500/1500) [Zone 2], was that her hair grew long and pink, while her uniform and skintone finally gained some color. "We are all holograms here." Raye/Zettai took another weapon out: a long red katana with black stripes. "So just accept what is possible." Again she flashed across the field, and attacked Scura directly.

Scura's LP: 6500

"Ngh.." Scura recoiled as Raye's katana tore up her left sleeve. "I bet this does not regenerate either." She moaned. "Be quiet. I haven't even started yet!" Her opponent sported a wicked grin, and a sudden burst of energy. "Because this is Raye's effect. During either players turn, I can use her as a link material for a Sky Striker Ace from my extra deck!" An instantaneous link summon, the Ace and duelist in black and white transformed through a baptism of fire. New hellish red armor made her(1500/LINK 1) {Down} [Extra Zone 1] look like a mechanical samurai, one who could fly thanks to the seven hover blades behind her back. "This is Sky Striker Ace Kagari! She gains 100 attackpoints for each spell in the graveyard and can also recycle one Sky Stiker spell from there!" The now blonde warrior/duelist(1800 atk) drew power from the three spells that remained, after Zettai added Sky Striker Mobilize back to her hand. "Haha! And we're still in the battle phase! So here's a direct attack!" She blasted through the sky and rushed passed the dark duelist to deliver a blazing and slashing strike. "Kyah!" The pain felt too much like the real thing. This was far worse than dueling an ADI. _"Rgh. At least nobody is here to see this.."_

Scura's LP: 4700

"Found them!" To show just how lucky she was; Void, Veyron and Bionis arrived just in time to see the duel. "What? The the &%#*! are you here?" Scura cried out in exasperation. "We could ask you the same thing! What the hell are you dueling each other for?" Bionis cursed. "This is Scura's design. She decided to challenge me. I simply honored her request." Zettai coldly stated. "Good evening, Zettai. I see you are still enjoying the mods." Veyron politely waved at the woman still flying in the sky. "Mods?" Void guessed that explained the odd sight of a duelist flying in a crimson armor suit. "It's morning where I am, Veyron. And you still did not answer the question." She had no patience for riddles or charms at this hour. "Of course. We're here to tell you that this quest is in fact not a quest. The danger the ADIs pose is real. We need to go back to the arena to come up with a new strategy." The news came as a shock to Scura. She did not like what she was hearing, not one bit. "No. Not now.. We are still dueling!" And yet, she refused to move. "Are you deaf? This is a big problem! Skylander already lost his avatar as far as we know!"

"Stand back." Before Khan could get close, Zettai/Kagari released a jet of flames with her cannon to push them back. "Oof. You really need to work on that temper." Veyron said, knowing that this fire-wall effect was not harmful but it was also impenetrable. "This is not about ADIs. If your story is true, than I shall grieve for Skylander later. But this here and now is a duel between real people, the only stakes here are the ones we wagered." Zettai reactivated her retrieved Sky Striker Mobilize Engage and added a Sky Striker Maneuver Eagle Booster card to her hand. "This time my spell draws an extra card, now that there are three spells in her graveyard!" The engage spell further fueled her hand. Giving her two cards to set face down in the spell/trap zone. "I do not accept a duel without victory or defeat." That ended her turn.

-TURN 03-

"Me neither." Scura smiled wryly and revealed her plans for the Sky Strikers. "Say... If I use the Shallow Grave, we have to set a monster from our graveyard." The Shallow Grave spell targeted the only monsters in either players graveyard: Subterror Guru and Skystriker Ace Raye. "You wont like that, will you?" She was no fool, she heard Zettai say that her spells could only work when there was no monster in her main zones. "You..." Zettai would not give up on her cards that easily, she could still chain one of them to the activation of Scura's spell. "The quick-play spell: Sky Striker Maneuver: Eagle Booster!" Speed would not be an issue for Zettai/Kagari anymore, not once the Eagle boosters metallic wings appeared on her back. This spell made the Ace(1900 atk) immune to all card effects for the rest of the turn. And with three spells in the graveyard, Kagari was now also indestructible. "I was affraid of that." At least the rest of Zettai's spells were negated, now that the original ace Raye [Zone 2] appeared on the field face-down. Still, this could be going better.

"Scura! Is this really what you want?" And Void had yet to understand what made her go from being affraid of ADIs, to taking on a notorious duelist like Zettai directly. "Why would you care? You barely know me." She shook her head. "This is just a test.. all of it." She activated her next card, which would change the landscape dramatically. "This a my field spell card: Hidden City. Now at least I can draw a Subterror monster from my deck." It smothered all sunlight and barricaded the sky behind walls and walls of green stone and stalactites. The subterrors called this web of rock bridges and the city at the center their home. "I guess it will be this one: Subterror Nemesis Warrior." Their first inhabitant walked out between the small stone-carved houses: a goggle-wearing redhaired swordsman(4/1800/1200) [Zone 3] in tattered capes and gear. "Nemesis Warrior gets to send another Subterror to the grave. And he can tribute himself and one other monster, to summon a Subterror. Only if their levels are at least as good as the monsters, though.." Both the Subterror swordsman and the face-down Dust Knight were used for this special kind of summon: and their levels added up to eight. "The best Subterror here is this one: Subterror Behemoth Phospheroglacier."

The sublevel world did not just provide homes for human warriors, it hid monsters as well. Phospheroglacier(8/2600/2500) [Zone 3] crawled up from the darkness beneath the city, revealing its crystalline body and dragonic shape. "Is that all?" Zettai still waited to be impressed. "If you want more.. Okay." Scura touched her new monster card and flipped it around. "Phospheroglacier can switch itself to face-down defense position once each turn. And..." Her fingers kept moving and tapped one of the cards in her 'hand' next. "If a Subterror monster hides him or herself face-down, more Subterror Behemoths can come out. Special summoned from my hand." With little warning, parts of the underground city began to collapse. An even greater demon was clawing his way up from the abyss: a black gargoyle-demon(11/3000/1400) [Zone 2] with an exoskeleton-armored body and withered claw-wings. "Like him: Behemoth Speleogeist. Oh and he can flip himself face-down too." Even this intimidating monster chose to defend rather than attack. "Is she ever going to use her monsters?" Bionis Khan did not understand these tactics at all.

"Yes yes yes." She heard him, to his surprise. "It just takes time.. a little. And sometimes I wish I could hide like they could." With another sigh came the moment to reverse the reversed. "One of my monsters can be flipped back face-up, thanks to the Hidden City's second effect!" Her field spell targeted the defending Speleogeist and made it come back in attack mode. "Now your monster gets to have some fun, Zettai. Speleogeist can make one of them flip around and drain all their attackpoints." The Behemoth roared at Raye, who had only recently come out of her shallow grave. Now it dragged the Ace(0/1500) back into attack position and into a powerless state. "A flip effect.." Void figured out why the Subterrors needed to be set face-down first, their offensive powers would only trigger if they were flipped. "Also, Subterror Nemesis Warrior can even come back from the dead. But only when a Subterror Behemoth is flipped face-up." It seemed an almost impossible jump to make, but the Nemesis swordsman [Zone 4] made it out of the graveyard in one go. "And I might as well use this too. I activate my skill: Shadows Live!"

_Shadows Alive, Skill Card  
__During the turn this card is activated, 1 face-down defense position monster you control can attack your opponent's Life Points directly.  
If it does, apply its DEF for damage calculation._

The green lighting of the hidden city created a deep shadow in front of Scura, a shadow that extended from her face-down monster to Zettai. "Now, Phospheroglacier can make an attack, even if it is hiding. Strange isn't it?" She was ready for the battle phase now. "First you." The two Behemoths struck with an impenetrable darkness. Zettai took a direct hit from the shadows, while Speleogeist made it rain black lightning. "Hmph." Kagari/Zettai managed to escape death thanks to the Eagle Boosters, but she was not fast enough to avoid all the battle damage. And Raye was not safe at all. "Now her." Subterror Nemesis Warrior rushed over to the defenseless Skystriker and impaled her with his massive broadsword. "Tch." Zettai watched as Raye fell back into the depths, swallowed by her empty grave. "I wonder what its actually like to fall down there." Scura's eyes drifted far down. "I would not think about that, if I were you." Veyron was getting uncomfortable. "Yeah don't worry. I do not mean it. Eheh."

Zettai's LP: 2500

"At least there is some power to your words. But not enough." Zettai brushed the dust off her/Kagari's armor. "You so lightly tipped the scales in your favor, that I hardly need to push back to get even! And that is what I shall do: I activate Evenly Matched!" Now that the battle phase wrapped up, Zettai's trap could be sprung. Scura, you must banish cards from your field until you control as many cards as I do! They can hide face-down in another dimension!" She controlled Sky Striker Ace Kagari and the trap card itself. "Aah.." The Subterror duelist controlled twice as many cards. "Lame.. Fine. I choose these two." She removed the Behemoth Phospheroglacier and Nemesis Warrior, leaving Speleogeist as the last creature to defend her. "And Speleogeist can flip himself face-down again because his effect reset when he flipped up earlier. And she could also keep the Hidden City. Her field spell would flip a Subterror face-up to negate any incoming attack.

-TURN 04-

"Ha! You cannot hide from me!" It would not save her. "I discard Effect Veiler!" The handtrap tuner of the veil descended from her hand and targeted Speleogeist to negate its effects. "What? Why? Just because of my field spell?" The Behemoth would stay in attack mode and Scura's turn was basically over. On the other hand, Zettai was ready to get the duel to its ending. "I attack!" Though she moved slower without her eagle boosters, the sky striking Zettai/Kagari(2000 atk) still chose to attack. "What? She can't win that fight!" Khan cursed. Indeed, Speleogeist deflected the link monsters flames with ease and crushed the girl in red armor for her audacity. "She does not have to." Veyron knew that Zettai would do anything to win. This damage meant nothing. "Scura! When a Sky Striker Ace link monster leaves the field, I can special summon Raye from my graveyard!"

Zettai's LP: 1500

The ace duelist changed her appearance back to the pink-haired student (4/1500/1500) [Zone 3]. "And she will become a link material again!" Raye/Zettai performed her instant link summon effect and transformed right back into her fiery armor form(2000/LINK 1). "Sky Striker Ace Kagari!" Kagari's effect received a repeat run as well: any Sky Strikers spells in the graveyard were at Zettai's disposal. "Come, Sky Striker Maneuver Widow Anchor! I negate the effect of your face-up monster!" She fired a clawed grappling hook from a handgun and targeted Speleogeist. "Again?" Widow Anchor ensnared the demon gargoyle "There are more than three spells in my graveyard, so I can also take control of your monster for one turn!". Now effect-less, the demon snapped over to Zettai's side of the field. "Goddammit, I knew it." Scura did not have enough lifepoints to survive two direct attacks. "In the end, this was all you could do." Kagari (1900 atk) delivered the first strike, dropping flame blasts down upon the cloaked duelist. She would make sure that Scura's own card would be what spelled her defeat.

Scura's LP: 2800

"Can I have a moment of your time, please? Zettai, I do not think you would like to win here." Out of nowhere, as seemed typical of duelists today, Midsummer Nightmare appeared. "What? You?" Zettai held off on her final attack. "What do you mean?" She demanded to know why he interrupted. "Cryomatic the Monarch duelist was defeated by Imperius Rex just a while ago. And his body got destroyed. Just like Skylanders I hear." The masked stranger delivered his news quite jovially. "Imperius? He did that?" That was not a human-on-ADI-fight! "Oh I am sure he did not intend to, Bionis Khan. But, for whatever reason, it appears we can damage each other just like the ADIs can. That is why I came to warn you." They all knew now what this meant for those currently dueling. "If I lose.. I am gonna lose this body?" Scura stared at her own hands. "Zettai. Dont!" Void shouted. "Why would I do it? That is not what I want!" Zettai cursed. "Correct. But you cannot afford a defeat either, or _your_ avatar will disappear. So... what will you do?"

"Grrr." For her, the decision was impossible. "Just do it." For her opponent, it was not difficult at all. "You don't want to lose, you deserve the win. And I do not deserve.."

"Do you want to lose?!" Zettai drowned her cries out. "What? I.. No. But... I cant win." Scura did not understand why her opponent was so angry now. "Do you want to lose everything you have here? Do you want to lose this world? Do you not like it?" She kept throwing more questions her way. "No!" That was the answer each time. "Then do not give up so easily! I am not going to let my future be shaped by this twisted game that is going on! Neither will you!" The girl in flames used one of the last cards in her hand: the skill card. "I activate the God of Wind! As my monster attacks, it will be destroyed. And we each take damage equal to its attackpoints!" The attacking Subterror Behemoth turned into a living kamikaze projectile. "You too? But then you will lose too!" The attack depleted 3000 lifepoints on each side, and neither of them could survive that. "A tie.." An impressive yet risky move: Void did not know how this game would treat a dual loss. The destroyed Speleogeist covered both duelists in flames and rocks.

Scura's LP: 0 Zettai's LP: 0

_God of Wind, Skill Card._  
_When your lifepoints are lower than your opponents and a monster you control declares an attack, you can destroy that monster._  
_and if you do, you and your opponent take damage equal to its original ATK. You cannot activate any other cards or effects for the rest of the battle phase._

"It worked. How boring." Midsummer felt disappointed when he saw the duelists emerge from the smoke unharmed. Zettai's third option managed to save them both." I.. can't believe it." Scura could keep her body, and so could Zettai. "Believe it. I will not do this for you again." The ace duelist landed on the ground again. "Why did you even duel her to begin with?" Veyron wondered. "Because she wanted an out." Void reasoned that letting Zettai defeat her was the safest way to escape the responsibilities imposed on her. "I didn't think it would be like this.." She did not deny it. "You shouldn't drag others into your selfdestruction. Take control of your own fate for once." Zettai was done with this. "I would like to take control of anything at all." Void felt the same. "We have been played." Bionis grunted, saying something Void could agree with for once. "Played by him, Static." It was time to ask some more questions about this 'quest' of his.

(To Be Continued in Line 008: Counting Up to Destruction)

**Cards used by Chiaroscura001  
**_SHADOW ALIVE_

-  
Dust Knight  
Subterror Nemesis Warrior  
Subterror Behemoth Phospheroglacier  
Subterror Behemoth Speleogeist

-  
The Shallow Grave  
The Hidden City

-  
Floodgate Trap Hole

**Cards used by Zettai  
**_GOD OF WIND_

-  
Sky Striker Ace - Raye  
Effect Veiler

-  
Sky Striker Ace - Kagari

-  
Foolish Burial Goods  
Sky Striker Mobilize - Engage!  
Sky Striker Maneuver - Afterburners!  
Sky Striker Maneuver - Eagle Booster  
Sky Striker Maneuver - Widow Anchor

-  
Evenly Matched


	8. Counting Up to Destruction

**Line 008: Counting Up to Destruction**

Fourteen duelists, only fourteen returned to the Arena Beyond. Wagnerok and Crescent only managed to locate Yoro-Himiko's group. "I wouldn't be surprised if Cherry Anise and GigaSaviorSefirot lost too. And Neo still hasn't returned either." Wagner said rather callously. "Maybe. Rex, do you know what happened?" The only confirmed losses were Skylander and Cryomatic. "How would I know anything now?! Duels.. duels aren't supposed to be like this!" The latter fell at the hands of the gladiatorial duelist Imperius. He saw his opponent slump down right before his eyes. "But what about the body, did you leave it there?" Asterisk had questions for him. But he was too upset to answer. "Yes. And we are not going back there!" The wrestling duelist Donna saw it happen too and tried to comfort the centurion gladiator. "This wont do. We cannot lose track of each other like this." Doctor Scarlet shook her head. "What do you propose then? That we set all our accounts to public?" The agent objected. "Just to each other, not to everyone else." Her suggestion could work. "Why shouldn't we ask others for help though?"

"Hey? whats going on guys?" Said the cyborg duelist Neo arriving late once again. "You're okay?" Void felt pleasantly surprised to see at least his return, especially because Neo always went out on his own. "Why wouldn't I be? It's not like I needed any help so far... Did I miss something?" Going by the look on everyone's faces, he could tell something was up. "The others can inform you." Void stated. With Neo now here, Void could do his test. "I'll fill you in. But you're not gonna like it." Blanche walked him away, leaving Void to stare at the grey skies. "Static! Can you hear me?!" The last time their 'questgiver' appeared, all duelists occupied the arena at the same time. And if their group had truly been reduced to this, the same conditions applied now. "You never told us that our avatars would be at risk in this mission of yours! Why!?"

"It was you who decided that this was a mere game. I did not lie, I only let you lie to yourselves." And show up Static did, first speaking with a loud booming voice before settling on a more painless volume.

"Besides... what is the point of a game with no risks?" The duelists could now direct their hatred towards the distorted image screen above. Something Bionis Khan could not wait to do. "Risk? This is way beyond a risk! What happened to Skylander? And the others?" Losing points or cards was one thing. Losing an avatar was unheard of. "Their bodies in this world have been damaged beyond repair. Those four will not be returning. At least not in the foreseeable future." And Mister Static made it sound like their case matched that of the judge's: a case not even the game creators could fix. "But what about them? In the real world?" Imperius only wanted to know if the duelist he defeated was even alright. "They have been taken care of. Exeter contacted them as soon as their avatars were destroyed, to ensure that they would not spread the information around. Which I imagine they are sorely tempted to do." The unseen man chuckled. "Unbelievable." Wagnerok swore. "Of course they would want to do that! And if they can't, I will! I will tell the authorities everything!" And that was the turning point.

"Uhm, did someone turn off the lights?" Blanche noted the darkening surroundings. 'He' caused this. "They will hear you, Wagner. But they cannot help you. We will make sure of that." Conversations turned to threats. "What are you saying? That you're gonna keep us here? You can not do that. You just can't!" Neo cried out. "I was not saying that. You are free to go and do what you want in the real world. Leave whenever you want. The company might even compensate you for your losses." Static did deceive them there, as far as Void could tell. His dueldisk's log-off function stayed active. "But this is not about what's out there, is it?" Sundown grumbled, seeing the proverbial snake in the grass. "No. The threat exists here. In here you will do what I asked you to do. And nothing else.. You can go and choose to just never return, but will you be happy with that? Can you leave it all behind? And I do mean everything. You wont even be able to make a new account. Ever.."

That was the question. _"Could I?"_ It shocked Void, that he instantly felt even a little dread at the thought of losing his place in this world. "That is why you picked us. Isn't it?" And he knew, Static countedon that dread. "You wanted people who would never abandon this place. All twenty of us.." He'd seen some of the love that duelists held for this fake reality: from people like Scura, Skylander and Zettai. He imagined it was the same for the rest, they saw this as more than a game. "Wait.." Void traced his thoughts to go back to a certain number. _"Twenty? Did he say there were twenty of us?"_ Four duelists went down, fifteen regrouped. Where did the last one go? Or... did Mister Static count himself as a duelist too?

"So you're holding us hostages? How are you going to pull that off?" Sadly, it was difficult to keep the train of thought going when duelists like Zettai kept arguing with their questgiver. Void could not blame them for their anger, they did not like it either that their love for STHEREA got used against them. "She is right. What gives you the authority to do this? Do you even speak for the company?" Asterisk demanded answers. "I am here for the good of Exeter. They control everything out there where I have no power. But down here is a different story altogether." The man in static snapped his fingers, turning the air dark with thunderous clouds. "Kyah!" And a lightning bolt struck the seat right next to Scura. "I could destroy your avatars just as easily as the ADIs. So would you rather face a 100 % chance or a 50 % chance of destruction? I don't know, I think the latter sounds less painful. But I really dont want to get violent. And I wont have to as long as you play your parts." Another snap of his fingers removed the storm and brought the blue sky back.

"If you are that powerful. Why do you need us to begin with?" Despite the clearly visible dimensional data tear that the lightning created, Scarlet decided to question their 'boss' further. "Or why not just recruit a thousand duelists." Blanche backed her up. "You just cannot see that I am doing you a favor by giving you this task. We went over this, I chose you because you were the best down here. But also.. because you are nobody out there." His remark struck hard. "A nobody? Me? You would do well not to under-estimate me or my family." Especially with Yoro-Himiko. "My estimate of you is higher than your father's, undead princess. And you would not tell him about this, unless you wish to bring his wrath down upon you. I know he does not approve of your _distractions_." Static's follow-up stunned her into silence, while Zanbatou glared daggers at him. "Exactly. After all, what are you but individuals sprawled out across the globe. Alone you can do nothing and nobody will even believe anything you say, you cannot even understand each other. Down here you can work together and achieve something!"

"It sounds more to me like you picked us because you knew we would be helpless to stop you." One duelist could stand his drivel no more. The wrestling duelist Monday Donna stepped to the battling grounds with heavy steps. "Is that so?"The faint noise of laughter pierced mister Static's erratic audio. "And another thing. I think you just don't want to risk yourself. I think you are not as in control as you want us to believe." Donna dramatically pointed at the sky. "I think you are simply the same as us! Which means... I can challenge you to a duel!"

"?" Time itself seemingly froze at the end of that sentence. "You wish to duel me? Heh, I always wondered what that would sound like." There was a level of uncertainty in his voice, that did not come through before. "Are you scared, Static?" Either way, she did not hear a 'no' yet. "Impressed. Though you clearly do not understand what you are doing. And I am feeling generous, so I will let you walk it back." He waited for her response. "No thanks." She waved the option away with a grin. "That idiot." Himiko could be heard whispering in the distance. "Donna!?" Imperious Rex gasped as well. "Rex, sometimes the best solution is the one of brute force! This guy put you through hell, so I am going to show him what that is like!" She prepared her deck of cards. Not one word she uttered hinted at fear. "If you wish to experience what its like being an 'example', go right ahead: Donna of the Grand Monday!" To accept her challenge, the man behind the static lowered himself to their level.. by walking out of the screen. "Who am I to stop you? Just me."

Static's LP: 8000 Donna's LP: 8000 -TURN 01-

"How colorful." Midsummer Nightmare smirked. Mister Static now looked like a human, from head to toe. However his texture needed some work, everything about his appearance got blurred out. One would describe it like looking at a person-shaped balloon filled with distorted colors and pixels. "I estimate that I will only need one turn to win this duel. So to show you that you absolutely never stood a chance, I will give you the first battle phase." He drew five cards and placed only an unknown monster [Zone 3] and trap card face-down. "But you can't take this gift back. How much time each player has, is something I get to decide."

-TURN 02-

"You can stuff those gifts. Nobody wants anything from you." As her turn started, Donna noted the cards in her hand and widened her smile with each count. "And it's funny. Because I am damn sure I only need one turn too! I summon Gouki Suprex!" What else would a wrestler use, but wrestling duel monsters? Gouki monsters like Suprex were wrestlers styled after the toughest animals known to man. This white-haired and blue-skinned warrior(4/1800/0) [Zone 1] tossed into the ring had the tail of a tyrannosaurus rex and gauntlets with claws longer than its upper body. And he was only the first. "Gouki Suprex! Choose your partner!" Donna, by way of Suprex' effect, special summoned another Gouki monster from her hand. A thinner green-skinned wrestler(4/1600/0) with a long serpents tail and cobra-like spiked tails extended from the back of his head. "He picks Gouki Twist Cobra! And what will they do together! They will link into one!" Her next entry into the duel would need two gouki monsters as link materials. "Link summon! Gouki Jet Ogre!"

Twistcobra and Suprex tagged out so that they could be replaced by a bigger blue and yellow-striped fighter(2000/LINK 2) {Left/Down} [Extra Zone 1]. Jet Ogre was an apt name for an ram-horned ogre with a jetpack strapped to his back. "And now Gouki Suprex and Twistcobra activate their effects! Once each turn, when they go the grave, they can get a new Gouki card from the deck!" Immediately Donna restocked her hand, adding the Gouki Ringtrainer monster and Gouki Rematch spell cards. "Each Gouki can do that?" This was the first time Void saw this deck in action, and it looked insanely powerful. Moreso at least than what Static would soon be forced to reveal. "Now, Jet Ogre can destroy one Gouki card to flip one of your monsters face-up!" Being that there were no other Goukis on the field yet, the Jet Ogre could only destroy itself. It flew high into the sky on its increasingly unstable jetpack and exploded right in front of the face-down monster. "Oh you want to take a peek huh? Well here you go." Static's monster, was a volley-ball playing cupid angel(4/1800/1600).

"Huh? Cupid Dunk? What a lame monster." Bionis Khan sneered. The cupid basketball player could only be destroyed by monsters with a higher level than it: that did not include link monsters. "It has to be a trick." No tournament-level duelist would start out with this kind of card. But right now Donna could only take this at face value. "Or a joke. Either way, you will regret it! Now that the field is clear of monsters, I can special summon Gouki Ringtrainer from my hand!" A horned ogre(1/0/0) [Zone 2] with red shades and a jagged towel around his neck jumped into the ring and banged the floor with his training stick. "Ringtrainer can also summon one Gouki link monster from the graveyard!" The Jet Ogre recovered from its messy selfdestruction, summoning himself [Zone 1] next to the trainer. "Now, lets take this to stage three! I link summon Gouki the Great Ogre!" The next monster demanded two Gouki materials as well, which the link 2 Ogre and its trainer could fill in for by themselves. The linking grid transformed them into a darker wrestler. The Great Ogre(2600/LINK 3) {Downright/Down/Downleft} [Extra Zone 1] was covered in horns, claws and spikes. His hear was white and a bear-like rug covered him like a cape.

"The Great Ogre reduces the attackpoints of all monsters by their defense points!" The Cupid(200/1600) groveled before the warrior and his fierce aura of intimidation. "And this show is just getting started! I activate Gouki Rematch to resummon two Gouki monsters with different levels in defense mode!" This spell could only be used once a turn. For good reason; with Gouki Rematch, TwistCobra [Zone 3] and Ringtrainer [Zone 1] could return to the field. "A double revival!? She can't be.." Those more familiar with link monsters could envision her next move. "Link summon!" Ringtrainer and Great Ogre were both used for an even higher link. The former splitting into three link materials thanks to its markers. "Gouki the Master Ogre!" There now stood the ultimate emperor of Gouki wrestlers: a majestic darkblue ogre(2800/LINK 4) {Up/Downleft/Down/Downright} [Extra Zone 1] in kingly blue armor. His crimson cape fluttered in the wind. "Link 4.." Not even Void ever needed to go that far. Donna was dead serious.

"Headbatt! Your time to shine!" She discarded a card from her hand, a Gouki Riscorpio monster. "Headbatt can be special summoned if I throw another Gouki away. And when he enters, he will boost the strength of another Gouki by 800 points!" The purple and red-clawed bat wrestler(2/800/0) [Zone 2] targeted the Master Ogre(3600 atk). "Well done, Headbatt. You were a good heel. But we need a hero again! And then she activated her spell card: Gouki Faceturn. "Faceturn destroys one Gouki to resurrect another!" The spell destroyed Headbatt, which incidentally triggered its searching effect as well and allowed Donna to add a second Gouki Rematch from her deck to her hand. "Great Ogre, welcome back!" The card she brought back was the dark berserker [Zone 2]. So Cupid Dunk got powerdrained once again. "And I know how to deal with your monster's effect too, Mister Static! It's time to attack and to use this!" Donna showed off her skill card: Warrior's Spirit. "

_Warrior's Spirit, Skill Card._  
_Special summon warrior-monster from your graveyard that was destroyed this turn. That monster cannot attack._

The Warrior's spirit within her flared up and returned Gouki Headbatt [Zone 1] to the field, linking it with the Master Ogre. "She just keeps going." Blanche felt exhausted just watching her play. "This will keep going until he is done! The Master Ogre can negate monsters effect; one for each Gouki I return to my hand!" She took Gouki Suprex back in order to pin the cupid down and make him destructible again. "Now! Take this! Ogre Axe!" She named the attack made by the berserker ogre, swinginghis double-sided great axe around in order to cleave the angel cupid in half. "A good hit, even if I say it myself." Static complemented her on the damage, despite the fact that he did not even flinch.

Static's LP: 5600

"That was just me warming up. This is the deciding blow, Static!" The woman clenched her hand. "Gouki TwistCobra! Take Great Ogre's power and give it to the Master! You are finished!" The ultimate attackpower: TwistCobra sacrificed one Gouki to transfer its attackpower. Thus the Master Ogre(6200 atk) inherited the Great Ogre's 2600 attackpoints. "That's enough! She is gonna do it!" Neo cried out, marveling at Donna's skill. "I doubt it." Scura muttered. Unfortunately, it turned out her take on matters was the more accurate one. Because the enemy managed to use his trap in between attacks. "I. Do. Not. Think. So." Mister Static waved his finger as his lifepoints shot back up. "What? How did you do that?" Donna cursed. "With this: Loss Time. This trap makes my lifepoints only 1000 lower than yours."

Static's LP: 7000

"Something like that is.." What little he gained from such a simple card made all the difference between victory and defeat. "Ragh! Master Ogre!" Donna pressed on with her attacks. While his cross chop finisher would not actually finish anything, the Master Ogre could still greatly damage the enemy and his avatar. "Ahaha, look at how close you came! I'd applaud you, but well.. That is out of my hands." The damage took every part of Static's body besides his face. "Very funny." Donna grunted. "I end my turn." There were no cards left to play. Master Ogre's attackpoints (2600 atk) went back to normal as well.

Static's LP: 800 -TURN 03-

"Yes. And you remember what I said, don't you? I only needed one turn. You are out of time. It is mine now. All of it. I activate Infinite Impermanence!"

"That card?" Zettai gasped. Few traps could be activated from the hand. And you knew you were in trouble when one was. "I control no cards, so I can play this card this turn and negate the effects of your monster!" Donna's Link 4 monster found itself targeted by the light of infinite energy. This time it would not block any of Static's monster effects. "And, when I control no monsters.. I do not need tributes to normal summon this monster. Appear, Hailon the Timelord!" Briefly, the world consumed itself inside a golden brilliance. "What is... that?"It looked like an angel descending from the beyond. Yet this thing could not even pass for a human. Timelord Hailon (10/0/0) [Zone 4] possessed a long vase-like body made from red metal. Four mechanical arms extended from its shoulders and black mercury pulsated behind her as liquid wings. This could be called Hailon however, this was merely its armor. The face of the true angel, a red-eyed woman, could be seen on an ornate screen in attached to the vessel's chest.

"Hailon attacks! Timelords cannot be destroyed. And when they battle, no damage is inflicted!" Hailon blasted the Master Ogre with a six-sided black prism, which shattered against his muscular arm. "What? Then why.." Donna did not see the point of that attack, not until she scanned the rest of the card's text with her dueldisk. "Yes. At the end of the battle phase, Hailon inflicts damage equal until your lifepoints are as low as mine." He told her anyway. "That's 7200 points of damage!" The math could not be refuted. Now Asterisk understood why Static allowed her to hit him so hard. "Like I am going to let you get even with me so easily! TwistCobra, sacrifice yourself!" She still had time before the phase's end. Gouki TwistCobra could still give his own attackpoints to Master Ogre(4400 atk). The attackboost did not matter to her though. "I activate Gouki TwistCobra's effect, and add Gouki Octostretch to my hand!" TwistCobra going to the graveyard and triggering its search was the crucial result. "Of course! Gouki Octostretch can halve effect damage! That will foil his plans!" Imperius cheered. Donna would still take effect damage, but she could discard her new Gouki monster to at least make that damage palatable.

"That will buy you time. But that was then. This is the new now." Static forced the last card out of his 'hands'. "Celestial Transformation!" A quickplay spell to special summon a fairy-monster from his hand: with its attack halved. "No.. Not another one!" And he special summoned a second Timelord. "Yes, there is not just one lord of time. This the Raphion the Timelord!" The basic shape stayed the same, just less thin and with two less arms. Its wings were of white feathers, while its main body had a green and silver color. "Raphion attacks!" The blue-haired and red-eyed angel behind the chest-glass fired a vortex of light from his mouth. The wind froze Gouki Master Ogre from head to toe. "Ah!" It took no damage otherwise, Donna would take it instead. "Now, at the end of the battle phase, you take damage equal to the attackpoints of that monster." This effect translated into 4400 points of damage, if she did not stop this. "You.. have got to be.." And she could not stop it, she could not stop both Timelord effects. And no matter which damage she halved with Gouki Octostretch, the combined damage would wipe her life out.

"I end my battle phase.. What is your response, Donna the Grand Monday?"

"You do what you want. You will not get anything from me. And you will not get anything from them either!" She knew the jig was up, but she would not give him the satisfaction of agonizing over her defeat. Donna would weather whatever came her way. "I did not ask anything from you. But.." Static activated the powers of the two Timelords. Hailon pinned Donna down with black crystals to drop her lifepoints immensely, while Raphion shattered Gouki Master Ogre's ice prison to crush her remaining lifepoints. "...I will be taking something. I just figured out a way for you to still be useful to the group." The wrestler, still pinned down by the lord of time, was now also trapped inside a transparent bubble. "You.." Her body was sapped of all its strength, and her voice drained of sound. "What are you doing to her?" Imperius shouted. "I have placed her on time-out. To be more accurate, I have set her avatar in stasis mode so that she cannot log back in. I saw no reason to let a good duelist go to waste, but I also had to punish her. You can see the bind I was in." Mister Static chuckled.

Donna's LP: 0

"That's when I figured.. I could just do this. And use her as a way to ensure you will give my mission the full 100 %. I am sure some of you were already thinking about just never coming back here and pretending that everything was fine. Not so easy now, is it? No. I want to see these errant ADIs removed from this world. And unless they are all gone, Donna will not get her life here back. See, now you are doing it for her!" He snapped his fingers and tossed the Donna avatar into his portal of distortion. "That's just unfair." Crescent whispered. "How do we know she herself is not hurt by this?" Scarlet wanted to know. "You don't. And you wont find out either. Honestly, you should still be doing this regardless. If the glitches don't get removed, this world will be destroyed anyway. So, I expect to see you all back tomorrow. And do not try to be cute like Donna was. In here, I am invincible. Get that memorized. Oh and... sleep well." The static man jumped up into the portal screen and closed it behind him.

"Damn you!" Sundown cursed. He knew, they all knew. Though they could leave and go back home, they were essentially tied to this place now. Even Void. "Ugh." When this began he thought he did not have to care about those around him. But they loved STHEREA just as much as him. They did not deserve this. Nobody did. "We have no choice, but to keep coming back until Static is happy."

(To Be Continued in Line 009: Monitor)

**Cards used by Grand Donna the Monday Smasher  
**_WARRIOR'S SPIRIT_

-  
Gouki Suprex  
Gouki TwistCobra  
Gouki Ringtrainer  
Gouki Headbatt  
Gouki Octostretch

-  
Gouki Jet Ogre  
Gouki the Great Ogre  
Gouki the Master Ogre

-  
Gouki Re-Match  
Gouki Faceturn

**Cards used by Mr. Static  
**Low Cupid  
Hailon, the Timelord  
Raphion, the Timelord

-  
Celestial Transformation

-  
Loss Time  
Infinite Impermanence


	9. Monitor

**Line 009: Monitor**

A new day, with new opportunities. And yet none lied within Void's reach. The demands of the other world superseded all. It would have been easy to stay out of it, to abandon VRAINS and ignore its problems like the company itself was doing. Even now, with some cases of ADI bugs reaching public ear, the situation got written off as a minor consequence of programming the massive fundraiser event. He could not pretend the same. He could not abandon anyone, despite barely knowing them. A sense of bonds: perhaps Static wanted to develop that aspect as well. But only in a way that benefited him. Despite this, the remaining duelists were far from inseparable. "Is this it?" When Void returned, he only saw half of the usual group. "Hey, as far as I know, everyone is still on board." Blanche he already expected to see. "Some are just sleeping right now. Or busy with something like Scarlet and Asterisk. No idea what though. Speaking of which, did you even sleep well?" She asked. "I slept, that should be enough... We cannot play around anymore."

"Probably not. We probably should also still go in teams, but maybe we swap partners today. Not that I am tired of your old mug, of course." She winked. "No. That is actually a decent idea." This way he, and the others, could get to know each other better. "No it is a terrible plan! We are a perfect team already, right Crescent?" The already existing duos like Wagnerock/Crescent dismissed it however. "But. more allies means better odds." Or at least one half of that team seemed to think so. "Hmm. More allies could be useful. Why only have one fan to watch me duel, when I can have two? Alright, Blanche. I... we have decided you can join us!" Wagner laughed. "Great. I walked right into that bargain." There were few partners left to pick from anyway. "Then what about me?" And Void drew the last straw. "Uh.. have fun." Blanche pointed at the last two duelists remaining: Sundown, Yoro/Himiko and Zanbatou. "Oh." One pair that would not leave each other. And one bitter duelist who refused to even talk to anyone currently. "I suppose I can go wherever you are going." He tried the team first.

"If you must." Himiko shook her head and Zanbatou merely gave the duelist a respectful nod. "Follow us." He grunted. "Alright.." That went better than expected.

...

He was at their beck and call, and they beckoned him to go what appeared to their favorite zone: the magical forest outside the royal capitol. Trees and flowers of every kind grew here, even those that could not exist in the real world. "So.. how was your day?" Void knew he did not excel at small-talk. But the forest seemed to be strangely devoid of digital life. If he did not speak up, he'd be left walking in an uncomfortable silence. This team seemed even more business-minded than he himself. "Quiet." Zanbatou finally uttered a word with his gravely voice. "Sorry?" Void figured he said something wrong. "No. He is saying the forest is too quiet, foolish boy. This area is meant to be filled with life." Himiko clarified. "Yes. That is strange." No matter where they looked, they saw no ADIs from here to the edge of the forest. "Did others clear out the area already?" Void could not imagine 8 hours of sleep would change that much.

"Hey!" They did find one sign of life at the outer rim at least. Or rather it found them. "Hey hello! What are you guys doing here?" It was another duelist, a relatively new one based on his basic avatar. "Just walking." Yorohimiko claimed and tried to ignore him. "But why? The fundraiser is still going!" Yet this kid insisted upon himself. "We know. But we are.. occupied." Void replied, trying not to give away anything. "Occupied, with another event?" Naturally this kind of news only excited a curious mind. "You are beginning to sound like one of those commercial bots. Are you sure you are human? if so, then this does not concern you." And when Voids more polite tone did not work, Himiko took up a more scornful one. "Hey hey. I didn't mean to start trouble. Its just that this ADI was hosting a special extra event for duelists who weren't already in one of the big races, to get some extra funds. Duelists like you could help!" And then he let something interesting slip. "Wait..." Void and his team stopped walking. "An ADI? What ADI? What did it say and do specifically?"

"It was this snake-haired lady. She gave me a rare card if I could help find people for her event.." The kid showed off his card: an equipment spell called Evil Eye of Selene. "She didn't say what the event would be, just that its gonna go down in the jungle's rainbow ruins!" This duelist genuinely did not seem to realize that this was not normal ADI behavior. "I see. And where is this lady?" Void asked as he gave Yorohimiko a knowing look. She was thinking the same thing. "Huh? Oh back at the capitol, near the big fountain. But that's not where the event is going to be!" Their would-be recruiter was left rather confused. "We thank you for bringing this to our attention. But we have something to resolve first." Himiko bowed, just before she, Void and Zanbatou quickjumped away. "Okay.. see you there then?"

...

The ADI had not moved, she still stood in front of the fountain when they teleported in. "Hey!" Void stared into the eyes of Medusa, a female demon with slithering purple hair and snake-like tendrils that coiled around her black outfit. "Greetingsss, duelists. How can I assssist you?" Eyes were her theme: red eyes on her waist, feet and of course two on her face. "Do not play with us, ADI. We know you sent that kid to lure us into a trap." Himiko cut right to the chase, like Void she figured that going to the ruins would have been a fools errand. "I know what you are talking about." Medusa hissed back. "You deny it then?" Void did not expect this; an ADI that could lie as well. "Are you certain you want to? We have killed many of your kind already." Himiko pushed back with a taunt. "Do you wisssh to chhanllenge me?" The snake woman could only do one thing with input like that, she prepared her cards and herself for a duel "We do. But Unfortunately, we prefer to duel as a team. Void, do you care to try? Or are you affraid? Now that you know the risks?

"Not too affraid to duel. I knew it would come to this eventually." He activated his dueldisk. "And there is only one way to find out the truth." The first turn came to her.

Medusa's LP: 8000 Void's LP: 8000 -TURN 01-

"You will be affraid. We have been watccching you! Me, Selene and Ssserziel, Watcher of the Evil Eye!" Medusa normal summoned a young man(4/1600/1400) [Zone 1] with short purple hair. Mutated armor of red/purple flesh and yellow eyeballs covered this demon watcher: her partner in card-form. "Serziel, find the Evil Eye. Selene commands it!" His power allowed the duelist to draw an Evil Eye-card from the deck. And she chose the equip spell that connected them all. "We activate the Evil Eye of Sselene!" One eye would become the Evil Eye. A silver and red crescent-shaped mask covered the top right half of Serziels face. "Now, each time Serziel activatesss his effect, or we activate an Evil Eye spell/trap card's effect, the Evil Eye of Selene will take my lifeforce to her host!" She gave a quick demonstration. "We activate Pareidolia, the Domain of the Evil Eye!" While she manifested the evil field, the Evil Eye equipment activated its effect. 500 lifepoints were stolen from Medua and added to Serziel(2100/1400) as attackpoints. "How unsightly." Himiko scoffed as she took in the reshapen four duelists no longer stood in a city square, but a desolate plain under a stormy night sky. The only only feature was a black and gold castle filled with spires rose up. "In our Domain, we can claim one card of the Evil Eye!" Medusa hissed and added a monster card, herself. "We add Medusa, Watcher of the Evil Eye and end our turn."

Medusa's LP: 7500 -TURN 02-

"My turn then.." Void looked at his cards, but waited to play them. "You say you have been watching me... What do you mean with that?" Simply beating it wouldn't help him get the answers. "I dont know what you want to know, Void." The ADI replied. "You know my name?" He flinched. The same thing that happened with Paladin Jain happened here. And now the ADI had practically teased him. She would likely not actually tell him anything unless he advanced the duel at least a little. "I can special summon Linkslayer, as long as I control no monsters!" So he would use his lynx-warrior(5/2000/600) [Zone 3] to destroy her equipment card first. "Serziel!" Except she countered immediately, making the Watcher(2600/1400) attack the Linkslayer with a magic beam fired from Selene's eye.

Medusa's LP: 7000

"Havent you been watching? That card has a quick-effect!" Yorohimiko scolded him. Serziel's effect could destroy a monster each turn, as long as the Evil Eye was equipped to him. This also caused Medusa to give up another lifepoint sum to empower Serziel. "I know what I am doing, Serzial cannot destroy more than one monster each turn... Though you could have warned me before it happened." The priestess princess was even less used to teamplay than he was. She had no comment on the matter either way. "I summon Draconnet!" Right away, Draconnet the cyberse wyvern(3/1400/1200) [Zone 1] special summoned a Bitron(2/200/2000) [Zone 3] from Void's deck. They did not have to be afraid of any Evil Eyes. "The materials are one normal monster.. and one level 4 or lower cyberse monster!" Both monsters headed off into their own link circuit. Bitron turned into the Link Spider(1000/LINK 1) {Down} [Extra Zone 1], while Draconnet was used to link summon the Link Devotee(300/LINK 1) {Up} [Zone 2]. "And I will use two link monsters as materials for Double Byte Dragon!"

A third link circuit opened up for the co-linked Link Spider and Link Devotee. Green lightning consumed them both. "Ho. Interesting choice." Double Byte Dragon's name stemmed from the fact that cybernetic black dragon(1500/LINK 2) {Up/Down} {Extra Zone 1} possessed a head at each end of its long body. "Double Byte Dragon gains 300 attackpoints for each link marker that was on its materials! And it cannot be destroyed or affected by non-link monsters!" A current of green electricity ran through the spine of the dragon(2100 atk). "I set these two cards and give the turn to you!" He could not attack this turn, but he was able to create a solid defense. Serziels Evil Eye power was useless against Double Byte.

-TURN 02-

"Tsss. And Serziel must destroy one of my cards, whenever it destroyed one of yours in the previous turn." The Watcher set its sights upon Medusa's field spell as soon as her turn started. It fired another blast from Selene's eye and set the entire Pareidolia citadel on fire. "Selene assssks much from us." Even this negative effect forced Medusa to channel her lifeforce through the Evil Eye and towards Serziel(3100/1400). The Eye of Selene's effect could never be denied.

Medusa's LP: 6500

"In that case, this is where I am needed." Medusa summoned her card: the Watcher of the Evil Eye(4/1400/1600) [Zone 4], by taking one step forward. This was a common visual effect whenever an ADI became a direct part of the duel. "My power is this. We return one Evil Eye card from the grave." She touched the withered ground with her hand in order to retrieve the Evil Eye Domain spell. "I wondered why this heinous background did not get destroyed completely." Himiko muttered. Now she could see it was all part of the plan. Once Medusa got her field spell back, she could reactivate it. "Pareidolia!" The citadel returned, and its activation enforced the fourth lifepoint transfer into Serziel(3600/1400).

Medusa's LP: 6000

"That wont work, Medusa." Its attack would hurt Void, but Double Byte Dragon would endure. "Yes. His task is done." Medusa used the domains own effect to add another Bajilius, Familiar of the Evil Eye monster to her hand. "That is why we summon Basilus! The familiar can appear whenever an Evil Eye monster exists!" Her own kind of serpent; a black basilisk and with a third red eye, special summoned itself(3/400/2000) [Zone 5] from her hand. "And with the spell of the Evil Eye Awakening, we special summon Catoblepas, Familiar of the Evil Eye!" Malevolent bloodred energy seaped from the Eye of Selene, which would drain lifepoints for Serziel(4100/1400) for the last time. Since Medusa controlled that equip spell, her Awakening spell could special summon a Evil Eye monster from the deck: the long-necked and red-horned buffalo creature from myths: Catopeblas(3/600/1900) [Zone 3]. "The link materialsss are three Evil Eye monsters!" Both creatures with the petrifying third eye vanished, along with Serziel the Watcher, into a three-marked link grid. "And we link summon, Zerrziel, Ruler of the Evil Eyed!"

Medusa's LP: 5500

Zerrziel, the dark archangel(2600/LINK 3){Downleft/Up/Downright} [Extra Zone 2], was what Serziel became after the Eye of Selene fully corrupted him. Wings with colorless or crimson feathers sprouted from his back, while an eye-filled mutation armor grew all over his body. "Evil Eye of Selene issss in the graveyard, yet it ssshall not not rest there! I offer more of my life to return it to me!" For a mere 1000 lifepoints, Medusa could activate Selene's equipment spell from the graveyard and retrieve it... and immediately equip it to Zerrziel. Now corruption encompassed almost all of the angel's body. "While Zerrziel is equipped with Selene's Eye, it can destroy one card on the field! Your dragon can be destroyed by a link monster, Void!" Zerrziel used the eye much like his previous incarnation: firing a beam to kill its target: Double Byte Dragon. And just like Serziel, Zerrziel took life from Medusa to boost his(3100 atk) powers.

Medusa's LP: 4000

The answer would have to wait. First he needed to save his monster. "I activate Cynet Backdoor, and banish a cyberse monster for one turn!" A hexagon shaped portal opened up behind the dragon and dragged him into a safer space. Zerrziels blast missed it all-together. "I can also add a Cyberse monster to my hand, whose attackpoints were lower than the banished monster!" His quickplay spell provided a backdoor into his deck, as it were. He used this to gain access to a Cyberse Gadget monster, a card with 700 less attackpoints than the removed Double Byte. "In that case we will attack you, together!" Medusa activated a continuous spell next: Evil Eye Repose. "We banish one Evil Eye, to draw one card!" The point of this activation was less the trade-off: banishing Basilus from the graveyard for a card in the deck. Moreso it was used to make Zerrziel(3600 atk) stronger again through the equipped Evil Eye. "Zerrziel! Make it rain darknes!" Wth his new power, he brought Void down to his knees with a bolt of unholy energy. "Argh!" It hurt more than he was expecting.

Medusa's LP: 3500 Void's LP: 4400

"That is odd. Isn't it?" As Void staggered, he noticed Himiko saying something to her still taciturn bodyguard. "What is?" He wanted to be in on that. "The way it speaks is the same as other rogue ADIs. And he would know, he remembers all our previous opponents." She explained. "Are yu telling me your previous opponents ssssounded like her?" Void found that difficult to believe. "No, not in that way you foolish man. Not with the hissing, but with its sophisticated words. It's lost its lisp halfway during the duel anyway, or did you not notice? Three-pronged attack, make it rain: these phrases should not be universal. Where did you hear them, oh watcher of the evil eye?" She inquired. "I do not know what you are talking about! It doessss not matter!" Whether the ADI could not process the question, or did not want too.. was unclear. It did force hissing back into its voice though. "Hrm.. Very odd.."

"Ssssilence! Zerrziel can attack twice when one of its link materials possessssed 2600 attackpoints or more!" With its second attack and Medusa still on the field, it could easily finish off Void in this battle phase. "Not so fast! I special summon Interrupt Resistor!" A dashing cybernetic rogue(0/2100) [Zone 3] in white armor and cape leaped down in front of Void. "This monster responds to the damage I took! And brings himself out with an equivalent attackpower!" The Resistor used the pain of Void to fuel crackling energy into his two daggers. Now he(3600/2100) turned into Zerrziels equal. "Pointless! A monster that iss given the Eye of Selene, cannot be destroyed!" The demon angel attacked again anyway, impaling Interrupt Resistor on its claws. "Evil Eye Repose banishes any monster that is attacked by Selene and her host!" A greater red eye opened up in the pale sky, and gazed down upon the wounded cyberse. With one forceful blast, Interrupt Resistor was banished permanently. "Disappear. Just disappear!" Afterwards, Medusa attacked herself and hit Void directly with the snakes in her hair.

Void's LP: 3000

"This anger is so ugly. Do you want us gone that much, because we hunt your kind? Do you even care for each other?" Himiko found herself wondering. "Yess. We care and we want that!" Medusa no longer pretended and placed two trap cards behind her two monsters. She also activated another monsters effect. "Be reborn, Catoblepas!" The buffalo demon [Zone 5] possessed the ability to special summon itself from the graveyard in defense mode, because of the everpresent Selene Eye card. "You have your world! We will have this one!" She ended her turn afterwards. "Well, we are not going anywhere. This is our world too!" With Void's turn set in motion, the Cynet Backdoor opened once again to return Double Byte Dragon(1500 atk) [Zone 2] to the field, but without its additional attackpoints. "Then we will make ssssure you are never welcome!" Medusa countered with her link monsters effect. Zerrziel targeted the Dragon for destruction again, and the Eye of Selene gave the angel(4100 atk) more of Medusa's lifeforce.

Medusa's LP: 3000

"You will have to try hard, Medusa! I activate Salvagent Driver!" A golden armored cyberse biker drove in on a futuristic two-wheeler and spun circles around the wasteland. "Salvagent Driver can be summoned when a link monster is destroyed. And if I discard a spell, it can revive another Cyberse!" With this he could revive the Linkslayer. "Not if that monster serves us! As all will do in the end! I activate Evil Eye Messsmerisssm!" The first trap revealed itself. "As long as I wield the Eye of Selene, we can control your monster!" Zerrziel(4600 atk) mesmerized the new cyberse with its hypnotic red eye, and caused Salvagent Driver [Zone 1] to rush over to a zone he pointed at. "Then I will take control of your monster in return!" Unflinching, Void activated the Mind Control spell card. "No! What iss ours, will stay ours! We negate that vile spell with Evil Eye Retribution!" Her second trap turned out to be a counter trap. Zerrziel, equipped with Selene's eye, could negate a spell or trap card once a turn. "You are powerlessss! You cannot continue!"

Medusa's LP: 2000

"Oh. I see you what you are doing." Himiko made an impressed noise. "You antagonized it to weaken it." Every time Medusa used her Evil Eye traps, she lost lifepoints to the angel (5100 atk) equipped with the Evil Eye of Selene. Yet Medusa herself received none of that power and stood there with a mere 1400 attackpoints. "But I should warn you, Void. Her field spell has a second effect." The princess had been paying attention too. "I was aware, miss Himiko. But I am glad that you gave me the tip this time." If Void attacked an opponents monster, Pareidolia would make him take the same damage as Medusa. "Let us just say that we have warmed up to your amusing presence." She smiled. "That is good enough for me.."

-TURN 04-

"I summon Cyberse Gadget!" Small bits and pieces of cyberse tech and wires were cobbled together to create this little robot(4/1400/300) [Zone 3] with a recorder strapped to its left arm and a helmet for a face. "When Cyberse Gadget is normal summoned, it summons one level 2 or lower monster from the graveyard! I summon Bitron!" With its armdevice, the gadgeteer created a narrow portal into the graveyard. Only the effectless bit creature [Zone 4] could pass through. "The materials are two cyberse monsters! I link summon Recovery Sorcerer!" The new Gadget/Bitron duo formed the link circuit for a slightly less mechanical cyberse: a green-haired wizard(1500/LINK 2) {Left/Down} [Extra Zone 1] in golden hat and coat.

"When Cyberse Gadget is used as a link material, he creates one Gadget token. Also, the Recovery Sorcerer can restore one link monster that was destroyed this turn!" Two more monsters filled out his field simultaneously: one gadget token(1/0/0) [Zone 3] and the inescapable Double Byte Dragon [Zone 2]. "The link materials are at least two cyberse! I link summon Vector Scare Archfiend!" He knew the answer to the Pareidolia conundrum and he could create it with Double Byte Dragon as a dual link material and Recovery Sorcerer as one. Vector Scare(2400/LINK 3) {Up/Right/Downleft} [Extra Zone 2] wore a vampiric cape and collar, and a halfmask on its demonic face. "Medusa! If one finishing attack dooms me as well, then I will simply divide the damage!" The vector fiend opened a gaping mouth on its chest and unleashed hell in fiery form upon Medusa. "Hssss!" Her card form was burned to a crisp, forcing her back. "You dare! In our domain!" Her field spell lashed back instantly, and forced both duelists to share the damage. "I dare, because this is Vector Scare Archfiends effect!"

Medusa's LP: 1000 Void's LP: 500

The cyber-demon raised its claw above its head to open a door to a dark space. "When it destroys a monster, it can bring a monster back to life by sacrificing another monster it points too!" The Gadget Token got pulled into the other world, while the Watcher Medusa [Zone 4] returned in attack position. "Why?" Even the watcher did not understand this. "Because when Vector Scare summons a monster to your field, it can attack that monster again! And your field spell can only reflect damage once each turn!" This attack would only hurt her, and would hurt her enough to end the duel. "So I am giving you a chance to tell us, Medusa! How much do you know about us? How long have you been watching?" Void tired of this seemingly endless struggle. Here he saw a way to make progress. "I.." And the ADI struggled as well, with its programming it seemed. "Thissss is.. unacceptable." A part of her wanted to answer Void. But that part no longer had control. "Unacceptable!" Another part took over her right arm.. and placed a hand on the dueldisk. "What?!" It surrendered!

Medusa's LP: 0

"Why did you..." Himiko watched the ADI implode soundlessly into cards and gems. Surrendering also meant selfdestruction. "It selfterminated, despite all their talk about wanting to exist?" Even if she could accept that ADIs could surrender to begin with, this did not seem like a thing an ADI would choose to do. "It tried to take me down with it, as if it only mattered that I would lose" Void was starting to wonder if it wasn't just the ADIs that were getting smarter. "They are not in control." Zanbatou spoke again, briefly but clearly. "Yes. That has to be it. This one was right here in the city and did not even attack anyone. Instead it plotted and recruited while apparently all the others are hiding. They are coordinating. Studying us." Something else made Medusa surrender, before they could ask it anything. But who was the one 'in control'? "The way you speak, you make it sound like this world itself is our enemy." Himiko shuddered. ADIs would be dealt with, but that...

That would be a nightmare.

(To Be Continued in Line 010: Who Operates the Operators?)

**New Cards used by Void  
**Interrupt Resistor  
Salvagent Driver  
Cyberse Gadget

-  
Double Byte Dragon  
Recovery Sorcerer  
Vector Scare Archfiend

-  
Cynet Backdoor

**Cards used by Medusa  
**Serziel, Watcher of the Evil Eye  
Medusa, Watcher of the Evil Eye  
Bajilius, Familiar of the Evil Eye  
Catoblepas, Familiar of the Evil Eye

-  
Zerrziel, Ruler of the Evil Eyed

-  
Evil Eye of Selene  
Evil Eye Domain, Pareidolia  
Allure of Darkness  
Evil Eye Awakening  
Evil Eye Repose

-  
Evil Eye Mesmerism  
Evil Eye Retribution


	10. Who Operators the Operators?

**Line 010: Who Operators the Operators?**

Void, Yorohimiko and Zanbatou apparently had earned a unique story for themselves. "Geez that plan sounds complicated. Maybe they really do have a boss?" When they returned to the arena beyond, neither Blanche nor anyone else could tell a similar tale, of ADIs setting up ambushes. "That might explain why I did not even see any rogue ADIs. What about the rest? Where you approached? Did you tell any outsiders anything?" Asterisk saw this as a good reason for concern. "No.""Fortunately not." Sundown Mephistar and Imperius Rex managed to assure the agent. Neo on the other hand could not. "Ehr.. yeah I did meet one guy. But I told him I had no time for it and just left. I didn't think anything of it." His open confession drew an intense and up-close glare from Sundown. "Are you sure about that?" The gunslinger demanded to know. "Yes! I didn't tell him anything! Did you think I would?!" The cyber-duelist protested. "You're a known talker. But.. I believe you." Sundown saw no deception in his expression.

"Do you now? Can anyone honestly believe the face of an avatar?" Midsummer took this moment to walk in on the discussion. "You have some nerve for talking like that while wearing that mask." Yorohimiko stated with mild contempt. "Our bodies are forgeries, one might as well embrace the lie." The masked jester laughed. "They have a point though, Midsummer. Of all the duelists here, you have given us the least reason to trust you." Void felt it was time to address the issue known ad Midsummer Nightmare. "Indeed. You never pair up with anyone else. You haven't even dueled any ADIs as far as we know." Asterisk backed Void up. "And why should I? This is about survival, not about seeing who gets to kill the most. The only ones to keep score are Wagnerok and his ilk anyway. And if I had any ill will towards any of you, I would not have been here. Nor would I have stepped in to save Chiaoroscura."

"Wait, where did Wagnerok and Crescent go?" Only now Void noticed that Blanche stood here by herself. "We didn't really connect. They went off with Veyron instead. Dont know what that dude sees in ol' Waggers." The white girl shrugged. "They did not fall into the trap already, did they? If they went to the rainbow ruins.." Void made sure to check the entire map. Since everyone had set their profiles to be visible to each other, they could tell where they all were at all times. "They're not. Phew." Neither Wagneroks group, nor Zettai/Bionis Khan and Scura were anywhere near the ruins. "But to get back to the trust issue, Midsummer. It would help if you showed us a face." It did not even have to be his real face, just something with expressions. "I will consider it." The man could show off a smirk at least. "Are we talking about masks now?" That was more than the woman could do, who came in with a red-eyed gasmask.

"GAH! Who are you!? How long have you been standing there?" Neo jumped back immediately. "Calm now. It's just me." Sharp red hair emerged from the gasmask as the doctor pulled it off of her head. "Scarlet?!"The cyborg duelist gasped and wheezed. "You realize you do not have to overreact every time, Neo. Nobody is following your streams anymore." Himiko sighed. "What? I don't overreact! My streams are 100 % genuine! I just.. I just scare easily, okay? Scarlet nearly gave me a heart-attack! Geez!" The cyborg duelist wheezed. "I can help you with that, if it comes that far." The doctor grinned.

"Yo Scarlet. Neat mask. What's it do?" Blanche figured the doc wouldn't create an object like this if it did not have a purpose. "Oh this? This is my scanner. It lets me see ADIs or other parts of this program that are not acting according to their scripts. The range is quite extensive too, it can see an entire sector as soon as I jump into it." After all distance was only an illusion in VRAINS. "And why does it have to look like.. that?" Asterisk noted the masks beak: which made it resemble a plague doctors mask. "Because I have a sense of style." She said mockingly "It took me quite a while to get the visuals to load properly. These game makers are very fickle about custom mods." She seemed quite proud of it. "Is that why you were gone so long?" Void inquired. "Partially. I made something else too. And I want to test it on one of the ADIs. You can all come along if you wish. This might be the breakthrough we all need."

"Well damn. I can't say no after a story like that." Blanche eagerly submitted herself. "Indeed. And as a fellow mask wearer, I simply must obey." Midsummer chuckled. "If what you say is true, then most of us should be seeing this." Void looked back at the remaining duelists. Neo, Imperius and Asterisk all appeared to agree and were ready to leave. "I'll stay here to hold down the fort... as usual." Sundown mumbled. Six duelists still active elsewhere meant that someone would need to tell them what they missed: on the Scarlet front and the Void front. At least he would have Yorohimiko and Zanbatou for (silent) company. "I am glad we settled that. But then this is always the easy part."

...

A prompt for coordinates later, and the seven duelists found themselves in the middle of a lush rainforest near an empty and calming beach. "Is this.. the tropical island zone?" None of them had been to the other side of the sea yet. "Yes. I overheard you talking about a trap of sorts? In the rainbow ruins? An interesting theory. I imagined there would at least be some ADIs here, if they were trying to capture you." The woman put on her scanning plague mask and peered into the woods. "So your judgment call was to bring us closer to said trap?" Asterisk did not quite follow the logic in that. "Not getting scared, are we? Now hush, I need to finetune this." The doctor fiddled with her mask and with her dueldisk, rewriting some of her code on the spot. "There, streamlined the design. Now it should.. aha!" Her mask's eyes lit up. "Aha? You have found one? Where?!" Imperius tried hard to see what she was seeing. "Follow me!" She made them walk a few yards before they stopped behind a rock. "You better stand back for this." And she walked the last few steps by herself.

"Scarlet?!" Void cried out her name anyway, as an amazoness paladin struck with sudden speed. The female warrior jumped down from the palmtrees, sword already in full swing. "Ah ah ah!" The doctor did not even need to look behind her to catch the blade with her bare hand. "Come on. You can't use that against me. You're not that free." She pushed the blade back. It did not even leave a mark. "Anyway! See, my tracker works. That's one for me, nothing for you, Asterisk!" She shouted joyfully as she moved the mask off her eyes but leaving it hanging on the side of her face. "Why are you here?" Because of that, the amazon realized rather quickly that got herself surrounded. "Not falling for your trap, for one." Void came out from behind the rock. "You were waiting here for us, were you? Or were you planning to spawn elsewhere when the time was right?" ADIs were not programmed to quickjump all over the place, but they could move freely about their own sectors. "I do not know what you mean. But if it is a challenge you want.." The Amazoness Paladin would give it. "Those are the magic words, yes."

Scarlet's LP: 8000 Paladin's LP: 8000 -TURN 01-

"Wait. Did you bring us down here just so we could watch you play a game?" Neo cried out. He was even less fond of being the audience than Void. "This only works if I am the one dueling. But no, you are here to make sure nobody interrupts this duel." Scarlet placed one monster [Zone 1] in face-down defense position, along with two set spell/trap cards. "You mean, the battle royale routine?" Asterisk immediately understood what she was saying. "Battle royal? This game can handle battle royals?" A free for all dueling system were duelists could get double-teamed was not a VRAINS feature known to Void or most duelists. "The code is there for it. The game makers just patched it out to sell as extra content later." The agent explained. "And the ADIs might be planning to use it anyway? Tsch, cheaters." Blanche shook her head. "Do not worry. Even if you yourself wont see any action, this duel is well worth your time."

-TURN 02-

"You trespassers need to be silent. Those who do not fight, do not get to speak!" The Paladin activated her skill card. "Charitable Grace!" She discarded a Amazoness baby Tiger card from her hand to draw two cards. "ADIs are giving each other skills too?" Void could not even be surprised anymore by a low-level ADI using such a high-level skill. "I said silence!"

_Charitable Grace, Skill Card.  
__Discard 1 card, then draw 2 cards. You cannot draw cards from your deck for the rest of the turn._

"Reinforcement of the Army! Come, my sister: Amazoness Spy!" Though the silent decree did not apply to the paladin herself, she'd rather mince monsters than words. So she did not explain how her reinforcement spell added a warrior card from the deck to her hand. Or that the Amazoness Spy(3/800/1200) [Zone 2] could special summon herself by revealing another Amazoness in her hand. She still had to reveal that card however: Amazoness Princess. "Call forth our pet!" And when an Amazon got summoned, the Baby pet tiger(2/500/500) [Zone 3] could special summon itself from the graveyard. It would gain 200 attackpoints for each amazon in the grave, but for now it would only defend. "And my future queen!" The Princess(3/1200/900) [Zone 1] was finally normal summoned after that. The blackhaired dagger-wielding spy would never leave the side of the royal daughter with white hair and a horned head-dress. And through her effect, the Paladin could add an Amazon spell to her hand. She wordlessly chose to take 'Amazon Call' from her deck. "Or..."

"My future empress!" The Paladin activated a spell card: Fusion Substitute. "Fusion summon!" This replacement polymerization spell could only fuse monsters on the field. "Your fusion materials are one amazon as a servant, and one Amazon Queen!" An Amazon Princess always treated herself as 'Amazon Queen', so she and the spy were the perfect materials for the Amazon Empress. The princess was not a small girl anymore, she became stronger and older. The still white-haired Empress(8/2800/2400) [Extra Zone 1] wore cloth and cape covered in the bones of her prey. "I activate Amazoness Call! And claim the Village!" Amazoness Call retrieved any kind of Amazoness spell or trap from the deck. And the field spell the paladin chose to draw, added 200 attackpoints to all amazon monsters. The duelists were encircled by the huts and walls of Amazoness Village, the home of the Empress(3000/2400) and Baby Tiger(1100/500). "Now my lady, let us add another skull to our collection!"

"We banish Amazoness Call from the graveyard and give its magic to my empress!" Banishing the calling spell made the fused amazon even more deadly. This turn she could attack all monsters at once, at the cost of other monsters losing their attack capability. "Battle!" With its sword it could inflict piercing damage as well and her attack came like a sharp wind, "Oh, okay. But if I might say a few words. I would tell you to be careful, paladin." There were no bones to pick from the monster that the Empress impaled in this battle though. She merely squashed a ball of diseases and germs. "Who knows what festers in a jungle?" Scarlet's Giant Germ(2/1000/100), when destroyed, inflicted 500 points of damage to its destroyer. "Gah! You foul witch! But you took damage too!"

Paladin's LP: 7500 Scarlet's LP: 5300

"I have heard that one before. I thought you and your friends were getting smarter?" The destroyed Germ could also split into two new Giant Germs(2/1000/100) [Zone 1 & 2], each summoned in attack mode. "I can slay those as well!" Newly summoned monsters were still targets for the spell-enhanced Empress. "Not if I slay her first." The doctor retaliated with two traps in a row. "I activate Metaverse, to activate Lair of Darkness!" Her first meta-trap instantly moved a field spell from the deck to the field zone. "The lair? How illuminating." Midsummer stated paradoxically, as the lair of darkness did anything but lighten things up. The sun disappeared behind a colorless mist, while half the village's land turned barren and dark. "Your traps shall not save you! The Empress cannot be destroyed by any effect!" The fusion amazon attacked anyway. "But it can be sacrificed! I activate Epidemic Eradicator Virus and sacrifice a dark monster with more than 2500 attackpoints!" Without explanation, the Amazon Empress exploded and released spores of a deadly virus.

"What.. happened?" The Paladin stammered. "Lair of Darkness treats all monsters as dark-monsters, Paladin. And each turn I can use one of your dark monsters as a tribute instead." Normally a virus card demanded tributes from its user. Not this time. "Oh and your spells are now gone." The E-Virus targeted either spells or traps. At Scarlet's command, Amazoness Village burned down due to the unleashed plague. The Paladin possessed no other spells though. "But when the Empress dies, she calls the queen in her stead!" Though not destroyed, the fused amazon was still able to special summon her younger self: the blue-haired Amazon Queen(6/2400/1800) [Zone 3]. "But it cant attack." Amazon Call saw to that. "Then we will wait!" Amazoness Paladin lined her backrow with two set cards and ended her turn. "Oh and I should also mention that, when a players turn ends, Lair of Darkness creates torment-tokens for that player. One token for each monster that was sacrificed." Agonized demon specters(3/1000/1000) [Zone 4] floated up from the cracks of the dystopian lair, haunting the paladins field in defense mode.

-TURN 03-

"Now then. Let me show everyone my favorite assistants. First a normal summon for Lady of Torment - Lilith!" A heterochromic succubus(3/2000/0) [Zone 3] ascended from the shadows of the Lair. Her hair shared the same color as the doctor's name, and her body looked like like that of a draconic devil. "Lady Lilith's attack is cut in half when she is normal summoned, but.. she can still use her effect." The lady used her claws to torture the Germ closest to her until it was torn apart. "Yeesh. That's some custom-made animation.." Neo felt like he could wretch. "You like it? What you just saw was Lilith sacrificing a monster to set a random trap from my deck!" Three random traps were selected (Crush Card Virus, Deck Devastation Virus, Ballista Squad). Of that trio, the middle virus got placed face down. "And here comes my second aid! When one of my monsters is tributed, I can special summon the Lord of the Lair from my hand or graveyard. Paladin, this is Darkest Diabolos!" Her second monster of darkness was more dragon than fiend. Diabolos the black and red devil lord(8/3000/0) [Zone 2] burst through the ground to escape into the dueling world.

"And now let's sacrifice one of yours, amazon!" Scarlet added another aspect to her darkness combo: an Egyptian temple. "Temple of the Kings. This continuous spell lets me use one trap the turn it is set!" The temple of Anubis would work with the Lair of Darkness to spring the Deck Devastating virus on Amazon Queen. "Your disease will not take us as a host again, witch doctor!" But the Paladin took her amazons life first. "Amazoness Shamanism!" The trap destroyed all existing amazons and replaced each with an amazon from the graveyard. "Oh?" The Queen and her Baby Pet Tiger gave their life to resurrect Amazoness Princess [Zone 1] and Amazoness Spy [Zone 2] in defense mode. At the same time, Amazoness Pet Tiger(900/500) [Zone 3] could be resummoned to the field with his own effect: also in defense mode. The Princess then used her effect to place another Amazoness Call spell card in the Paladins hand. "Well thought out. My virus cannot contaminate cards that are added outside the draw phase. Hmm.."

"Guess I will sacrifice Diabolos instead then. But first!" The lord of the lair gave the Torment-Token no warning for what it was about to do. "Diabolos can sacrifice one monster to set one card in your hand on top of your deck!" It crushed the tormented soul and let out a bloodcurdling roar. "To my deck?" Amazoness Paladin had to return one of her cards. "And then I activate Deck Devastation Virus! I sacrifice Diabolos himself!" The D-Virus required a dark-attribute carrier with 2000 attackpoints or more, and would destroy any monster with 1500 or less attackpoints. Diabolos would do just fine. "No!" The rain-forest warrior lost her sisters to the plague all over again: Princess, Tiger and Spy died one by one. "Now then. This will not hurt as much as I intended. But it will do." The Lady of Torment and the remaining Giant Germ attacked their opponent directly. "That ends my lesson for now." Another turn done, another endphase for the Dark Lair to create its tokens. Three monsters were used as a tribute, so three torment-tokens(3/1000/1000) [Zones 2, 4 & 5] were summoned to Scarlets field in defense mode.

Amazoness Paladin's LP: 6000

-TURN 04-

"What a strange way to duel." Imperius did not adore Scarlet's tactics, but he could not deny their effectiveness. "Your tricks will never conquer pure strength! Witch!" The Paladin swore, as she drew her next card while the virus still lingered. "Your kind and its impurity will never last!" That card, Amazoness Paladin card with 1700 attackpoints, escaped the effect of the Deck-Virus. "How lucky." And she still held another card in her hand. "I activate Amazoness Call!" The card Diabolos missed. With the calling spell, Amazoness Paladin could add a second Amazoness Princess to her hand. Then a third card became available, once Fusion Substitute was activated from the graveyard. "My spell frees my fusion from death. And then I draw a card!" The fusing spell banished itself and returned Amazoness Empress to the extra deck. And the card she drew was Polymerization, the fusion spell. "Now, my empress will live again!" The Paladin summoned the royal amazon(3/1200/900) [Zone 1], and in turn the Baby Tiger(2/1100/500) [Zone 2] revived itself. The fusion materials were all there.

"You should try something new." But the princess could not reign for long. As soon as she was normal summoned, she was affected by the Lair of Darkness and sacrificed by the Lady of Torment. "But I accept your gift." Lilith used the princess as a tool to set one of three random traps (Crush Card Virus, Ballista Squad, Darklight). Though she was too late to stop the amazon from adding a third Amazon Call to the paladins hand. "Then we will fusion summon our greatest pet instead! Polymerization!" Fusion took place between the Amazoness Paladin and Baby Tiger instead. The latter's effect treated itself as 'Amazoness Pet Tiger', which created a great golden tiger lion(7/2500/2400) [Extra Zone 1] when fused with another Amazoness. "Amazoness Pet Liger! When it attacks, it gains 500 attackpoints! And when it kills, my enemies lose 800 attackpoints!" The Paladin explained as she banished the second Amazoness Call spell from the graveyard so that her new pet could attack all five of Scarlets monsters. "Now, die!" The Liger(3000/2400) charged one of the torment-tokens first.

"Your calculations are correct. I would die to that monster rather easily." If the Liger managed to destroy her tokens, Lilith and the Giant Germ would become so weak that their battles would leave no lifepoints for the doctor. "So it is a good thing that I am always prepared. I use Temple of the Kings, to activate Ballista Squad." A ballista weapon suddenly sprung up from the dark shadows, and loaded up the left-most Torment-token. "I sacrifice my monster, to destroy yours." With a quick snap, the token was launched away to pierce the attacking tiger like a missile. "My pet!" The paladin cried out its name as the great beast fell to pieces. "Sometimes war works better than pestilence." Since Scarlet used her own monster as a tribute this time, she could resurrect Darkest Diabolos [Zone 2] and return him to his lair. "You monster!" Amazoness Paladin cursed as she was forced to defend again. She placed Amazoness Call face-down and ended her turn. Two torment-tokens(3/1000/1000) [Zones 1 & 2] were created by the field spell afterwards.

"You cannot keep this up, my dear. Lilith. Show her the way again." Lilith the Tormentor sacrificed one of the Paladins Paladins torment-token to set her third trap card of the duel. Which of the three traps (Crush Card Virus, Darklight, Grinning Grave Virus) was randomly set, was not known. "And I summon the Plague Wolf!" An undead virus-carrying wolf(3/1000/1000) filled Scarlet's field up again. "Feast on them, my wolf." The rabid beast doubled his(2000/1000) own attackpoints with his effect and pounced on the last torment-token to tear it to pieces. The paladin lost her last defense.

Yet she refused to remain that way. "Amazoness Queen, come!" The warrior activated her two-step countermove. The quickplay spell Amazoness Call placed another Amazon Queen in her hand. "Defend me, forever!" And a continous trap, Amazoness Onslaught, special summoned Amazons from the hand during the battle phase. The queen(6/2400/1800) [Zone 2] returned to her jungle throne. Of course, the Pet baby Tiger(2200/500) [Zone 2] special summoned itself back as well. "You cannot touch me now! Any monster that fights my amazons, will be banished by Amazoness Onslaught!" This effect would be permanent. "Yes. You are quite right. However.." Scarlet clapped her hands and activated her unknown trap. "I don't care about your monsters. I care about you. I sacrifice my Plague Wolf for Darklight!" The chosen trap was one of twilight. It sacrificed a DARK monster with over 1500 attackpoints to destroy all monsters that were special summoned this turn. "!"

"She is going to win!" The light of darkness vanquished the special summoned Queen and Tiger, returning the field to an empty state. "Scarlet! Watch out! She will try to surrender! Ask her questions now, before its too late!" Void was certain that this ADI would try to selfdestruct like Medusa, to keep them from getting more information. "Oh, it is already too late for that." However Scarlet did not even try to to open a line of discussion. Diabolos, Lilith, Giant Germ and the last torment token attacked directly and dropped the paladins lifepoints by the thousands. "Huh? What.. Despite this, the ADI's body took no direct damage. It stayed intact and stared into the distance. "What did you do to it?"

Paladins LP: 0

"Nothing complex, Asterisk. I gave it one of my special treats: a virus that takes over this specific ADI once I drop its lifepoints to zero." This was the great work she slaved on for hours, a method to keep their enemy alive and still corrupted. "The system thinks she was defeated now, but I get to keep her instead. Now she will do anything I command it to do." Doctor Scarlet raised her hand and made the paladin raise its hand as well. "Truly you are a witch." Midsummer praised her, while he sounded disturbed at the same time. "You took away its freedom again?" Imperius did not enjoy any of this. "It was never free, Imperius. It was only parroting what its controller told it to do." Scarlet sighed and returned the ADI to a normal stance. "But now you can analyze it." Void saw past the twisted nature of it all. This was too useful to pass up. "That too. So there you have it, my new apprentice." Scarlet leaned in on the paladin. "Now answer me straight.. Are you in control?" She inquired. "No. I am not." It replied. "Then who is?"

"The Crown is..."

(To Be Continued in Line 011: Unity is Not Enough)

**Cards used by Doctor Scarlet Fever  
**Giant Germ  
Lilith - Lady of Torment  
Darkest Diabolos, Lord of the Lair  
Plague Wolf

-  
Lair of Darkness  
Temple of Kings

-  
Metaverse  
Epidemic Eradicator Virus  
Deck Devastation Virus  
Ballista Squad  
Darklight

**Cards used by Amazoness Paladin  
**_CHARITABLE GRACE_

-  
Amazoness Spy  
Amazoness Baby Tiger  
Amazoness Princess  
Amazoness Queen  
Amazoness Paladin

-  
Amazoness Empress  
Amazoness Pet Liger

-  
Reinforcement of the Army  
Fusion Substitute  
Amazoness Call  
Amazoness Village  
Polymerization

-  
Amazoness Shamanism  
Amazoness Onslaught


	11. Unity is Not Enough

**Line 011: Unity is Not Enough**

There was no time to explain, she said. They were fortunate at all that Wagner and Zettai's groups had come back to the arena before Scarlet did. Because her recently earned information came with an expiration date, and they needed to move as quickly as possible. So here they were now, in the middle of Cosmopolis and the middle of a huge retro-future style tower.

"So what did you call us all the way out here for? We were on a roll!" Only now did they have a few minutes to bring Wagner and the rest up to speed. "Be quiet. This is important." Zettai sniped at Wagner, incredulous that he still treated this as part of a game. "Thank you. Now that we are here, I can hand out the cliffnotes. You see while you were gone, I managed to take command of one of the corrupted ADI and accessed all of its data and functions. It told me what I already suspected, another element corrupted them. This ADI, and presumably all others, were modified locally within the game. And once their status changed, they became permanently connected to whatever altered and kept altering them. This element was giving the ADI new scripts to use during our duel, adlibbing on the spot even. And they call it 'The Crown'." That would do as a summary. "So this Crown thing or person is the cause of all this? Is that why we are here?" Veyron got the gist of it. "Yeah that was the best part. She found out the guy's place. And now you're looking at it."

"Indeed, Blanche. The connection traced back to this point. To be precise, the signal comes from up there." Scarlet pointed at the flat dome above the tower. "There seems to be a quick-jump lock around it, we can't jump directly up there. But neither can anyone jump out without passing through here." There were no elevators that went all the way up, only stairs. "But isn't this a safe zone?" Neo wondered as they were inside the HERO district. Here duels did not take or give rewards and the ADIs just filled the background. Though as Void could already attest, not all ADIs stayed that way. "What better place to hide? But we should not dawdle. We do not know if the Crown intends to leave on his own soon." Asterisk took over the discussion. "Shouldn't we have told the police, or the company?" Crescent timidly suggested. "And risk losing this chance? No. We do not know who this person is. He could have ways that would warn him if we tried to take this to the authorities." Sundown shot that plan down. "Yes. This is all we have. When we have more, like a real name or face, we can do more. Alas..."

"Okay. Scarlet, I will go upstairs." Asterisk declared. "Oh? Is it your turn now?" The doctor laughed. "We should play to your strengths, Scarlet Fever. You can keep a watch out there with that mask of yours. The rest can either set up a perimeter or back Scarlet up." He left those choices to them. "Hmph." Wagner, Crescent, Zettai, Khan and Neo went with Scarlet to the outside balcony to watch the city. Midsummer and a few others headed down the stairs to investigate the lower floors. Every one seemed to be treating this with the severity it deserved. They could finally put a stop to this..

"Good. Now we finally have some peace and quiet, after all that fighting." And Asterisk smiled at those who stayed behind: Void and Blanche. "You really don't like her, huh." Blanche was not blind to the constant staredowns that went down between him and Scarlet Fever. "I do not trust her. I just would not say that to her face. That would be rude." He adjusted his tie and started walking up the stairs. "Who do you trust? What do you know about us?" Void imagined this guy did his homework as well, especially if he was as closely related to the company as he said he was. "Neo is alright, but horrible at keeping secrets. Veyron too, they are too well-known. Sundown seems to be a good man, but he does not trust me. There may be an issue he is hiding there. Imperius I fear is too driven by his emotions, while Wagner and Zettai are motivated solely by glory. And I know too little about Crescent, Himiko, Zanbatou and Midsummer to make a judgment call there. The latter has almost no tell or data. You two I can work with, there is less baggage to carry."

"What about me?" One name got let behind. "Scura?" The name of the woman standing a few steps behind them. "It's alright. I wouldn't notice me either." She somehow escaped their notice, even when the others went their separate ways. "Chiaroscura2. It is a delight to finally hear from you. I kept your name for last." Asterisk apparently was the only one who did hear her coming. "I am a gentleman, I would not pry into your past. And in the present I see nothing in you that deserves suspicion, miss Scura. You are welcome to join us, if that is what you want." His charming tone swayed her, just a little. "Ah.. ahaha.. Thanks. I just like it here more. It feels safer. Is that alright?" She looked to Void for approval as well. "Uh.. Of course." He allowed her to walk ahead of her, mostly out of confusion. "Why did that happen?" Was she actually seeing him as someone she could follow, or.. "Yeah she definitely likes you." or was it what Blanche blurted out. "What? No. Don't say that out loud." This was not the time or place for 'jokes'. "Whatever you say, casanova.**"**

"So you really think we will find someone down here?" After all this time, Void wondered what this mysterious Crown entity would look like. "Scarlet will probably at least be right about that." They were almost at the top now, the stairs opened up into a wider area. "She is.. wait." Here, Asterisk stopped them. Not all felt right. "Ah?" As soon as the agent stepped into the open space, all the lights came on. He could see now that the place looked like a research lab, with machines and tubes filled with organs. "An Intruder! You will not go further!" The first step also turned on a three-dimensional light, projecting a hologram from the ceiling. "What is that? An ADI?" It shifted through several forms before it stopped at the image of a winged legion soldier. "Form chosen! You will duel me! If you wish to pass!" The agent was challenged by a Dragunity Legionairre. "A less adanced ADI, but it still got me." Safezones did not usually have free-roaming or aggressive ADIs. "The rest of you had better stand back, we do not want to trigger any more traps." The agent activated his dueldisk. "Nobody does." Scura mumbled.

Legionnaire's LP: 8000 Asterisk's LP: 8000 -TURN 01-

"Turn one! Activate the spell card: Cards of Consonance! I discard one dragon-tuner monster with 1000 attackpoints or less. Then I draw two cards." As the literal ADI described, so it transpired. A Dragunity Brandistock card with 600 attackpoints traded itself in for two new cards from the deck. "I then summon Dragunity Senatus. And activate its effect by discarding one of my cards!" A winged senator(4/1800/600) [Zone 1] from the dragunity legion materialized before the legionnaire. Though Senatus had the type of winged beast, it in fact was a man wearing a beaked birds hood. "This card equips a Dragunity dragon to itself! And can negate its own destruction by removing that equipment!" The senator used a discarded Dragunity Pilum card as energy for his royal staff. He waved it around to 'summon' a tiny purple dragon with a horn shapes like a halberd. "Dragunity Couse!" All Dragunity dragons were capable of transforming into tools of war, and Couse transformed into a halberd for Senatus to use. "I then set one card. End turn."

-TURN 02-

"Hmm? I thought it would do more." Void saw several plays the ADI could have made with those two cards, including a special kind of summon. "I don't think it has the gigabytes to do anything better." Scura expected little from these safezone ADIs. They did not even have skill cards. "Perhaps this is all the security The Crown could afford. Or perhaps it is simply buying his master time. Regardless, I shall shed some light on the situation." Asterisk said as he glanced at the cards in his hand. "My turn. And the first move is this spell: Convulsion of Nature." He revealed a simple continuous spell, simple enough to dramatically alter the landscape. "Whoa.. this is trippy." Blanche's eyes went wide as the laboratory turned upside down with them in it. "Now all cards on out decks are placed face-up!" The spell only caused an optical illusion though. They were not the ones being flipped by the spell, just the virtual environment and the cards in their dueldisks. "I'm gonna be sick. What do you even need this for?" Scura moaned.

"To see what lies ahead." Asterisk could see the next card his opponent would draw: Dragunity Dux. "Interesting... Mister Legionnaire, I believe your next card will be a monster card. In fact am so certain I declare it to be so, with the effect of SPYRAL Super Agent!" Out of nowhere a rope ladder descended and a monster climbed down. "What the.." Asterisk special summoned a spy(4/1900/1200) [Zone 5] with practically the same fashion sense as its controller. Only this man sported a massive blond pompadour and his tux was black. "I do not understand." The artificial duelist lacked the intelligence to parse any of Asterisk's sentences. "My apologies, I forgot who I am dealing with so I shall rephrase myself. Spyral Super Agent can be special summoned when I correctly guess the top cards type. And when he is summoned by a Spyral-effect, even his own, he may destroy one spell or trap card." The Super Agent revealed the Dragunity Dux monster card and passed the info seemingly on through his earpiece. The next thing they knew, Dragunity Senatus' equipped Couse halberd shattered.

"But this party can hold more than one. I normal summon SPYRAL Tough!" Another super agent(4/1900/1500) [Zone 4] dropped down from unknowable heights. His build leaned more towards the muscular, while his blonde hair was shorter and spikier. "Tough also has to guess what the next card of the deck is. I believe it is still a monster, is it not?" The tough agent revealed the same Dragunity Dux card from before. "In that case, Spyral Tough destroys one monster on the field." His new agent called the order in. The very next second, Dragunity Senatus was destroyed by an orbital laser attack that nobody could have foreseen. "Well now, that just leaves the four of us." Asterisk gave a nod to start the battle phase. Both Super agents took laser pistols from their cases and peppered the legionnaire with shots. "This is going well so far." The ADI already went halfway down. One more turn would do it. "Void, don't jinx it!" Scura snapped. "It's okay, miss Scura. I welcome a few bumps in the road." Asterisk placed two cards in the spell/trap zone and ended his turn.

Legionnaire's LP: 4200

-TURN 03-

"You are not an ordinary opponent." From the sound of things, the duel would get very bumpy sooner than later. "The opponent is Agent Asterisk. Do not let him get this information. I understand." The hologram abandoned its rigid stance in favor of a more dynamic pose. "Dragunity Darkspear!" More intense than before, the dragunity duelist normal summoned a dragon(3/1000/1000) [Zone 3], one with bloodred wings, black scales and a spearhead around its jaws. "And we activate Dragunity Legion, a continuous trap, to equip a Dragunity from the graveyard to a Dragunity on the field!" The Legion gave Darkspear a new weapon in the form of the reforged Dragunity Couse. "It adjusted its level?" Void gasped. "Yup.. Looks like you jinxed it." Blanche snickered.

"Dragunity Couse can special summon itself when it is equipped to a monster!" The halberd did not obey Darkspear for long. Soon Dragunity Couse (2/1000/200) [Zone 2] changed itself back into a true dragon. "And Dragunity Darkspear can destroy one dragon Dragunity, to resurrect one winged beast Dragunity!". The Darkspear dragon impaled the Couse dragon and sent it to the graveyard. It might have looked like a retaliation from monster to monster, but this allowed the duelist to special summon Dragunity Senatus [Zone 2] back to the field. "I discard another card and Senatus activates its effect!" This time the Senator chose a different Dragunity to equip to itself: a golden twin-spear headed dragon with shields on its arms. "I equip Dragunity Phalanx! And then Dragunity Phalanx is summoned!" Briefly Dragunity Phalanx became a shield for the Senatus, before it too special summoned itself(2/500/1100) [Zone 4] to the field. Phalanx and Couse were almost exactly the same when it came to their effects. "Link summon! The materials are two non-token dragons and/or winged beasts! Come, Dragunity Knight Romulus!"

One knew they were facing a higher class of artificial dueling, when they started bringing out link monsters. Dragunity Knight Romulus, a spear-tip nosed dragon(1200/LINK 2) {Downleft/Downright} [Extra Zone 1] in silver armor flew out of the link circuit created by the Dragunities Darkspear and Senatus. "When Romulus is link summoned, one Dragunity spell is sent to my hand. I select Dragunity Divine Lance!" With its improved strategies clearly on display, Asterisk could not help but wonder what else got improved.. "Blackwing Zephyros the Elite!" Card availability seemed to be one aspect. The ADI special summoned the monster that Darkspear had discarded earlier, since Zephyros the Blackwing could be special summoned from the graveyard by returning a card to its owners hand. Legionnaire returned the Dragunity Legion trap and also lost 400 of his lifepoints to Zephyros(4/1600/1200). [Zone 3]

Legionnaire's LP: 3800

"Fascinating. It must be wondrous to have so many choices. I presume one such choice led you to this place, to guard this data?" He did not expect an answer. "Tell me, Legionnaire. Why are you here?" Not from this ADI. He wanted to see how its `controller` would react. "I am here to protect. That is my only command." So far his bait caught nothing. "Synchro summon!" It did seem to make the Legionnaire move faster. "Hey hey. A synchro. Well that was inevitable." Blanche's interests were raised, as this extra deck summoning method was her second favorite. One tuner and one non-tuner could be used as synchro materials to summon a synchro monster with their combined levels. "Dragunity Knight - Luin!" In this case the tuner Dragunity Phalanx and the non-tuner Garuda could create a greater dragon, Dragunity Knight Luin(6/1200/1900) [Zone 3], and link it with the other great dragon Romulus. Senatus could be seen again, riding this beast with four wings, halberd-horn and purple scales like it was a noble steed.

"Luin equips a monster to itself, when it is synchro summoned! I choose Couse!" Once more the halberd Dragunity was used as an equipment by another and special summoned to the field [Zone 2] afterwards. "And if a monster is summoned to a zone it points at, Romulus can special summon one Dragon or winged beast monster from my hand!" The link dragon flapped its wing and lowered it to form a path for Dragunity Dux: the winged duke(4/1500/1000) [Zone 5] of the dragunity. "Ah Dux, we meet at last." Asterisk chuckled. Dux would not be staying around for the fun. "Synchro summon!" Because Dragunity Knight Luin was both a synchro and a tuner. It could be synchronized with Dux to ascend to the tenth level. "An Accel Synchro summon too?" Void gasped. "More like half of one.. Still, this is turning into a crash course on synchros." Blanche was impressed with this little guy. Luin and Dux became synchro materials for an eight-winged dragon of pure gold(10/3300/2300) [Zone 3]. "This is the ultimate Dragunity Knight! Ascalon!"

"None will compare to his power! When Luin is sent to the graveyard as a synchro material, it will be equipped to the new synchro and add a thousand attackpoints!" Ascalon was already intimidating with its armored spikes and great horn lance. It became so much more terrifying when the Luin Knight partially merged with Ascalon(4300/3200) and caused more spears to cover its armor. "Ascalon will banish one monster for each Dragunity I banish from my graveyard!" The upside-down ceiling trembled when the golden dragon landed on it to remove Dragunity Dux and Dragunity Senatus from their graves. "That's a bit of a bother." Asterisk lost both SPYRAL Tough and SPYRAL Super Agent as a result. His spies could not escape the dimension they were banished too.

"And I am not through. I will end this now! Because that is what we... I want! Dragunity Divine Lance! This card equips itself to my Dragunity, and gives it 100 attackpoints for each star under its name! Then it also equips one Dragunity from my deck to that monster!" The Divine Lance shined as brilliantly as Ascalons scales. It(5300/3200) finally carried a weapon it deemed worthy of having. And it would have more. "I choose Dragunity Pilum!" A small green dragon flew in from the deck, its body harness allowed it to hold a pilum javelin on its forehead. That javelin was all that remained once Ascalon equipped the dragon to itself. "Oh no. Now it has two attacks. You're doomed." Scura saw no way out of this. "Am I?" Ascalon came after him with an incredible speed. "I activate Conscription!" Now was a good time to reveal his own trap. "If the top card of your deck is a monster, it can join my side of the field!" He already knew the top card of the Legionnaire's deck: Dragunity Militum; the military assistant of the Dragunity. "Lovely." Militum(4/1700/1200) got summoned in defense mode of course, and she took the brunt of Ascalons first attack instead. "There's still three attacks left!" The Dragunities Ascalon, Romulus and Couse circled the agent like vultures and descended with lances, halberd blades and spears. "Gh.. Indeed."

Asterisk's LP: 500

After that relentless assault, the Legionnaire placed his continuous trap back down on the field. "But as they say, it is not over til the fat lady sings. Besides, a little tension is always refreshing. Wouldn't you agree?" He turned the question to his audience. "Dunno. Seems like a hassle to me." Blanche shrugged, while Scura's reluctance went without saying. "How about you Void? You have been rather quiet." Asterisk noted while he calmly drew his next card. "I just want to get that information, Asterisk." His tension came from somewhere else.

-TURN 04-

"Of course, we are on the same page there. I activate SPYRAL Resort! Now I can call for help from my decked Spyral friends each turn." The spyral resort fit right in with the laboratory setting already, this spy field only added more dark walls and glass computer screens. Each turn as long as he controlled this resort, Asteriskt could add from the deck one SPYRAL monster his heart desired. "Super Agent!" Asterisk only asked for his best operative.

"The top card of your deck is a spell!" In came the SPYRAL super agents replacement: SPYRAL Super Agent(4/1900/1200) [Zone 3]. And while the pompadour agent managed to special summon himself with ease, he chose not to destroy one of the enemy's spell cards. "?" Void did not bother to question his actions this time. Somehow he knew he could trust him to get the job done. "And what fortune, I still have a normal summon left. I think I will use it for my Spyral Gear Drone." A triple-propeller drone(1/100/100) hovered above the field, getting rather close to the flying dragons. "See I like my duels to be simple, not chaotic. That is why I often make sure my enemies learn that they should not go all-in on the second turn... Drone can sacrifice itself to give another Spyral 500 attackpoints for each card my opponent controls!" The drone took snapshots of each Dragunity card (Romulus, Ascalon, Couse, Luin, Pilum, Legion and Divine Lance) and returned to the super agent. He placed the machine in his case and let it charge his weapon up. Now the spy(5400/1200) became the strongest on the field."!"

"I would love to ask you more questions. But we are rather in a hurry, and I have said too much already. So..." The other disadvantage to overly complex fields was that ADIs always left a weak point. "Enjoy your reprogramming." And the super-buffed up Spyral agent stared at that weak point through the scope of his gun. One shot would do the trick, if it hit Dragunity Knight Romulus. "Danger. Intruder! Invader! For..." The hologram turned off when its last lifepoint dropped. The lab powered down again. Though the machines were still humming. "Is it safe now?" Scura nervously asked. "Looks like it." Blanche concluded after she casually stepped unto the lab tiles. The last defense was broken.

Legionairre's LP: 0

"Is this it then?" Void entered as well and quickly noticed there was nowhere else to go. There was only another section to the lab behind a door, but... "It would appear so.." Asterisk saw no-one inside that room once he opened that door. "Most curious." He did not see anything out of the ordinary either, no strange equipment or tools that could explain how someone took control of the game. Though software like that could look like anything in here. "You mean, he got away after all?" Void did not want to believe it. "It could also be a she you know." Blanche added. "Tch. _This person_ could not have gotten away. We covered the only exit." Void did not like the feeling of this. Did the Crown somehow foresee their arrival? "Whatever it is, it could just be hiding. Waiting to stab us in the back.. with a spear." Scura made sure her back stayed close to the walls. "I doubt that. Yet if he made this his home, then perhaps he left..." Asterisk paused as his eyes were drawn towards one of the screens on the wall. "Hello. What are you?" He hooked up his dueldisk and turned on a screen.

"Is that... his stuff? Can he just put that there?" Once Asterisk gained access, everyone could see folders and folders of files. "Perhaps, Scura. We can can save data in your dueldisk, it is nothing more than an interface that lets you interact with this world." What Asterisk explained about the disk, the same principle could apply here as well. "Then this was more than a hideout!" Void cursed. They were this close to catching him. "Seems awfully fancy." Blanche scoffed. "It is. Not even Scarlet would be able to alter the shape of the game like this. The question is.. what was he or she using all of this for? And what is on here?"

...

"Okay, I know this place has no such thing as hot or cold. But this feels cold." Just outside the open windows, Neo and the others were greeted by the virtual winds. They were as silent as the city. "This trip had better been worth it. We were on a roll out there." Wagnerok still wished he was anywhere but here. "You really are a one-track mind, arent you?." Bionis Khan sniped at him. He was so glad to see that the rock duelist 'cared'. "If you want to fight it out that much, take it elsewhere." Zettai would not tolerate their idiocy much longer. "Scarlet, do you see anything?" Any distractions were welcome right about now. "Scarlet?" When she did not get an immediate answer, the duelist in uniform tensed up. "Oh, I am sorry. I just saw the darnedest thing." The doctor took off her plague mask and fiddled with it. "One ADI turned right before my eyes." She put it back on again. "And another now..." This time she was certain her mask was not malfunctioning. "And another... And two over there. The Crown... is not in here. It is out there!" Quickly she checked her own dueldisk. Her ability to quickjump was disabled!

"This was a trap!"

(To Be Continued in Line 012: A New Year for Surprises)

**Cards used by Agent Asterisk  
**SPYRAL Super Agent  
SPYRAL Tough  
SPYRAL GEAR - Drone

-  
Convulsion of Nature  
SPYRAL Resort

-  
Conscription

**Cards used by Dragunity Legionairre  
**Dragunity Brandistock  
Dragunity Senatus  
Dragunity Couse  
Dragunity Darkspear  
Dragunity Phalanx  
Blackwing Zephyros the Elite  
Dragunity Dux  
Dragunity Pilum  
Dragunity Militum

-  
Dragunity Knight- Romulus  
Dragunity Knight - Luin  
Dragunity Knight - Ascalon

-  
Cards of Consonance  
Dragunity Divine Lance

-  
Dragunity Legion


	12. A New Year of Surprises

**Line 012: A New Year of Surprises**

"What are you doing?" Scura and the others found the reward for defeating the ADI: a computer filled with files. Yet they were still inside STHEREA, a large computer on its own. "While I have access, I am taking the liberty of copying his files to my disk drive. That way we can inspect them wherever we go. I do not want overstay our welcome." It did not feel safe anymore, knowing that The Crown could be aware of their presence. "Sure is taking long.. This feels like 20th century download speed... on a 21st century network!" Blanche groaned as she saw how slowly the bar on the disk screen progressed. "Curious indeed. If I did not know any better, I would say this computer itself is resisting me... If I let go of the dueldisk, the connection breaks immediately." Asterisk could not explain it either. "Maybe, the Crown can control more than just ADIs." Void theorized. "So it told this thing to be stubborn? If the Crown can do that. What can't he do?"

"A good question, Scura. I.." The agent paused to raise his eyebrows at a new bizarre scene unfolding before him. "Hm?" One of the monitors in the room switched on and displayed two piercing light-filled eyes. "GAH!" Large quantities of electricity escaped the screen and zapped Asterisk away from his dueldisk.

"What happened?" Void only saw the electric attack, not what caused it. The screen had gone blank again. "Something.. someone... attacked me. Might have been.. a trap placed by him." He was clearly in pain, to the point where it looked like he could faint at any moment. "Void. Take the disk. Keep the download going... You can use your own...disk. Do not let all of this.." And he did pass out, unable to finish his sentence. "Is he dead or something?" Scura couldn't even tell. "No. Just.. " Void had to assume less than the worst, since Asteriks avatar stayed in one piece. "Tch!" Quickly he hooked his dueldisk to the machine to the machine to perform the download instead. It did not go any faster than it did for Asterisk. "Uhmm... what is that noise?" And the bad luck kept coming, the sound of faint explosions from below could never be good news. "I do not like it." Scura shivered. "It could be ADI's. You guys should go down and see what is going on. I have to... I will stay here."

"Urh yeah.. to see what is going on, sure." Chiaroscura scurried back down the stairs without hesitation. Moreso because she thought she could quickjump out there, but not here. "If you say so. Good luck I guess." Blanche stayed close behind her. Void was alone, wondering if this had even been worth it. He inspected his surroundings closer again, looking at every virtually recreated machine and piece of equipment. _"Was this what he used to control the ADIs? Does that mean he cannot do it anymore.. The Crown."_ It felt strange to be given this moment of silence after so long. It might be that he was getting used to company, because he could not tell anymore if he preferred this over the noise down below. Ignorance at the very least did not make him happier. This download still had two thirds of the way to go..

"Gah! Damn it! She caught me!" The silence ceased.. "Void! You're still here?" The noise came from Neo, the duelist covered with cybernetic implants. "Neo? Why are you.." He brought company with him, an assassin in the black desert cloak of the Gravekeepers. "Do not run, you cannot get away." Given her female voice, Void guessed she was a Gravekeepers Assailant ADI. "I'm sorry, Void. I thought I gave her the slip. I came up here to tell you that it's chaos down there! Everyone is dueling ADIs, they surrounded the tower! Scarlet says that the Crown was out in the city corrupting them one by one!" The news did not come as a complete surprise. Not that this foreknowledge helped in any way. "He knew." The Crown set another trap, and this time they fell for it. "Where is everyone else? Scura and Blanche?" How many had fallen already? "Did not see them. Like I said, it's madness down there. The kind that makes me wish I was streaming this still so I could take a second look at it."

Gravekeeper's LP: 8000 Neo's LP: 8000

"There is no chaos, but the one you bring. You will take it with you, into the grave." The Assassin ignored their banter and opened the duel with her skill card. "We activate Reverse Terraforming. We send one field spell card from the deck to the grave, to add a card that is supported by that field spell." The Necrovalley field spell got sent to the grave, which could be considered an ironic fate for the field that sealed off the grave. For her efforts, the assailant took the Gravekeeper's Priestess as her reward. I summon her!" A blackhaired egyptian priestess(4/1000/1500) [Zone 3] in white sunrobes. "Gravekeepers Priestess: your presence treats all of us as visitors of the Necrovalley." While she controlled this blindfolded gravekeeper, all Gravekeepers like the Priestess(1200/1700) would gain 200 attack and defense points. And, even though there was no card in the field zone, it pretended as if a Necrovally field spell had been played.

_Reverse Terraforming, Skill Card._  
_Send 1 field-spell from your deck to the graveyard, and activate 1 of the following effects:  
* Add 1 monster card from your deck to your hand whose type or attribute is listed on that field spell.  
* Add 1 "" monster from your deck to your hand, with "" being a name listed on that field spell._

"Oh right you." Neo drew his own hand of four cards along with his skill. "Void, I don't know what you and Asterisk were doing, or why he is out cold, but I guess I can protect you while you're busy! Maybe I can make you my newest fan!" Even one observer would keep him motivated. The ADI certainly did not try. "I shall prepare two traps, and one more magic card. Hidden Temple of Necrovalley!" From the fake valley, real structures rose. The continuous spell erected two giant pharaoh statues that parted to reveal a temple in the distance. "The Hidden Temple? Oh that's not good. I cant special summon any monsters as long as she controls Necrovalley and a Gravekeeper! And her Priestess can be both at once!" Neo narrated his own ordeal as if he still dueled in front of his thousands followers. It was hard to drop old habits. "But at least I did not have to go first, that gives me a 75 % chance at winning!"

"Is that what your machines tell you? Do you think those are reliable odds?" Void wondered if Neo's cybernetic outfit did more than distinguish him from other avatars. "Just my experience. This is all just data inside a machine acting out their lines within a set range. Like the lady said, there is no chaos or randomness to them. But I am rambling now..." His turn began. "One Two Three! I special summon Cyber Dragon Drei! Did you know that's german for three, Void?" The third of cyber dragons(4/1800/800) [Zone 3] landed softly on the sand. Its snake-like body of silver metal shone under the pseudo-desert sun. "Uh.. yes. Try to stay focused, Neo." Perhaps his presence made things worse. But he could not exactly leave. "Right, right. You're right. Uhm, anyway lets activate Evolution Burst! When I have a Cyber Dragon, I can destroy one card with this spell!" Cyber Dragon Drei treated itself as a 'Cyber Dragon' in name-only, for as long as it stayed on the field. The dragon fired its burst of light from its mechanical jaws.

"Pointless." The Assailant countered rapidly. "When I control Necrovalley, Imperial Tombs of the Necrovalley can negate one of your magics!" Her countertrap opened the doors of the valley temple and sucked the evolution burst inside. The tomb sealed the energy and buried it away. "That's a bummer. I will just have to attack 'the valley'" Destroying the Priestess would render the Hidden Temple spell essentially effectless. "Before you attack, we activate Necrovalley Temple." Unexpectedly 'the temple' drew closer to the duelists, and its torches lit up. "When we control no card in our field zone, we can activate one Necrovalley from our hand or graveyard." The desert could not longer be called fake. The true Necrovalley spread out across the floor and walls. "All Gravekeepers will gain 500 attack and defense points!" Not only did the Prietess(1700/2200) gain new strength. As long as Necrovalley and a Gravekeeper were on the field, the continuous trap card Necrovalley Temple would steal 500 attackpoints away from all opposing monsters like Cyber Dragon Drei(1300/800). "Will you still attack?"

"I think you know the answer! Or you will, when I use my quickplay spell: Forbidden Lance!" At the very least he needed to get rid of the Priestess and the Hidden Temples. Ergo, he would activate his pointy spell. "Your monster now loses 800 attackpoints and is unaffected by other spells and traps!" The lance pierced the Priestess and shattered her cobra staff. Without the effect of Necrovalley blessing her(500/1000), she could not even beat a weakened Cyber Dragon Drei. "Here we go!" His machine dragon destroyed Gravekeepers Priestess with one fierce swing of its tail. "That ends the Hidden Temple too!" With no Gravekeeper to maintain it, the continuous spell selfdestructed. Neo could special summon at last. But that would have to wait. "I set one trap card face down! That was my turn for now!"

Gravekeeper's LP: 7200

"For each of my sisters and brothers you destroy. I shall punish you in tenfold! Come, Gravekeepers Spiritualist!" The Gravekeeper sent out her spiritual sister next: the midriff bearing and jackal-god hooded shaman(4/1500/1500) [Zone 3]. Necrovalley did more to her than giving her(2000/2000) an attack and defense boost. "Spiritualist, fuse yourself!" Her effect turned any Gravekeeper into a fusion material, along with herself. "Looks like I finally encountered a fellow fusion fan." Spiritualist fused with a Gravekeepers Oracle in the assailants hand. The endresult was a young and bare-chested yet also white-haired Gravekeeper(7/2000/2000)[Extra Zone 1]. "Gravekeeper Supernaturalist! You gain your offensive and defensive power from every level star you took from your materials: a hundred for each!" Between the Spiritualist and the tenth-level Oracle, and the field spell, there were plenty of attackpoints to add to the psychic tombkeeper(4900/4900). "Now die, being of the metal age!" The psionic attack came from the Supernaturalists staff, unseen but not unheard. "!?"

"All too easy." Neo casually revealed his trap in response: Scrapiron Scarecrow. "Consider that attack negated!" The scarecrow of iron intercepted the psychic energy and then switched itself face-down again. Each turn this trap could stop at least one attack this way. "See. I told you. Not like a computer can outsmart a human anyway!" The enemy seemed perplexed that his strongest monster would be stopped so easily. "Neo, did you forget about Skylander already? What you are fighting is not just a computer anymore." In effect he was fighting an extension of whatever controlled all the ADIs. "Of course I didn't. But how many ADIs can this Crown thing manage at once anyway? If its just one guy, there is just no way he is giving them all dueling tips at the same time." Simple logic agreed with Neo on that issue. "This will not end. The Supernaturalist can still add one Necrovalley card to our hand, during the endphase." Gravekeepers Assailant sounded like she normally would sound too. She simply followed her routines and added a Necrovalley Throne spell card from her deck to her hand.

"Let's see how well you will do once I cut loose! I summon Cyber Dragon Core! I think you know what that means!" His new monster was the Cyber Dragons heart(1/100/100) [Zone 2]: a machine stripped off all its armor to reveal the orb-segmented spine within. Yet its effect still made it count as a Cyber Dragon monster whether it was dead or alive. "So let me have it!" Now he would do the fusing, drawing materials from both sides of the field. "I can make a Chimeratech Megafleet Dragon from any Cyber Dragon and any monster in your extra zone!" The build up of energy became immense, gigantic jolts of electricity touched the floor and ceiling and reached out to the Gravekeeper Supernaturalist. It and Cyber Dragon Herz disappeared within the lightning vortex, which was soon scattered and dispersed by two massive steel wings "And here it is! The original attack of Megafleet is 1200 times the number of fused materials!" The Megafleet Dragon(10/2400/0) flooded the darkly lit room with thunder, which arced across its long segmented body. Meanwhile Neo was allowed to take the original Cyber Dragon card from his deck; a gift from Cyber Dragon Herz' effect as it entered the graveyard.

"But he wont be the one attacking! No it did what it had to! I link summon Hip Hoshiningen! He needs two light-attribute materials!" Neo needed the extra zone to be less crowded, if he planned to put down more than one extra deck monster. Cyber Dragon Drei and the Chimeratech dragon opened up a two-linked circuit, and transformed into something decidedly not mechanical: a human-faced yellow star(1400/LINK 2) {Downleft/Downright} [Extra Zone 2]. Hip Hoshiningen stood like a proud rockstar in his boots, rainbow tassels and headband. "I see. Hoshiningen gives 500 attack and defense points to all light-type monsters,and takes 500 attackpoints away from all dark monsters." Though Void did not expect this link monster, the Hyperstar(2100 atk) made sense for a Cyber style duelist. "Heheh, one of my fans suggested it to me. Good old PharaohOfFunk." Finally, Neo activated the skill card in his hand. "I will use Carbon Copy! Since there's a Cyber Dragon in my graveyard, I can add another to my hand! And I will fuse both with Polymerization!"

_Carbon Copy, Skill Card  
__Select 1 monster in your Graveyard. Add 1 monster with the same name, from your deck to your hand._

There were several fusions one could summon by using two Cyber Dragons as materials. Neo had his sights set on a particularly volatile combination. "I summon Chimeratech Rampage Dragon! And I have it discard two light-attribute machines from my deck!" A black metallic polyhedron set itself (5/2600/2600) [Zone 3] down to link with the powerboosting Hip Hoshiningen. "And for each card I send, my opponent loses one of his spells or traps!" One Cyber Dragon Core and a Cyber Pharos machine were sent to the graveyard to give the Chimeratech machine its energy. Three frenzied cyber dragons popped their long necks and shrieking heads out of the main body. Two of them launched a long-range burst at Necrovalley and Necrovalley Temple. "When Necrovalley Temple is destroyed, a Necrovalley card is set to the field." Though the original desert field was layed to waste, a second face-down Necrovalley now waited in the field zone for its activation. "Who cares, Gravekeeper? You are not even gonna live that long! Rampage Dragon can attack one extra time for each card it destroyed! That's three attacks!"

"Neo!" A small monster darted past the gravekeeper, heading straight for Chimeratech Rampage Dragon. "I activate the Effect Veiler to negate your monsters effect, nyaha!" This new tiny angel with long blue pigtails could cover the entire machine with her transparent wings. Under this veil, it could not use any of its powers. "Where did that come from?" His dragon still entered the battle, but now only one head could release a blast upon the defenseless Gravekeeper Assailant. She could not have done this. Effect Veiler activated from the hand. And she only had a spell in her hand. "Behind her!"

Gravekeeper's LP: 4600

"Another?!" Neo saw the real culprit walking into the lab now: Lunalight Blue Cat. "Nyahahaha!" This human feline with a crescent-moon shaped eyemask caught them both off guard. "Are you here to help each other? How?" Duelists were not supposed to be able to interrupt each others battles. "The Battle Royal protocol." But Void remembered what Asterisk and Scarlet mentioned earlier. "That? So it was real after all?" It was hard to deny the truth unfolding right before his eyes. "Rgh!" Neo was even granted the option to directly attack this new player. Both of them were his enemies now, with their own fields and decks. And once he ended his turn, the Blue Cat and Keeper would take their own turns to pummel him into submission. "Hoshiningen!" Neo made the link star hit the Assailant with another dose of light energy. If only he could take just one of them down... Alas, the numbers simply did not add up. "I.. my turn is over." There were no more cards or effects at his disposal. "Damn it." This would have been the perfect time for Void to jump in, to link his field against Lunalights field. But his dueldisk could not perform any other tasks right now.

Gravekeeper's LP: 2500

"Let's dance, cyber dragon! I summon Lunalight the Emerald Bird!" The moon briefly shimmered behind virtually cast clouds, before an orange-haired and pale green woman(4/1200/1000) [Zone 5] descended on her emerald wings. Like all other Lunalight creatures, she adorned her face with a golden crescent mask. Most Lunalights were also Dark-types, so the brightness of Hoshiningen weakened her(800/600) slightly. "The light of the emerald moon trades a Lunalight for what the deck brings next!" The summoned Emerald lady discarded Lunalight Crimson Fox and drew a new card. In this instance, what got sent to the graveyard mattered more. "The light of the crimson moon drains the light of your dragon machine!" Whenever Lunalight Crimson Fox entered the graveyard by an effect, it would reduce one monsters attackpoints to zero. Chimeratech Rampage Dragon(0/2600) lost the boost from the Hyperstar as well. "The light of the black moon gives us the spell of Polymerization! And then we shall fuse for our first dancer!"

The light of the black moon referred to Lunalight Black Sheep. The Blue Cat discarded it to claim the first Polymerization spell she could find in her deck. "Come, Lunalight Cat Dancer!" Green and yellow lights were mixed together in the maelstrom. The Emerald Bird fused with a Lunalight Yellow Marten in the ADI's hand. And that triggered two more effects. "The light of the yellow moon adds one Lunalight spell to my hand when it goes to the graveyard! And the light of the emerald moon revives a light that was lost!" Yellow Martens grave-effect claimed a Lunalight Perfume card while Emerald Bird special summoned the Black Sheep from the graveyard. She(2/0/200) [Zone 4] was a black-suited woman with white sheep wool and golden horns on her back. And of course, there was also the new fusion monster. "Tch. This is already trouble." Cat Dancer(6/2000/1400) [Extra Zone 1]: a masked catwoman with long red hair and a flowing pale and purple dress, could be made from any two Lunalights. And her power could not be laughed off. "I got this..." Still, Neo's lifepoints would endure. He just needed to keep a level head.

Except, he once again forgot he was not dealing with a standard script. "We activate Fusion Recovery!" Blue Cat did not have any reason to play nice. "What? No!" The Fusion Recovery spell 'recovered' two parts of a fusion equation: Polymerization and a monster that had been used a fusion material. "We retake the light of the emeralds. And the light of the yellow moon will not be eclipsed yet either!" Yellow Marten was in fact capable of performing two tricks in the graveyard. By returning Lunalight Black Sheep to its owners hand, the yellow lady(4/400/1600) [Zone 4] with the long golden hair and marten tail could special summon herself and claim her place among the living. "I activate Polymerization! Come my dancer, take the light of darkness, emerald and fusion!" Her next monster required three Lunalights. She took the Cat Dancer, Black Sheep and Emerald Bird and transformed them into a new and more feral dancer(9/2600/2200) [Extra Zone 1] that wielded sabers instead of daggers. Her hair was as bright as the sun and her skin dark purple. "Lunalight Saber Dancer! She gains 200 attackpoints for each dead or banished Lunalight!" There were three in the graveyard. Not four, because Lunalight Black Sheep recycled a Lunalight from the graveyard whenever she joined in on a fusion. With Lunalight Emerald Bird back in Blue Cat's claws, Saber Dancer(3200/2200) only gained 600 attackpoints.

Too much. "This... This is not funny anymore. This cannot be happening. Void tell me this isn't happening." As much as Neo liked to pretend, he knew he had lost control. "It's..." Void saw the next moving coming as well, the one that would corner Neo. "The light is never ending! I activate Lunalight Perfume!" Blue Cat used her extra spell to special summon a Lunalight monster from the graveyard: Lunalight Cat Dancer. "She got fusion monsters on the field without a link monster.." This time the Cat Dancer would stick around. Her claws snatched Lunalight Yellow Marten and absorbed her yellow glow and lifeforce. "And now that she's tributed another Lunalight, Cat Dancer can attack both my monsters at the same time, twice. The first attack wont even kill them. And each attack adds 100 points of effect damage." The Cat Dancer would still overpower both his monsters, despite Hip Hoshiningen's power-reducing effect. "This really is not a game anymore. Is it? But they can't do this to me. This is my world too! I was just trying to.."

"Neo!" Void did not know what he would have done if he was given the choice. "Damn it!" He could see at least one more ADI coming up the stairs. If he headed out there now, the download would end and they would have come here for nothing. Neo would lose either way, and then he would need to either run of take on three duelists at the same time. And he could not run, he could not abandon Asterisk. There was still time to save Neo, though he did not know what he could even do to help. There were so many thoughts. One haunted him the most, because he did not understand where it came from. _"It should have been me. So why am I glad... it wasn't?"_

He was fortunate that in the end the choice did not belong to him. "!?" Two miracles happened within the span of a minute. First a large dragon showed up from outside the lab. It broke through the ceiling and dragged the incoming ADI back up in the air. "Wha.." Then a very familiar little angel flew into the battlefield and placed her veil wings over Lunalight Cat Dancer. "Another intruder?" Both the Gravekeeper and Lunalight Cat turned around slowly. "Blanche!" Neo let out a cry of joy when he saw another human face. "Hey Neo. I thought you said you could handle this? Look who had to save your butt." Blanche unknowingly served the Blue Cat a pinch of her own medicine by discarding an Effect Veiler as well. The Veiler negated the effect of Cat Dancer so that she could also only attack once this battle phase. "And I would have come sooner. Those guys down there really stubborn." She could take the next turn thanks to the battle royale setting, slipping right in next to Neo to make it a tagteam duel. "Yes. Thank you, Blanche." Void felt relieved that he did not have to step in. Already his recent fears were miles away. Perhaps they would make it out of here after all.

"Yeah Thank you. I guess I bit off more than I could chew there." For once Neo would not try to act like he did not need help. "But how did you take care of that other guy? That was a cool looking dragon attack." Though he saw it only for a brief moment, Neo knew he'd never seen that dragon before. "Other guy? Dragon attack?" Blanche blinked in confusion. "You mean... that?" She noticed the hole torn in the ceiling. "That... wasn't me."

(To Be Continued in Line 013: Future's Graveyard)

**Cards used by Neo  
**_CARBON COPY_

Cyber Dragon Drei  
Cyber Dragon Herz  
Cyber Dragon

-  
Chimeratech Fleet Dragon  
Hip Hoshiningen  
Chimeratech Rampage Dragon

-  
Evolution Burst  
Forbidden Chalice  
Polymerization

-  
Scrapiron Scarecrow

**Cards used by Gravekeeper's Assailant  
**_REVERSE TERRAFORMING_

-  
Gravekeeper's Priestess  
Gravekeeper's Spiritualist  
Gravekeeper's Oracle

-  
Gravekeeper's Supernaturalist

-  
Hidden Temples of Necrovalley  
Necrovalley

-  
Imperial Tomb of the Necrovalley  
Necrovalley Temple

**Cards used by Lunalight Blue Cat  
**Effect Veiler  
Lunalight Emerald Bird  
Lunalight Crimson Fox  
Lunalight Black Sheep  
Lunalight Yellow Marten

-  
Lunalight Saber Dancer

-  
Polymerization  
Fusion Recovery  
Lunalight Perfume

**New Cards used by Madam Blanche  
**Effect Veiler


	13. Future's Graveyard

**Line 013: Future's Graveyard**

They kept coming. Not speaking, not flinching: the ADIs acted like an endless flood. "Gah! I made it!" For every duelist put down, another popped up. The windows without dueling were small and brief. "Do not just stand there! They are breaking through!" But duelists like Zanbatou, Himiko, Veyron or Zettai could not stop, or the flood would spill out to the upper floors and trap Asterisks party. "I can't... I am sorry." Alas, not all duelists were cut from the same cloth. Veyron dropped down to his last nerve. "Don't!" Zettai, still fighting herself, could do nothing to hinder the speed duelist as he used his chance to quickjump away. "That bastard!" They were still human after all, still capable of fear. "What are they even doing up there?"

...

"It wasn't you?" Though Blanche arrived in time to save Neo. "No. I wouldn't know how to do that kind of damage." She could not have done so without the help of the strange dragon that ripped a hole through the ceiling to snatch one of their enemies away. "What? Then who was it?" Yet Void saw only her and no one else. "Beats me. Definitely wasn't Scura. As far as I know she's still down below. Heck, I am also pretty sure I am the only dragon user here. Whatever it was, it was on our side. And we have enough to worry about."

Gravekeeper's LP: 2700 Neo's LP: 8000

Blanche's LP: 8000 Blue Cat's LP: 8000

"So is it my turn yet?" She and Neo took part in a fourway battle royal... "Hsss. No! It is mine still!" ..along with their opponent: Lunalight Blue Cat and the Gravekeepers Assailant. "New invasions means more chaos. We must eradicate them." And they were united in their simulated hatred. "Cat Dancer! Attack the link monster!" Neo's Hip Hoshiningen (1900 atk), depowered all dark type monsters like Lunalight Cat Dancer(7/2000/1600). A clash between them would still leave her on top however. "Then I activate Scrapiron Scarecrow!" Neo possessed one defense, his attack negating trap. "No cards can target our lunalights.. under the crimson moon!" Of course, he already expected this to fail. Blue Cat could and did banish Lunalight Crimson Fox from the graveyard to prevent the Scarecrow from targeting her monster. "Yeah but the fineprint says we all gain 1000 lifepoints when you use Crimson Fox's effect!" And so it did: all four royal battlers got healed by the red moonlight.

Gravekeeper's LP: 3700 Neo's LP: 9000

Blanche's LP: 9000 Blue Cat's LP: 9000

"Death still comes." The attack continued and Lunalight Cat Dancer shattered the hip hyperstar with a flurry of dagger blows. At least Neo got something out of that. "Since you destroyed my Hyperstar, he gets to return one of my light monsters back from the graveyard!" He lost his link monster to return Cyber Dragon to his hand. Thankfully Cat Dancer's effects were still negated by Effect Veiler, so Neo took no extra effect damage and she(2400/2000) could not attack again.

Neo's LP: 8900

"Saber Dancer!" Less thankful would be the still weakened Chimeratech Rampage Dragon(8/0/2100). With Hoshiningen gone, the saber wielding lunalight(9/3800/2600) returned to full power and mercilessly used her claws to rip every piece of metal from the three-headed machine. The scrap rained down on Neo, who grunted loudly. "Ugh.. Okay that hurt. But this is not all bad for me either guys! Cyber Pharos activates his effect when one of my fusion monsters is destroyed!" Light came from a cybernetic tower in the graveyard. Cyber Pharos banished itself for one final gift: the fusion spell with the deadliest potential. "It can add Power Bond to my hand!" The last threat passed for now, Neo could finally let his muscles relax. "Just do no get overconfident now." Void said. They were not out of the woods yet. The ADI placed two face-down cards to her spell/trap zone and still controlled the strongest monsters on the field. "Turn end."

Neo's LP: 5100

-TURN 06-

"My turn then. Right? Right." Madam Blanche promptly used her 'Blue and White Dawn' skill to draw the Blue-Eyes White Dragon from her deck. "Check this out. I can special summon Blue-Eyes Alternative White Dragon, if I show the normal one." She revealed her drawn effectless white dragon first, in order to put down an effect-having relative. The Alternative Blue-Eyes(8/3000/2500) [Zone 3] looked similar in shape and form to the original. Its glowing white scales and prominent vein-like markings were how you could tell the difference. "This guy can destroy one monster without fighting it!" Blue-Eyes Alternative White Dragon gave up its attack, and targeted Lunalight Saber Dancer right now. "Then we shall defend ourselves with the crimson moon once more!" Alas, Lunalight Blue Cat was one step ahead. As soon as the dragon appeared, Burial from A Different Dimension flipped face-up. The quickplay spell returned up to three banished monsters to the graveyard: monsters like Lunalight Crimson Fox. "The same trick again?" Blanche groaned as Lunalight Crimson Fox banished herself to negate the effect of Blue-Eyes Alternative.

Gravekeeper's LP: 4700 Neo's LP: 6100

Blanche's LP: 10000 Blue Cat's LP: 10000

"Oh well, if you wanna keep healing us." She shrugged and activated a spell well-known to this duel. "Polymerization!" The Blue-Eyes on her field fused with the Blue-Eyes in her hand. "Ultimate Dragon? No." Neo remembered the fusion that could be made from just two Bue-Eyes: Blue-Eyes Twin Burst Dragon, the two-headed cousin(10/3000/2500) [Extra Zone 1] of the ultimate dragon. "Heh. You're not the only fusion specialist around, Neo. Anyway. Twin Burst, kill Spiral Dancer for me." Alarmingly, the dragon came after the stronger Lunalight first. "Blanche? What the hell?" Neo was about to lose it, when the dragon received a welcome boost from above. "Chill, Neo. I've always got an Honest when you need one." The white-haired girl activated the angel Honest from her hand to give Twin Burst Dragon(6800/2500) attackpoints equal to the monster it chose to battle. "Bye bye Lunalights. These two heads aren't just for show. They can each attack one monster!" Blue-Eyes Twin Burst fired two consecutive bursts of energy into Lunalight Spiral and Cat Dancer.

Blue Cat's LP: 2600

"But Cat Dancer cannot be destroyed in battle!" The Blue Cat protested. The damage had to be accepted, but the destruction she could deny. "I know. That's why I summoned Twin Burst Dragon. Because she banishes whatever she fails to destroy." Though Lunalight Cat Dancer withstood the energy burst. The burst left behind particles of light which began disintegrating the Dancer's body. "My moonlight!" Blue Cat's fusion could not even go to the graveyard. "Anyway, I guess now its her turn." Blanche looked at the Gravekeepers Assailant and placed two cards down in her spell/trap zone as well. "Hey Void, hows that download coming? Feels like it should have been done ages ago." Now that progress was being made in the fight, she was hoping to see the same over there.

"It's..." So preoccupied with the duel he'd been, that Void completely forgot about the download these last few minutes. "It's done!" And it was all there, every bit of data that The Crown stored here was now copied into his dueldisk. "But.. I can't read this?" Some of what he saw were textfiles filled with lines and lines of gibberish. And most other files he could not even open. They were stored in some unknown format. "Are you saying it's encrypted or something? Or did he run it through a cipher?" Either way it sounded to Neo like it would be useless to them in its current state. "Asterisk might know." Unfortunately the agent did not respond, or even acknowledge his nudges. "How does being unconscious work here anyway?" Blanche figured he should have been logged off when he got zapped. "I don't know. We can't leave without him regardless." There was no option to log another person out. He could only hope that Asterisk would wake up on his own soon.

-TURN 07-

"You will not leave with those treasures! We are to keep it forever more! Reactivate, Necrovalley!" A sense of urgency came through in the ADIs voice. Undoubtedly because of recent developments. The Gravekeeper determinedly flipped his Necrovalley field spell face-up. "I also activate my spell, Necrovalley Throne! It adds a Gravekeeper, Gravekeepers Headman, to my hand! And when I summon him, he will re-summon one clanmember of level 4 or lower!" Headman, the gravekeeper priest(3/1000/2000) [Zone 3] of gold and many black and white robes possessed the power of rebirth. He waved his golden anubis staff around, his long white braids spinning with him, to create a powerful twister that cleaved into the graveyard. "We special summon Gravekeepers Spiritualist!" The shaman(4/2000/2000) escaped the graveyard which the Necrovalley normally kept sealed. Only the Headman could bypass that effect. "Return, supernaturalist!" From here on the Assailants strategy struck the usual notes. Spiritualist started a manual fusion between her and Gravekeeper Headman, and fusion summoned a second copy of the Esper Gravekeeper(7/2500/2500) [Extra Zone 1].

"Attack!" As the Supernaturalist gained 100 attackpoints for each of its materials levels, it(3200/2500) possessed less power than its previous incarnation. "Me?" But it could do enough damage if it attacked Neo directly. "About that!" Which Blanche quickly intercepted with Blue-Eyes Twin Burst. "I am not going to let you attack my partner here." Though their fields were not shared, Blanche still counted as a partner of Neo and she could block any attack made against him with her own vcards. "Twin Burst cannot be destroyed in battle!" She took minor damage as the Supernaturalist's psychic blast bounced off of the twoheaded dragon. "I guess we made it mad." She grinned in spite of the situation. "The Crown you mean? Probably. If I were the controller, I'd focus a lot on us too.. But you didn't have to do that, I would have survived." Neo's turn approached as well. The Assailant placed one card down in the spell/trap zone and that was it. "Eh. Why not do it, if you can?"

Blanche's LP: 9800 -TURN 08-

"Well, I think my deck agrees! Because now I can get rid of that field spell!" Gravekeeper Supernaturalist protected all field spell cards from destruction and the valley field spell itself kept all cards locked in the graveyard. "I activate Cosmic Cyclone!" But removal methods besides destruction still existed. "I pay 1000 lifepoints to banish your spell!" A spatial tornado ripped through the Necrovalley. It sucked up all the sand and temple rocks to remove the field permanently.

Neo's LP: 5100

"Great! Now lets bring back some dragons! I can banish Cyber Dragon Core from my graveyard because I have no monsters on my field. So thanks for that, Blue Cat! And you can probably guess what happens when I do that!" The original metal serpent, simply known as Cyber Dragon(5/2100/1600) [Zone 3], finally showed up on the field. After this his deck would be fresh out of them. "Blanche, since you brought out your twin. Let me call out mine! I use Power Bond!" The fusion materials were two Cyber Dragons; one in the hand and one on the field. "to fusion summon Cyber Twin Dragon!"

"Copycat." Madam Blanche looked up as a dragon even bigger than her own materialized next to her. The Cyber Twin Dragon(8/5600/2100) [Extra Zone 1] also had two heads: giant metallic snake ones that could attack separately. "That attackpower?" The Gravekeeper gasped. "Yup. Power Bond doubles the attackpower of its fusion! I take damage equal to its attack during the endphase. But I don't think that is gonna matter anymore after this! Cuz here's a double attack, on the house!" The first head blasted Gravekeepers Supernaturalist to pieces. The second blast enveloped the Gravekeeper. "This is not the end!" It cried out one final time, before all of it got drowned out by the roaring of the light. "Urgh." Then as the endphase came, Neo took 2800 points of damage, damage inflicted by Power Bond for fusing a monster with 2800 attackpoints. "Be careful now Neo. I'd hate to see you go." Blanche mused with a slight hint of concern in her voice. "What makes you say that? It's not like I've helped you before now." He did feel a little guilty that he brought Blanche into this mess. "Oh, just that I've seen a lot of duelists who have done worse."

Gravekeepers LP: 0 Neo's LP: 2300 -TURN 09-

"..." All this time, Lunalight Blue Cat kept staring at Void. "One left." The ADI could not get to him while she was dueling these two. So why was he worried. "The Crown." Because now the enemy's focus had no distractions. "I banish Lunalight Perfume from my graveyard, to return one Lunalight that lies buried there!" She used the effect of the spell in her graveyard, which discarded a random card to put Lunalight Yellow Marten back in her hand. Her turn also followed the same old beats. "The light of the emerald moon sends the light of Yellow back!" Once she normal summoned her Lunalight Emerald Bird(4/1200/1000)[Zone 2], she could discard Yellow Marten to draw a new card. "And that yellow moonlight will give us a Lunalight spell: Lunalight Fusion!" Going to the graveyard triggered Yellow Martens first effect to search lunalight spells. Being in the graveyard enabled Martens second effect to revive herself (4/800/2000) [Zone 2] by returning another Lunalight monster. All in all it was a dizzying turn for the yellow lady. "Go now! By the light of Lunalight Fusion!"

Lunalight Yellow Marten fused with the monster that she returned to Blue Cat's hand: Emerald Bird. Yet she added more than green and blue lights. "Lunalight Fusion can also take a material from the extra deck! We fuse two Lunalights with Lunalight Panther Dancer, to summon Lunalight Leo Dancer!" The ultimate dancer of the moonlight act involved a three-way fusion that already required the higher leveled form of Cat Dancer: Panther Dancer. But thanks to Lunalight Fusion, the ADI could skip straight to the final act of the fusion dance. With a red cape around her waist and the tail and white mane of lion: Lunalight Leo Dancer(10/3500/3000) made an dazzling entrance.

"And we activate Lunalight Serenade Dance! When we fusion summon a monster, that monster gains 500 attackpoints for each of your monsters! And we can create a Lunalight Token for our enemy!" Her first target would be one of her own making. Leo performed a dance while a continuous trap flipped up to cast a powerboosting light on her(5000/3000) and a life-giving shadow on Blanche's field. "Oh? Oh I see what she's up too." The lunalight token(4/2000/2000) [Zone 1] appeared in attack position, taking the form of the Dancers shadow. "And you are too late to stop it! For the dance of sabers never ends!" The Blue Cat placed her claw on the floor and tore a card out of the graveyard. "We banish Lunalight Saber Dancer, to add her attackpoints to Leo Dancer!" One last effect, one last trick from Lunalight Saber Dancer. Her light added to that of Leo Dancer(8000/3000) to create the brightest moon in existence. "Now disappear from this place!"

The two different blades in Leo Dancer's hand displayed her powers well, she could attack twice in one turn. Her shorter but broader golden sword plunged into the Lunalight token, dispelling the darkness of Leo's shadow. "Oh no! If Leo Dancer can destroy all our monsters!" There was always a second power. Leo Dancer unleashed hers upon all opposing monsters as soon as she finished her first attack. Her blades crossed to create a spark of red lightning. Lightning that exploded like a thunderstorm as soon as she raised both blades. "Crap.." Cyber Twin Dragon and Blue Eyes Twin Burst Dragon experienced twin destruction. They were gone, and Leo Dancer(3500/3000) could still attack.

Blanche's LP: 3800

"And now I can choose. Another will fall." Getting to pick who to crush seemed to give Blue Cat a sadistic kind of delight. Both duelists were at her mercy. "Stop!" Void could not just stand around any longer. He did not need to. "Why are you doing this? You, the Crown!" He did not want to talk to the ADI. If their controller was truly listening, than he or she would receive these words directly. "You would not understand. You are children playing a game. You cannot stop what has been set in motion." Blue Cat gave him just the one response. The ADI spoke the truth, whether she was talking about the duel or something more. Void's turn would come too late if he joined the battle royal now. "Hey. You can have me then." Between the two only two choices, Blanche offered herself first. "What! No, you dont have to do that for me!" Neo shouted. "Okay. I wont then. Take him instead." She gave the Lunalight a shrug. "But if you do, you just know I am gonna get even again on my turn."

"...You are the smarter one. You will be the first to die." Blue Cat made her choice. The dancer raised her thin silver sword above the girl with blue eyes' head. "And you...are not smart at all. I have like two traps left!" She could not imagine a better time to use one. "Then you are a fool as well. Leo Dancer is immune to traps!" Leo Dancer brought her weapon down despite the traps activation. "Not everything is about your fusion, kitty cat. I activate Oasis of Dragonsouls and bring Blue Eyes Twin Burst Dragon back!" If they could repeat themselves, so would she. The dragonsoul oasis summoned her dragon back in defense mode and placed it in between her and Lunalight Leo Dancer(7000/3000). "Blanche! Incredible!" Neither her nor her monster were hurt by the attack, thanks to the latters indestructible nature. "That sounds good. Keep that praise coming, Neo." Another violent battle passed them by. Luckily Saber Dancer's effect lasted only one turn, so Leo Dancer(4000/3000) only looked half as terrifying once Blue Cat's turn ended.

-TURN 10-

"But if you ask me. We are both incredible." She could not have done this if Neo had not previously gotten rid of Necrovalley. "Now let's see if we can put this mess to rest." And the card she drew at the start of her turn, put a smile on her face. "Go get her." She switched Twin Burst Dragon back to attack mode and entered the battle phase. "I am sure you remember what it can do, right?" The first dragonhead blasted the Leo Dancer with a powerful burst. The attack would not destroy Lunalight Leo, serving only to draw a counter-attack from her. However the dancer's blades failed to damage the twin dragon, who could not destroyed as a result of battle. "Any monster picks a fight with it and lives, is banished when their skirmish ends." Particles of light clung to Lunalight Leo Dancer. Blue Cat lost this exchange, despite her superior attackpower. The light consumed Leo Dancer bit by bit, until she fell into the same dimension that already held the Cat Dancer. "Too bad, Twin Burst cannot use his second attack against a duelist."

Blanche's LP: 2800

"But what's this?" Within the same battle phase, Blanche revealed the quickplay-spell: Silvers Cry. "Its a mint condition classic run Blue-Eyes White Dragon!" Silvers Cry special summoned a monster from the graveyard as well: a normal-type dragon. Fresh from the graveyard, Blue-Eyes White Dragon(8/3000/2500) [Zone 2] saw nothing in between her and her prey. "Any last words, kitty kat? Or do I give this question to your owner with the crown?" Victory was assured. Perhaps this time the Crown would be more willing to relinquish information. "You think you are strong. But you are so small, and you will be destroyed from the inside out!" Three sentences was as much as the Lunalight willingly passed along. "If you say so." Blanche ordered the final attack: a destructive bursting stream to overpower the moonlight.

Blue Cat's LP: 0

"What in god's name is taking everyone here so long?" No sooner did the hologram of the Blue Cat disappear than Zettai rushed into the laboratory room like a blazing bullet. "Oh Zetta. Good timing. We're done now." Blanche dusted off her hands and gave Neo a wink of the eye. "Then can you pick up the pace? A second wave of ADIs is storming the ground floor! Everyone else is already gone!" Pretty soon it would be too late to quickjump out. "Uhnn.. the machines." At the very least consciousness slowly returned to the one they were waiting for. "Asterisk?" The agent used all of his current strength to nudge towards the devices around him. "What does he want?" Neo didn't get it. "Wait? All of this.. belongs to the Crown?" She saw what needed to be done. "Stand back, this will break some rules." The skystriker activated one of her mods to summon a Skystriker cannon weapon. "Hyaaaah!" She discharged several shots in every direction, smashing everything that even remotely looked like a computer or device.

"Some safezone." Blanche coughed. The damage was substantial, just the way Zettai liked it. "Oh!" One of the pieces among the destroyed rubble must have been the cause of the quickjump block, because Void was able to activate that function on his dueldisk now. "I am not quite sure how that worked. But we can leave now. Asterisk, can you go?" The only way to jump out together was to have consent from all duelists. "Just go.." Asterisk managed to get out a sufficient number of words, allowing all five to teleport away...

...

"They made it!" All the others were already at the arena when the last five duelists arrived. "Everyone?" At first glance it appeared that there were no losses to the ambush. "Yeah but Asterisk is still hurt." Scura muttered. "Oh dear. Asterisk, do you require medical attention?" Doctor Scarlet wandered over to the ailing agent. He was quick to raise a hand. "No thank you. I can heal on my own." He did not plan to find out what her medical attention entailed today or any day. "Psh. So what if we all made it out? We got lucky! And we're no closer to catching that bastard then we were before we left!" Bionis Khan fumed, as he'd been doing ever since he got back. "It was not all for nothing. The Crown might have gotten away, but he had to leave his data behind. All of it is on here now." Void showed them all his dueldisk. "And anything else, I made sure to burn down." Zettai added with a satisfied sneer. "You took information from the Crown? What does it tell you?!" Midsummer cried out, forcing Void to admit the whole truth. "Nothing, yet. The text is all garbled."

"Garbled? Seriously?" Bionis fumed some more. "We risked our necks out there for that? This was a wild goose chase after all." Sundowns reaction matched his as well. "This guy we're chasing. He is way too dangerous. We cant keep doing this." Others mostly experienced anger and fear. "Certainly if you keep running away every time something terrifying happens, mister Veryon." Both emotions spilled out into resentment, like that of Himiko towards the cowardly Veyron. "We can't let him get away!" Or that of Imperius Rex towards their unknown enemy. "No. This should have worked. But it didn't. He was already outside when we knocked at the door." Scarlet was the one who could have guaranteed the success of their plan, even she did not know what went wrong. "Actually, the answer could be simpler than you think." Midsummer chimed in again, walking to the center of the arena. "It could be right here and now." As he spoke, Void was reminded of what the ADI's last words: that they would be destroyed from the inside out. They were words he did not want to restate carelessly. They were the same words Midsummer uttered...

"The Crown has an ally, hiding in this very group."

(To Be Continued in Line 014: The 20th Soldier)

**Cards used by Neo  
**Cyber Dragon Core  
Cyber Pharos

-  
Cyber Twin Dragon

-  
Cosmic Cyclone  
Power Bond

**New Cards used by Madam Blanche  
**Blue-Eyes Alternative White Dragon

-  
Blue-Eyes Twin Burst Dragon

-  
Polymerization  
Silvers Cry

-  
Oasis of Dragonsouls

**New Cards used by Gravekeeper's Assailant  
**Gravekeeper's Headman

-  
Throne of Necrovalley

**New Cards used by Lunalight Blue Cat  
**Lunalight Leo Dancer

-  
Burial from a Different Dimension  
Lunalight Fusion

-  
Lunalight Serenade Dance


	14. The 20th Soldier

**Line 014: The 20th Soldier**

"A traitor?" Midsummer Nightmare dropped that loaded term in the middle of everything, a term that could apply to any one. "Someone who could have given the Crown an advance warning, yes. Someone who knew we were going to strike." Not a single duelist could feign ignorance here, all of them were in on the now failed plan. "That does not have to be the only reason." Void knew where this would lead. "But it does make sense. That ADI we dueled did make it sound like that was the case." Unfortunately Neo heard as much as him and acted much less careful. "What do you mean?" Bionis Khan demanded an answer, predictably. "Huh? Just that she said we would be destroyed from the inside out." Neo blurted out. "I knew it!" This was enough to validate all of Khans concerns over the last two days. "This game was fixed from the beginning! Whoever destroyed Judge Hieronymus also infiltrated this place!" As far as he was concerned, this could be the only answer. "Who? Who could lie to our face like that?" Imperius quickly shared his suspicion.

"Was it you, Veyron? When things started to go down-hill, you were the first to run." Himiko glared in the direction of the speed duelist. "No, it was not me, Khan. It may not be any of us." Veyron of course denied it. "Hmm. That's just what a traitor would say." Midsummer chuckled. "You're not exactly a beacon of good faith either, Midsummer Nightmare. For all of his faults, Veyron at least stood with us initially. When the ambush started, you were nowhere to be seen anymore." Zettai declared as she looked down at the masked man. "Oh. How easy it must be to cast such accusations from far above, lady Zettai. I was there for all of it, every wave." To prove himself, Midsummer produced various skill cards and gems; the rewards of his struggles against the ambushing ADIs. "Pfah. That does not even begin to improve your image. Often the one casting the first finger is the one who carries all of the blame." Sundown was not convinced, like so many. They were drawn to this argument like flies to a carcass. They had fostered too much mistrust and too little faith in each other.

"Hey guys. You realize this doesn't make sense, right? Static invited us here. Why would he invite someone who is working with his enemy?" Blanche slowed everyone down with her rhetoric. "He wouldn't." Scarlet nodded. They could hardly imagine someone as thorough as Mr. Static allowing such an error. "But only he would know.." Crescent thought that maybe they could ask him. "Let's ask him! That is a great idea!" Wagnerok rapidly co-opted the plan and started yelling. "Static! Come out, we have questions for you!" He was soon backed up by Bionis Khan and Imperius Rex.

"I am sorry." While they shouted at the heavens, a softer voice snuck up behind Void's group. "Huh? Scura? Are you.." Again the hooded girl received his unintentional neglect. "No. I am not the mole. But I bet you were thinking it, weren't you?" But she definitely caught his attention now. "I wasn't! I just wanted to know if you were okay." Void assured her. "I kinda was." Blanche whispered to herself. Scura chose to ignore that. "I wanted to apologize.. for leaving you. I could have gone back up there like they did." She pointed at Blanche and Zettai. "Of course I didn't. I only beat one of them.. and then I ran. Jumped straight back here." A long deep sigh followed, while her eyes stared into the ground. "Scura. I would be the last to hold that against you. I felt the same way." Void could not lie. The temptation to run away from it all was still nipping at the back of his mind. "It is in your nature." Zettai added her own, questionable, words of comfort. "You do not have a heart of fire. But that also means you would not dare to go against us. If you had, you would not have been at the frontlines at all."

"Did anyone call?" Before the words could sink in, the sky parted. The man from static graced them with his scrambled magnificence.

"We did! We found the one causing the problem! But he escaped!" Wagner explained with a sense of accomplishment. "...You had me until those last three words. Did you catch a name, a face, a trail?" Mister Static sounded far from impressed. "Just one breadcrumb. They believe that there the Crown has an agent planted in our group, to explain how he he got away. We figured you would know if that could even be possible." Void spoke up as well, hoping to get a confirmation one way or another. Mostly the one way. "You mean... a spy? Now that would add a spicy ingredient to the mix. What can I say? I can see it being true, and I can see it being false. What you do in your free time is not something I can observe." The man shrugged his barely visible shoulders. "So you are not going to deny it?" Khan snarled. "Well.. I can tell you this. If there is a speck of truth to this theory, the subject will wish I gave him the Donna treatment. But I'm in a good mood right now! Tabula Rasa, as they say. Does any traitor care to step forward? Today only I will offer you a mulligan!" Nobody made a move. "Hm. Disappointed. Well, if that will be all.."

"Wait! I have a question!" Void raised his voice again. "Oh you again? You certainly like the attention, don't you Void? Well, give me your best shot." Static leaned in and waited. "You said there were twenty of us. Now there's fifteen. Yet you counted sixteen duelists the last time you were here. So which is it?" He had a reason to ask this now, a possible connection to the other topic. "I was wondering when any of you would notice. Or perhaps you all assumed that I was counting myself? Nope! I am not on your level. I did not miscount either, only four have fallen and sixteen remain. If someone else went missing I would tell you." The portal to the static world began to close. "Consider that today's free nugget of info. Use it any way you like. Just keep fighting the good fight, and all of you may catch the bad guy one also remember the rules of my game, any loss will lead to 'disqualification'. So be careful, you cannot end a duel once it started unless you start one here. Cheers!"

The sky turned back to normal. Their 'master' could not help, or would not, help them in the slightest. "Why did he bring up the rules again?" His answers just made the matter less clear. "And what was up with that question, mister Void?" Himiko sounded offended that he wasted their time with that. "The dragon!" But Neo already realized which presence Void referred to. "Dragon? What on earth are you talking about?" Sundown needed this to make sense. "When we were attacked back at the Crowns laboratory, a dragon came by to take out one of the ADIs." Void started to explain. "And it wasn't me." Blanche clarified. "No.. it looked creepier, darker. It blew a hole in the roof just to get to us." Neo never got a good look at it, he was too used to simply recording his every step. "And you are sure you were not just seeing things?" Veyron wondered. "How could they? Everything you see here is meant to be seen. And there was damage done to the ceiling. That certainly was not an illusion." Zettai could corroborate that much. A virtual world did not play tricks on the mind like the real world would. "So what you are saying is.. you were rescued by the last duelist we have yet to meet?"

"Yes, Imperius. That is what I am saying. He or she may have chosen to remain hidden, but I believe he is at least on our side. Because of what Static said, I also believe he is here right now.. " The how and why as of yet eluded him, nor did it make Void feel very safe. "That just means he has something to hide!" Khan and Imperius unfortunately only shared half of the conclusion. "Indeed! Whoever you are, you must reveal yourself to us! Do you hear me!?" The centurion walked to the middle of the battlefield, from where he could see the entire arena. So far, the number of visible duelists stayed the same. "Perhaps you should challenge him to draw him out. It is a fitting stage after all." That was when Midsummer Nightmare came up with a brilliant idea. "Yes! I challenge the duelist whose name is not known! You cannot refuse!" Imperius immediately accepted, to the shock of everyone else. "No! What are you doing? We're on the same side!" Void cursed. "Are we? This is a necessary step, Void. At worst, nothing comes off it.. at best, we will make a new friend. Static did remind us that duels were safe here." Midsummer saw no downside. "But will it even work? If this guy is.."

"Very well. It has come to this." The challenged got accepted. "!? That's him!" A clear and monotonous voice reached everyone's ear as Imperius' dueldisk lit up. Lines were drawn in the sand and cards added to the hand.

?'s LP: 8000 Imperius' LP: 8000 -TURN 01-

"There he is! No wait.." A band of red dragon knights(2/700/800) [Zone 5] dropped in, wielding axes, spears and other weapons. That was just a duel monster though. "Where is he?" The controlling duelist had yet to show himself, even though his opening line came from that direction. "Where are you? What are you doing?" Imperius shouted at the direction of the monster. "This is how I duel." The lone voice came from a different angle now. "Is he...invisible?" Himiko stared in his direction, at a spot with only empty seats "Scarlet, what do you see?" Void figured that the doctor should have been able to see him with her special mask. "Nothing, actually. You can check for yourself." She handed it over to him. "You're right." Void saw just the fifteen duelists already in the arena and the cards on the battlefield. The unseen duelists managed to place another three cards down in the middle spell/trap zones too, without giving away his position. "He should not be able to go completely undetected. And yet he found a way." Scarlet Fever was fascinated.

-TURN 02-

"Visible or not, I shall trample your dragons all the same! Rescue Rabbit! I summon you!" Imperius' first monster, a hardhat wearing rabbit(4/300/100) [Zone 3] seemed unfitting for a duelist dressed like a roman centurion. Yet it worked perfectly as it could be banished to special summon two normal monsters from the deck. "Sacrifice yourself, to bring me two Gladiators The Beasts of Andal!" Two black bears(4/1900) [Zone 2 & 4], wearing armor and one-eyed helmets appeared in the arena. Of the entire Gladiator Beasts legion, they were the only ones without effects. "Soldier Dragons effect activates." Meanwhile, the unknown duelists' monster could use its effect during its opponents turn. "Huh?" Instead of one, there were now two Soldier Dragons on the field. The second one(2/700/800) [Zone 4] was in defense mode. "Imperius! The Soldier Dragons can summon another level 2 dark dragon from the deck when you activate an effect!" Neo shouted his warning a little too late. "Even itself?" Soldier Dragons own level was low enough, so it could just keep summoning copies of itself.

"But each Soldier can only use that power once a turn! So I shall crush the second before it gets its effect off! Beasts of Andal, link with each other to create the circuit for the Beast of Dragases!" Not content to just crush the soldiers with his current gladiator set, Imperius turned both into link materials. Dragases was their replacement, a white eagle gladiator(2000/LINK 2) {Downleft/Downright} [Extra Zone 1] wearing crimson armor that resembled those of a roman soldier. "Your dragon has had it! Dragases, kill!" Despite its armor, the beast flew pretty well and pretty fast. "Quickplay spell, Draw Muscle." Nevertheless, the enemy did not feel like humoring his opponent and denied him his hopes right away. "Huh?" Draw Muscle targeted a defending monster with 1000 or less defense points to draw a new card. "Damn it!" And the targeted monster could not be destroyed as a result of battle either. Dragases failed to dent the armor the red dragon. "What a waste of a battle phase." Zettai stated derisively.

"It was not a waste! The battle still took place!" Each Gladiator Beast could tag out to special summon a different Beast from the deck once their battle phase concluded. Certain beasts like Dragases could even summon two monsters at the same time. "Dragases, split in two! Bring me the beasts of Murmillo and Bestiari!" Dragases flew back into the extra deck to call out his followers. The opponent quietly special summoned his monster now as well. The effect of Dragases allowed the second Soldier Dragons to put a third Soldier Dragons(2/700/800) [Zone 3] down on the field. "Murmillo, destroy! Bestiari, shatter!" Gladiator Beast Murmillo(3/800/400) [Zone 2] was a carp-fishfaced gladiator who could destroy one monster when it got summoned by the effect of another Gladiator Beast. And it fired two high-pressure water jets from his shouldercannons to destroy the new Soldier Dragons. Gladiator Beast Bestiari on the other hand could destroy one spell or trap card when it 'tagged in'. The beast-fighting green bird gladiator sliced the trap that was set before it: Parallel Port Armor.

Of course, the activation of a destruction effect still happened before the resolution of that destruction. That gave Soldier Dragons number three plenty of time to special summon a new dragon from the deck before its demise. "Sniffer Dragon." A thinner wingless red dragon(2/800/400) [Zone 2] appeared now. Cybernetic plates protected its chest, limbs and tail and a yellow glowing visor covered its eyes. "Adds another." The effect of Sniffer Dragon triggered upon its summon, and placed a second Sniffer Dragon in the duelists hand. The hand that could not be seen. "Then Mana Dragon Zirnitrons effect activates as well." The destruction of his trap received a likewise retaliation, after the fact. Zirnitron could special summon itself whenever a spell or trap got destroyed. "Gah.." And this black dragon(6/2200/1200) [Zone 1], with crystals of all colors growing over its four wings and horns, could restore the destroyed trap card as well. It set Parallel Port Armor back face-down. "This guy is like a human hydra. Every time you smash one of his cards, another dozen pop up."

"Hydra." The voice overheard Blanche's comment, and was amused. "That name is fitting. I shall use it from now on."

"So I must slay a Hydra? Fine! I shall conquer this second labor of Hercules! Gladiators, unite to form the beast of Gyzarus!" Gladiator Beasts only recently meddled with Link monsters. Most of their extra deck power came out through fusion: contact fusion. By shuffling Bestiari and one other Gladiator Beast back into the deck, Imperius Rex could fusion summon Gladiator Beast Gyzarus(6/2400/1500) [Extra Zone 1] without a spell. "Gyzarus, kill the two soldiers and end their cycle of summoning!" This evolved form of Bestiari, a fully armored bird with a crown of red feathers, could destroy twice as many monsters. Rex decided to wipe out the Soldier dragons before they could annoy him even more in the next turn. "I set one card and my turn!"

"Pfeh.. this guy could not even come up with a username on his own? And I thought you were uncreative, Void." Bionis Khan found the situation simultaneously amusing and inconceivable. "No offense taken, Khan.." Void did not think Hydra suffered from a lack of creativity. Certainly, his own reason for choosing his in-game identity was nothing special. Yet this 'Hydra' person seemed to have deliberately chosen his appearance. Or lack thereof. "What if he does not have an avatar?" Void could hear Scura mumble something behind his back again. "Huh? Is that even possible?" Void assumed that the process of creating an avatar applied the same way to everyone. What did she know? "And now you're thinking I tried, aren't you? Of course... I did. But I liked having an avatar more than not having one. It made me feel less... ugly. But I couldn't do it anyway." She seemed to laugh at her own words. "What I wanted to say was.. maybe he is not even inside of STHEREA. Maybe he is playing this game behind his computer. Safe and sound..."

-TURN 03-

Void and Scura would have more time to consider that theory later. 'Hydra' moved on wit his turn."Night Beam destroys your face-down trap. You cannot chain to this effect." Right away, the unknown duelist flipped his third face-down card, a spell sent a signal into the skies. "My trap?" One second a target reticule hovered over Imperius' set card. The next second it disintegrated said trap with a focused laser that pierced the clouds. "More long range tactics. You coward." The centurion was forced to send Gladiator Beast War Chariot to the graveyard: a negation card to use against the many monster effects that would now come without mercy. "Sniffer Dragon and its effect." Even when normal summoned, the sniffing dragon(2/800/400) [Zone 3] could search the deck to find the third and final Sniffer Dragon in its owners deck. The invisible hand took it, only to toss it away. "Defrag Dragon summons itself, by sending a monster to the graveyard." These dragons looked less and less like actual beasts and more creatures made from data. The sharp-bodied Defrag Dragon(3/1000/600) [Zone 4] wore metallic colors with painted red and gold tints. Its wings were merely a collection of green diamond patterns.

"The link materials of the following monster are three DARK dragons." Hydra stated as he opened the three-marker circuit with Defrag Dragon and the two Sniffer Dragons. "I link summon Vorticular Drumgon." A certain theme became apparent from one look at this new dragons body. The spike-tailed yellow-scaled Vorticular Drumgon(1000/LINK 3) {Left/Down/Right} [Extra Zone 2] owed its name to the bullet magazine around its head and the cannon on its chest. "A gun dragon?" Sundown made a noise of amusement. "That's a pretty new card. But for a link 3 monster its not that impressive." Wagnerok only saw the low attackpoints. Drumgons uses lied elsewhere. "A special summoned Vorticular Drumgon draws one card. And the zones it points too cannot be used this turn." Hydra gained a new resource for his depleted hand, at the cost of losing zone 4. "Defrag Dragon special summons itself, by banishing three monsters with the same name." The defragger dragon returned [Zone 3] for one reason only. "The materials of the final monster are 2 effect monsters."

"I link summon Topologic Bomber Dragon!" The normally calm Hydra let out a powerful scream to start the linking. "A link 4 monster?" There were enough materials: Vorticular Drumgon's three markers added up perfectly with Defrag Dragon. Yet the monster that came out of this link circuit could not call itself a dragon, not anymore. "So he uses cyberse monsters too?" Midsummer mused to himself. Topologic Bomber Dragon(3000/LINK 4) {Up/DownLeft/Down/DownRight} [Extra Zone 2] resembled a mix of the cybernetic and the draconic. Two claws and a dozen spikes lined its burning red armor, and a single green eye stared down at the field. Three tentacles that looped back into its shoulders replaced the wings and tail you would normally find on a dragon. "I attack your Gladiator Beast." From the moment it materialized, a storm had been brewing. That storm erupted into an inferno, lit up by a concentrated beam of energy that erupted from Topologic's mouth. "Gah!?" Gyzarus stood no chance, and its destruction left Imperius with more than battle damage. "Rghwaaah!"

Imperius' LP: 5000

"His monster inflicts damage equal to the attackpoints of anything it fights!" Veyron let out a gasp. The centurion might as well have been attacked directly. "Rex! Are you alright?" The blast knocked the centurion against the walls of the arena. Scarlet barely saw any movement from him after that. This damage went beyond what even the corrupted ADI's could materialize. "My other dragon attacks as well." Hydra did not care how bad it looked. He saw an opening and Mana Dragon Zirnitron took it. "One blow is all I grant you!" Rex managed to pull himself back together in time to summon a defense. "Gladiator Beast Noxious!" A panther gladiator warrior(5/0/1000) [Zone 3] jumped down in front of his master to absorb Zirnitrons crystalline flares. "Noxious stops a direct attack by special summoning himself from my hand! He cant be destroyed by attacks!" In defense mode, Noxious nullified the damage intended for Rex, and it sent a Gladiator Beast, Augustus, to the graveyard with its own effect. And like all other Gladiator Beasts it could tag out at the end of a battle phase.

But they had not come to the end yet. "Before you get ahead of yourself." Hydra activated the same trap that Zirnitron saved earlier: Parallel Port Armor. "This trap equips to my link monster. Now your card cannot target mine, or destroy mine in battle." If he waited for Noxious to switch out into Murmillo, it would already be too late. "Then I will summon Bestiari and break that armor!" Imperius returned Gladiator Beast Noxious to the deck to resummon Gladiator Beast Bestiari [Zone 3] and destroy the trap card. "Very well." Two more cards appeared face-down; two traps [Zone 2 & 3].

-TURN 04-

"You may be calm now, but this turn I will unleash my full power! Gladiator Beast Respite! I send two of My Gladiator Beasts from my hand to the deck to draw three cards!" With his spell he could build a hand he was satisfied with. Now all that remained was to contact fuse Gyzarus. "I summon the beast of Sagittari, and fuse it with.." Getting a second material on the field, Sagittari the blonde longhaired centaur archer(3/1400/1000) [Zone 2], proved to be the easy step. "With what?" Keeping them was another matter. Hydra flipped the trap that rested right in front of Bestiari. "Fuse Line. I destroy one card in this column." The trap lit the fuse than ran across the entire column and destroyed the green feathered gladiator at the other end. "No!" The key ingredient to a Gyzarus fusion just got blown up. "What kind of duelist are you?" Imperius get barely get a handle on this opponent, primarily because there were no reactions to read. "One that not limits himself. Your attacks are too narrow, one-directional. I can see everything coming, from my vantage points."

"You talk like you are everywhere at once. But that is clearly impossible." Himiko argued with the disembodied one. "Impossible is a meaningless word in this reality, miss Yoro-Himiko." He replied with vague incredulity. "Enough words!" Imperius did not want to postpone his next move any longer. "Words do not win battles! I activate my skill: contact reincarnation! I can use it to special summon one fusion material with its effect negated! And I choose, Bestiari!" The winged beast served as the only unique material for the Gyzarus fusion, which made it easy for Imperius to bring it[Zone 5] back to his field. "Nothing is impossible. Including your defeat! Even if we cannot see you, we can see your monsters! And their destruction will be yours! Come out, Gyzarus! And destroy his monsters!" He fused Bestiari with Sagittari, as he had intended from the beginning. The second Gyzarus (6/2400/1500) [Extra Zone 1] would cause as much havoc as the first by destroying Zirnitron and Topologic Bomber Dragon.

_Contact with Reincarnation, Skill Card  
__Reveal 1 Fusion monster in your extra deck: special summon from your hand or graveyard, 1 __Fusion Material monster that is listed on that Fusion Monster.  
That monster has its effect(s) negated. You cannot special summon monsters from the extra deck this turn, except fusion monsters._

"Counter trap." The invisible duelist however did not need to see this effect more than once. "Broken Line. I negate and destroy an effect that activates in this cards column." His counter-trap ignited a current across its entire column, the same column used by Gyzarus. "!?" For daring to use its power, the fused gladiator was sentenced to death by electrocution. ""Your tactics are repetitive, Centurion. Even a child could have set this trap. All of you are like children. It is time for you grow up."

(To Be Continued in Line 015: Spare Locks for Every Key)

**Cards used by 'Hydra'  
**Soldier Dragons  
Sniffer Dragon  
Mana Dragon Zirnitron  
Defrag Dragon

-  
Vorticular Drumgon  
Topologic Bomber Dragon

-  
Draw Muscle  
Night Beam

-  
Parallel Port Armor  
Fuse Line  
Broken Line

**Cards used by centurion Imperius Rex  
**_CONTACT WITH REINCARNATION_

-  
Rescue Rabbit  
Gladiator Beast Andal  
Gladiator Beast Bestiari  
Gladiator Beast Murmillo  
Gladiator Beast Noxious  
Gladiator Beast Sagittari

-  
Gladiator Beast Dragases  
Gladiator Beast Gyzarus

-  
Gladiator Beasts' Respite

-  
Gladiator Beast War Chariot


	15. Spare Locks for Every Key

**Line 015: Spare Locks for Every Key**

Hydra's LP: 8000 Imperius' LP: 5000

In the battle between Imperius and Hydra, the invisible duelist reigned supreme. He controlled Mana Dragon Zirnitron(6/2200/1200) [Zone 1] and Topologic Bomber Dragon(3000/LINK 4) [Extra Zone 2] {Up/Downleft/Down/Downright}, while his enemy had nothing left. "That's the second column effect in a row." Blanche cringed as the centurion lost all of his monsters to another vertical trap. "He knew Imperius would use that column eventually. Its where he has to summon his extra deck monsters." The move impressed Zettai a little, if only because she rarely saw such unorthodox methods of dueling. Hydra played a game of the mind as well.

"You leave me no choice, Hydra!" And Imperius started to lose his. He rushed into the battle phase. "You are attacking me with nothing?" Hydra chuckled. He might have been invisible, but the monsters would not be. "I do have something! The quick-play spell: United Gladiator Beasts! I can perform a contact fusion of gladiators during the battle phase. Even if those gladiators are in the graveyard! I cannot summon Gyzarus, but I can summon the Gladiator Beast Andabata!" " For this fusion Gladiator Beast Augustus acted as the key fusion ingredient, while one Gyzarus and one Gladiator Beast Andal catalyzed the rest. All three turned into a different breed of Gladiator. "Andabata?" A crest-headed dinosaur warrior(8/1000/2800) [Extra Zone 1] approached the center of the battlefield in defense mode, his armor looked more advanced than any other gladiators. "When Andabata is fusion summoned, another Gladiator can come my extra deck on his own. So call him out: Gyzarus!"

"Sheesh. How many times is he gonna summon that card?" Scura counted three so far. Andabata bypassed the necessary materials and commanded the final Gyzarus to show himself(6/2400/1500) [Zone 4]... right in front of Topologic Bomber Dragon "I only have one extra monster zone. But I can also special summon extra deck monsters to a zone your link monster points too, Hydra!" Normally a duelist could only claim one of two extra zones. And the second one was taken by Hydra's cyberse dragon anyway. Yet link markers affected both sides of the field. "That is your right, yet the cost will not be mine alone." Alarm bells went off inside every duelists' head, when the coiled wings of Topologic started to glow brighter and brighter. "His link monster destroys all monsters in the main zone when something gets linked with it... Imperius, you fool!" Himiko's scolding came far too late, Imperius already did not care. "Gyzarus will still destroy his cards!" This time his effect was not blocked at least, which allowed the winged beast gladiator to destroy Hydra's two monsters. The Bomber Dragon and Gladiator blew each other to pieces in the crossfire of golden flares and burning feather. Mana Dragon Zirnitron died in between, a victim of both their effects at the same time.

"Now tremble! When my Gladiator battles, I can activate and summon Gladiator Beast Vespasiaus from my hand. And all Gladiators will gain 500 attackpoints! So, Andabata, direct attack!" Just getting two hits in would be worth all of the previous struggles. The Gladiator Andabata rained fire blasts from its cannon wings and shield. And as it did, Vespasiaus, the swordsman seadragon(6/2300/0) [Zone 1] in blue armor, emerged from his shadow and let out a battlecry to empower himself(2800/0) and Andabata(1500/2800). The fireblasts of the fusion then spread across the battlefield and the arena ring, with on nearly striking Veyron. "Gyah! What are you aiming for?!" Finding a proper target for the direct attack proved too difficult. He had no avatar to strike. Yet.. the attack did connect somehow. "...Even now you hide? What is your reason? Why do you not show yourself!" Imperius forced another direct attack on the unseeable, and landed that one as well. Still Hydra's position could not be ascertained.

Hydra's LP: 3700

"Why should I reveal myself?" Hydra turned the question around. "I can see everything from where I am. I could even see that Agent Asterisk needed help, and I showed up in time to give it to them. I have also seen all of your duels, your skills and your tactics this way. I know more about you, than you you know about each other. This is is not a game yet it is. Because this is not real. So you should answer me, how is it better to come down where you are?" He waited to see if anyone could even reply. The answer.. came from Void. "Because down here we're together, as a team. And you can help us too, with everything you already know. If Static invited you as well, then you are just as trapped as..." "A team?" Hydra cut him off. "I have seen all of you in action, I have seen your togetherness. You are not 'a team', there is no name to this gathering. You are leaderless, as much as you and others like to pretend to be one. You barely talk to each other except to squabble. You fight, you cower and you languish. Becoming a part of that would be a waste of my time. You and I would get in each others way. That is why I choose to not be seen."

"Then that will change! We will renew our bonds, and we will begin by rooting out every voice of dissent!" Imperius clenched his hand. "It is still my turn! Gladiator Beast Andabata, special summon the emperor's beasts of Sagittari and Augustus!" Even this fusion could tag out at the end of the battle phase, splitting into two beasts that were summoned from the deck. Augustus(8/2600/1100) [Zone 1], more dragon than man, walked out with a confident stride. With one set of arms it wielded its sword, with the second set of winged arms it could take to the skies. "Darius, call Gyzarus once more!" Meanwhile the black horse gladiator Darius(4/1700/300) [Zone 2], used his own effect to special summon the other Gladiator Beast Gyzarus [Zone 3] from the graveyard. It did not have anything left to destroy though. "Return to me, Dragases!"

In this duel of deja vu, the link summoning of the white eagle(2000/LINK 2) {DownLeft/Downright} [Extra Zone 1] in red armor came as little surprise to anyone. It used Darius and Gyzarus as its link materials. "Then I shall fuse the remnants!" The next two required materials were two highlevel Gladiators, the emperor Augustus and Octavius. "To summon the Tamer known as Editor!" For this gladiator, grand chained armor with pauldrons and a waistcape were set aside. A defense-position deer-warrior Editor(8/2400/3000) [Zone 3] stormed into the battle arena with antlers that looked like golden flames. "Editor can summon any fusion Gladiator Beast from my extra deck! So call him out, the beast of the emperor Domitianus!" With nothing left to kill, Imperius opted instead to summon the strongest of all Gladiator Beasts and evolved form of Vespasiaus: Domitianus the longtailed seaserpent lancer(10/3500/1200) [Zone 1]. Both he and Editor linked up with Dragases. "I end my turn!"

"Sheesh. He's dueling like he's on fire." Though Hydra led with lifepoints, his field languished in desolation. "He is not one to under-estimate, Blanche." Zettai knew Hydra would need luck to get out of this situation. "Yes. But. what good will it do?" Despite Hydra never denying it, Void did not think he could be the mole.

-TURN 05-

"My turn. I activate Pot of Desires." He banished ten cards from the top of his deck to draw the two that came after. "..." He then placed one spell face down [Zone 2]. "Defrag Dragons effect activates." The trio-defragging dragon(3/1000/600) [Zone 3] banished the three Sniffer Dragons in the graveyard, to special summon itself[Zone 2] to the field again.. in the same column. "What schemes are you plotting?" Imperius growled. "Just that when a column has three cards in it, I can special summon Iron Dragon Tiamaton from my hand!" Hydra surrendered the column next to it to the fully cybernetic battalion dragon(4/2000/0) [Zone 1] made from grey steel and iron. "And when Tiamaton appears, it destroys all cards in the same column!" The Iron Dragon became an iron bullet, rushing from one side of the field to the other to blast through Prospero's card: Gladiator Beast Domitianus. "A pointless endeavor! Once a turn, Domitianus can block a monsters effect!" The seaserpant shot the Iron dragon out of the sky with his own lance.

"You fight well, when angered." Hydra remarked. "Out of everyone here, you might even be the most honorable. A pity that I have to do this to you." Hydra flipped his set card, Monster Reborn. "!? Of all the cards?" Neither Bionis Khan nor the rest of the duelists needed to be told how dangerous this card was. The spell of Monster reborn meant a free revival ticket for any monster in the graveyard. "Come, Vorticular Drumgon!" What they did not understand though, was why the spell brought the magazine-headed dragon(1000/LINK 3) {Left/Down/Right} [Zone 1] back of all things. "Since Vorticular Drumgon is summoned, I can draw one card..And now I Link summon, Topologic Bomber Dragon!" And it seemed, like his maindeck monsters.. his extra deck monsters came in multiples as well. A second Topologic(3000/LINK 4) {Up/Downleft/Down/Downright} [Extra Zone 2] took Vorticular Drumgon and Defrag Dragon as its components.

"Is that it? That trick wont work again, Hydra! Domitianus wont let you attack anyone I don't want you too!" The 3500 attackpoint beast acted as the perfect deterrent to his deadly dragon. "This wont be the same, Imperius." Except for Topologic's other effect. "I summon another Defrag Dragon to Topologic's marker, and destroy all monsters in the main zones." A second copy of the defragger(3/1000/600)) [Zone 4] briefly showed up. And immediately died when Topologic blasted it away, along with Domitianus and the Beast Tamer Editor. "No! Not again!" Hydra then entered the battle phase.

"I activate Parallel Port Armor from the graveyard! It is banished along with two link monsters to double the number of attacks another link monster can make." Both were targets. "Ah!? No!" The original Topologic and Vorticular Drumgon fueled the red bomber, who charged two beams within its mouth. "Wait! You don't have to do this anymore! You made your point!" Once more Void found himself pleading for the life of another. Imperius could still get out safely if they called the duel a draw. "I refuse." Hydra's mercy looked to be as nonexistent as Mr. Statics. He sent Topologic Bomber Dragon out to attack the Gladiator Beast Dragases and Imperius himself. Creating 2000 points of effect damage because of the former, and inflicting 4000 points of battle damage to them both "He knows what he began."

Imperius' LP: 0

"Ghkgh.." The pained grunts of Imperius surfaced from the noise of the destruction. "Oh my god." Half of his body had already disappeared, his left arm and leg were crushed into bits of data. "I failed you.. I guess, I deserve this, for what happened to Cryomatic." Saying his last few words took all remaining power out of his avatar. Soon after his eyes closed and the rest of him collapsed. "No!" Bionis Khan cried out. "You bastard! How could you! You already won, you didn't need to destroy him too!" He did not know where Hydra hid, but he knew his screams would be heard. "He knows what he risked and he would have done the same to me. You would do the same to me.. Do not try to follow in his footsteps." The victors mercy seemed as intangible as his appearance. "Oh yeah!? How about I.. " Worse than that, the man had left the game completely. Bionis noticed that he could not challenge 'Hydra' any longer. "Damn it! Damn it damn it damnit!"

"Scarlet. Is there anything you can do?" Asterisk, still recovering from his own shocking experience, took the doctor up on her medical offers. She did spend her time examining the bodies of the previously destroyed avatars. "I would love to say yes, Asterisk." She replied with a wistful tone. "Unfortunately some things are beyond even me. In a matter of minutes his avatar will despawn anyway, and whatever remains of his data gets sent back to the company." There simply was not enough time to repair this damage, let alone find a way to do it. "Then he is lost." Void shook his head. He could say little else, the centurion became yet another victim he barely got to know. This felt like more of a problem as a whole. "Indeed. Another great duelist fell to our own follies." Midsummer Nightmare taking this time to interject helped sour the mood even further. "Our follies? If I recall correctly, you were the one who incited his willingness to fight." Himiko pointed her sleeved hand at the masked jester. "That is all we do, fight. Isn't it?" He retorted.

"You're right. And Hydra was right too. We are not a team." Sundown stated, loudly and clearly. "As far as I am concerned, the traitor could be any one of us. I sure as hell cannot prove my own innocence. But I am the only one I can trust. And I know all feel the same way." Nobody outright denied him. Void would try however. "What are you suggesting then, that we all go our separate ways? What if that is what The Crown wants? What if he lied just to get us to tear ourselves down? You saw how close we came when we all worked together! He could not even beat us with his trap!" The ADI did not even outright state that a traitor existed. Even though deep down he did assume the worst case scenario. "He is right, we cannot do this alone." Neo said, having found that out first hand. "Perhaps we should split up... but in groups." Wagnerok suddenly suggested. "Split up? To divide our odds" Crescent winced. "Hey think of it this way. Now we have a team that is not infiltrated already, doubling or even tripling the odds of success..." It made sense in his head. "I am not sure you know how math works." Blanche for one hated the idea from the very first word. It sounded like a quick way to get yourself destroyed.

"Yet it is the only way to proceed is it not? There are those who refuse to work with each other, is that not right Bionis Khan?" Himiko sounded more aboard with it, as did a few others. "Yes. As far as I am concerned the traitor is one of them. You are not going to make me forget what happened to the judge." He pointed in the direction of Void, Midsummer and inexplicably Veyron. "What did I do?" The speed duelist protested. "You ran away. That is big enough crime already! The only ones I trust are the people I knew before I got here!" That would be the more famous online duelists like Wagnerok, Zettai and Neo. "That sounds like a plan to me! You agree, don't you Crescent?" Wagnerok trusted him back, though not as much as he trusted the girl next to him. "But.. if we split up, can we still meet here?" The many-colored girl did raise an important issue; this arena of the beyond was the only place perfectly safe from the ADIs. As far as they knew. "We could chat behind our computers. Like the old days." Bionis figured.

"Might I suggest an alternative? I have access to my own personal safe zone. I can guarantee you sanctuary there, to those who would follow me." Doctor Scarlet took turns to gaze at every duelist, only stopping briefly to smile at Agent Asterisk. "Oh but you... You have your own places to be, don't you?" She could hear his answer before it even left his tongue. "..." So he saved it. The rest of the duelists did not seem very comfortable with the lady in the plague mask either. "Is this really what you plan to do, Wagner? Pfeh.." Of all people, it was Zettai who accepted her proposal. "Zettai? What are you doing? You are one of us!" Wagner was outraged that she would choose Scarlet over them. "What if I am? She has done more for us than anyone else in this space. I trust her to keep doing so.." The ace duelist made her choice. "Well spoken my lady." Veryon only needed to see her break the ice, to decide his own path. "If you will have me, that is." He paused briefly, as he could not exactly read Scarlets reactions. "What is done is done, my dear." The doctors blessing was his. "Graci."

"You.. You cant honestly believe this is the right thing to do! We are stronger together! We still have a lead we can pursue!" Void did not understand why everything was falling apart while they were closer to the Crown than ever. "You can stick with your agent buddy, Void. And do whatever you want with that gibberish data you took from that dead end.. We are not falling into any traps anymore! Neo, come here!" Bionis all but ordered the cyborg duelist to join their ranks. "Actually.. can I think about this?" Neo felt conflicted, considering Void and Blanche were the ones that saved him in the first place. "To hell with this." Meanwhile Sundown reached the end of his own patience. "None of you look clean to me, but Skylander spoke highly of you... Khan. So you can have me." In his opinion, Khans group had the least dubious qualities to them. Especially after Himiko and Zanbatou silently added themselves to Scarlets band instead. The more professional duelists still knew too little about that duo to willingly side with them.

"So this is how the world breaks.." Three teams, and in the middle was Midsummer Nightmare. "There is room for one more." Scarlet seemed to be the only one willing to have him. "I appreciate the gesture, but I will cling to what I know. And all I know is me. Be seeing you." The masked duelist gave his goodbye with an okay-gesture, and quickjumped away to areas unknown. "A pity. He would have completed my set." The doctor snickered. "Do not make me regret this, Scarlet. Show us your location." Zettai insisted. She grew tired of this place. "Scarlet, what if we need to talk to Static again?" Void interrupted one more time to make them remember that their 'recruiter' would only show up here. "I doubt that will lead to any useful developments. He basically told us to not come back until we found the culprit. So let's see which one of us brings the head of the crown first, eh Asterisk?" The doctor pointed a gunfinger at the agent. "Cheers!" Then she and her quartet teleported away as well. "Neo, you know where to contact us." The third group; Bionis, Sundown, Wagner and Crescent, logged off entirely.

"I suppose.. this was a long time coming." Void sighed. The duelists that remained could be counted on one hand. "I don't blame them, I wouldn't want to work with me either." Nobody had even asked Scura where she wanted to be. Then again, she did not feel like taking a side in this division to begin with. "The lines were drawn where I pretty much expected them to be. It is unfortunate, but we can deal with it." Asterisk stood on both legs, his avatar body finally reacted accordingly. "Was she right, Asterisk? Do you have a space that the ADI's cannot enter?" Void figured they were all stuck with each other now. "I might know a location, yes." He half-admitted. "Well, don't be greedy then. Tell us." The blue-eyed girl prodded the agent. "It is not quite that simple. I do not own that sector. A friend of mine carved it out for himself, lets call him `V`. V knows more about the delicate technicalities than I do. And he might be able to help translate that data." The data that remained tied to Void's account.

"Then we should go." The hours were getting late for him, yet Void could not turn his back on the game. Who knew what logging out would do to the information inside his 'dueldisk'. "I suppose I can give you all the quickjump coordinates. But I recommend caution, I do not know how he will respond to visitors. I have never brought anyone over." With little to no prompting, the agent forwarded a set of numbers to all the duelists he could see... "Huh? Me too? I didn't even make up my mind yet!" ... Neo included. "This information is only good for the next hour. He relocates every day. Still, be careful not to say anything out loud." Asterisk could not assure them that Hydra was in fact gone. Nor did he want Static to follow them there somehow. "Does 'V' have a real name?" The curious Blanche probed even further. "You will hear it when you show up there. If you show up there. What you do is your choice." Asterisk picked up a but of hesitation among the receivers.

"I don't deserve this. I haven't been of any help at all." Scura could not get herself to look at the coordinates. "Now now. You do not have to go right away, or do anything at all.. But I would hate to see a lovely lady such as yourself alone in a place like this. My friend can at least offer you safety." Asterisk stated rather jovially. He seemed a lot less tense now that it was just the five of them. "I will need to think about it too. And catch my breath." So much'd happened, Neo could barely keep up. Things were definitely bad when one could feel their pounding heart inside the virtual space. "I get it. Just remember that today is the last day of the fundraiser. I think things will get even crazier soon, if they aren't already." Once the big event was through, it would be a lot harder for the company to control the ADI situation. "Yes, before more people end up like.." Void wanted to say his name, but Imperius' body had already vanished from from the arena. Despawned, like Scarlet said he would be. "Before this turns into an all out massacre.."

"I will go now then, to give my friend a heads-up." Asterisk vanished from the arena. "Then I will see you on the other side." Void's mind was made up as well, he could not wait for Scura or Neo to make their own choices. "Not if I beat you first!" Blanche, almost casually, quickjumped away to go after the agent. That fell in line with his expectations, though he wondered if anything could ever upset her. "..." He put in the coordinates and let the dueldisk do the rest. He had no idea what waited for him there...

...

Darkness, a dark void as far as the eye could see. It was a solid construct around him that smothered all light. "What is this?" He came to the realization that he stood alone in this empty space, as his words echoed back and forth. "Blanche? Asterisk?" Wherever he was, wherever they were; they could not hear each other. "What is the idea here?"

"I very well might beseech you for the same data, sir Void." His questions did not entirely go to waste. "...?" He saw a glowing light in the distance, shaped like a man. "You.. must be Asterisks friend." Void concluded. "Is that the signature he connected to his account? What nomenclature does he use for me, Mister Ampersand?" The host of the darkness let out a sharp laugh. "He called you V. Meanwhile I believe I did not give you my name yet. But he said we could come here." Void saw why Asterisk warned them. "I will judge who 'can' come and go to my station. He is far too trusting of strangers, like you Void. Certainly, I can gaze into your profile. Yet what do I learn from that? A birthday? A favorite color? Uninteresting! Words do not translate into character! So, until I have tested yours, you do not get to enter or leave." The man covered his entire body with a blanket of light. But at least Void had something to stare at. "Look, I have had enough dealings with mysterious men for one day. So tell me what the test is, and I will take it."

"Mysterious? Me? Nonsense. I am merely cautious, something you should appreciate. And did Asterisk honestly call me 'V'? How uninspired, he might as ell have used my full name. V for Vigionair, come on. Oh yes that is the name you can use, for our duel. Because what better test?" Vigionair summoned a dueldisk. "Than a battle to the death, eh?"

(To Be Continued in Line 016: In Other Words)

**New Cards used by 'Hydra'  
**Iron Dragon Tiamation

-  
Pot of Desires  
Monster Reborn

**New Cards used by Gladiator Imperius Rex  
**Gladiator Beast Vespasiaus  
Gladiator Beast Augustus

-  
Gladiator Beast Andabata  
Gladiator Beast Tamer Editor  
Gladiator Beast Domitianus

-  
United Gladiator Beasts


	16. In Other Words

**Line 016: In Other Words**

"Do you even know why I am here? Do you even know what is going on?" To get anywhere beyond the darkness that he found himself trapped in, Void would have to pass a test. But when he agreed to that, he did not think it would one so time-consuming as a duel. "Oh I well informed and quite aware. 'Asterisk' never forgets his updates." Vigionair, unfortunately, gave him no alternative. "And the mutilated knowledge you delivered has already been welcomed into my private server. Do not concern yourself with thinking that I am distracting myself from translating its contents. My heuristics can take care of that while your magnanimous host, this visage you see before you, will take care of you. I know machines, I do not know you. So do me the favor of letting me experience who you are.. under your current conditions." The humanoid shape of light conjured up five cards. "A normal duel: no skills, no tricks." He even allowed Void to take the first turn. "I do not use skills to begin with." So Void, begrudgingly, drew his own cards. "Wonderful. I am learning facts about you already."

Void's LP: 8000 Vigionair's LP: 8000 -TURN 01-

"I summon Link Streamer first! Then I call out Defcon Bird by discarding one card from my hand!" Two avians, both mechanical, appeared on the field in their own way. Link Streamer the satellite-bird(4/1600/1800) [Zone 3] used up a normal summon. Defcon Bird the masked bird3/100/1700) [Zone 1] with folded out radar-dish wings special summoned itself in defense mode by discarding Dotscraper. "When Dotscraper is sent to the graveyard, I can special summon it back!" The then summoned cubical bot(1/02100) [Zone 4] also did not come alone. Its special summon triggered Link Streamers effect and led to the creation of a data-token(1/0/0) [Zone 4]. "Now, I will link summon twice! One has a normal monster as a material!" The token flew into the link circuit and transformed into the Link Spider(1000/LINK 1) {Down} [Extra Zone 1]. Then Void could put a second link monster down beneath it. "The second is made from two cyberse monsters: Honeybot!" Link Streamer and Dot Scraper created a link circuit that buzzed with noise. Honeybot was a white-haired and shades-wearing bee robot(1900/LINK 2) {Left/Right} [Zone 2]. "I set a trap card to end my turn!"

-TURN 02-

"Most impressive. I appreciate the references you are throwing out at such a rapid rate. Honeybot protects Defcon Bird from targeted effects while she points at it. And Defcon Bird can double the attackpoints of any cyberse I try to attack. Truly, you have crafted quite the honeypot indeed. Sadly, I shall have to shatter the foundations you have constructed so diligently! If you control an extra deck monster, and I control no monsters. These conditions allow me to initialize the first cipher! Cipher Twin Raptor!" He retaliated with his own mechanical beast: a winged raptor(4/1600/800) [Zone 1] made from pure light. Black armor kept its body and head in one piece. "Ciphers? I see." Void saw the connection there, the encrypter who dueled with the cypher.

"Cipher Twin Raptor discards one card, to initialize the second cipher! And that card shall be the third cipher: Cipher Etranger! Whose effect adds another variable, a Cipher spell or trap card!" The discarded Cipher Etranger selected a most peculiar card: Cipher Interference. "?" This card did not pop up on any of the lists Voids dueldisk could show. In the mean time Twin Raptor summoned strange a golden cube. The cube folded outwards like a misshapen box-frame(4/1400/1200) [Zone 3], revealing a green core inside and projecting six energy wings. "This Cipher Wing was assisted by another. But Cipher Wing can also special summon itself from my hand if a Cipher monster already has been created!" Easier done than said, the cipher-duelist special summoned a second Cipher Wing(4/1400/1200) [Zone 5]. "And the levels of all Ciphers shall experience an increment of four, when I tribute Cipher Wing!" The second Winged cipher dispersed into a veil of green and red light, which basically doubled the levels of Cipher Twin Raptor(8/1600/800) and the other Cipher Wing(8/1400/1200). "Now the variables are ready for their final function! I XYZ-summon Galaxy-Eyes Cipher Dragon!"

"An XYZ-Monster!" There it came, the final method of summoning extra deck monsters. Two or more cards of the same level would be overlayed: literally stacked on top of each other. The top of that stack belonged to the black-bordered XYZ-monster with the same rank as their level. Cipher Wing and Cipher Twin Raptor vanished within a cosmic gateway, which unleashed a terrifying dragon(R8/3000/2500) [Extra Zone 2] on the other side. Galactic blue light brimmed behind the darkblue and red scales of its body, the same light extended from its golden wings like a veined curtain of the universe. "Control is the domain of Galaxy-Eyes Cipher Dragon, Void! It gains control of your monster for one turn, and re-translates it into a greater power! Her name shall become Galaxy Eyes Cipher Dragon!" The galactic dragon targeted Honeybot. "Ah!" She did not just get mesmerized by the XYZ-monsters light. She(3000 atk) transformed into a mirror image of the original dragon, visually and power-wise. And she fell under Vigionaire's control.

At this point the duelist activated his continuous spell card: Cipher Interference. "Let the contest between cyberse and cipher begin!" And he sent the fake Galaxy-Eyes to attack Defcon Bird. "Defcon Bird's effect activates!" His defcon monster fought back by sending a powerful signal from its wings. The waves doubled its own defense, giving it(200/3800) a chance against its attacker. "I recognize that you are a fellow admirer of duplicating tactics. Regrettably, such binary multiplications are easy to replicate and overcome! Behold, Cipher Interference doubles the attackpoints of my Cipher monster, as it has the same name as another monster I control!" Suddenly the Cipher-Honeybots attackpoints shot way up, allowing her(6000 atk) to crush the Defcon Bird with her stinger. "Rgh." Of course Link Spider could put up no fight at all. "The second attack!" The true Cipher Dragon erased it from the digital field with its cosmic energy breath. Afterwards Vigionaire placed one trap card on his field and moved to the endphase.

Void's LP: 6000

_Cipher Interference, Continuous Spell  
__Once per turn, if you control 2 or more "Cipher" monsters with the same name and 1 of them battles, during damage calculation:  
__You can make its ATK become double its current ATK until the end of the Battle Phase._

-TURN 03-

"I thought you said this would be a duel without tricks? Cipher Interference is not one of the cards imported into STHEREA." Void asked his opponent, as Honeybot(1900 atk) [Zone 3] returned to his field and regained her original appearance and name. "That was clearly a grave oversight on the part of the programmers. They left an absence in this deck I elected to utilize: a core for their entire strategy. I simply manufactured that core and planted it inside the game. You see, I do not work within the restrictions of any virtual network. It is not a trick, it is a way to emulate reality." The man made no effort to hide his pride when it came to this subject. "I see." Before the turn ended, Void also used his trap card. "I activate Cyberse Beacon and add Cyberse Gadget to my hand." He could not have activated the cyberse searching beacon without taking damage this turn, so he could thank his opponent for that at least.

"And I normal summon it!" Time was being wasted enough as it was. Void went through his next moves with little explanation. A normal summoned Cyberse Gadget(4/1400/300) [Zone 2] could special summon one level 2 or lower monster from the graveyard, which narrowed down the list of choices to one little block creature[Zone 4]. "It special summons Dotscraper! I will use both of them to link summon Underclock Taker!" The spiked cone cyberse(1000/LINK 2) {Left/Down} [Zone 2] placed itself next to the Honeybot, creating a co-link. At the same time Cyberse Gadget created a gadget token(1/0/0) [Zone 3] now that it got sent to the graveyard. "Underclock Taker will target your monster, Vigionair!" If his opponent was going to retranslate numbers, so would he. The Underclocker counted Honeybot's 1900 attackpoints and drained the same amount from Galaxy-Eyes Cipher Dragon(1100/2500). One could say it was ripe for the picking. "Link summon! The materials are two effects monsters!"

His ace monster would gladly do the picking. Decode Talker (2300/LINK 3) {Up/Downleft/Downright} [Extra Zone 1] used Underclock Talker and the data-token for its link materials "I also activate the spell card: One-Time Passcode. This summons a security token!" The one-eyed spiked security drone(4/2000/2000) [Zone 1] floated down in defense mode. Decode Talker now gained 500 attackpoints from the token and Honeybot as he (3300 atk) pointed at them both. "My turn to attack, Vigionair! Decode destroys Galaxy-Eyes!" Cutting through the weakened dragon proved to be a simple task for Decode and his sword. His charging slash turned the XYZ-dragon into a rain of stardust and flames.

Vigionair's LP: 5800

"Unquestionably. But unfortunately that is all I can permit! I respond with the trap of Cipher Spectrum!" Rather than taking care of one threat, Voids attack only managed to make more. "When my Cipher monster is destroyed, it will be special summoned from the graveyard again! And a monster with the same name is summoned from my extra deck!" As if a prism refracted the light in two halves: Decode's former target [Zone 4] reappeared and brought along a second Galaxy-Eyes Cipher Dragon(R8/3000/2500) [Extra Zone 2] in attack position. "Great..." They also denied Honeybot a chance to attack directly. Even without XYZ-materials, these dragons could erase his lifepoints in a matter of seconds with that Interference spell of theirs. This called for drastic measures. "The link material is one link monster! I summon Secure Gardna!" His cyberse bee transferred through the link circuit and created a tinier blue and white robot(1000/LINK 1) {Left} with shields on its wings and legs. "I set a trap card and end my turn!"

-TURN 04-

"Most interesting: Those three layers of security are yet again parrying my XYZ-monsters perfectly. Your Decode Talker can negate any effect that I would try to target your linked monsters with. And your Secure Gardna nullifies the very next instance of damage I try to inflict." One way or another, he could not defeat Void with this current line-up. "You are a very secure individual, mister Void. That was to be expected from someone careful enough to only use their apartments local network access." The Cipher duelist let out a strange sort of chuckle as he drew his own card. "Apartment? How did you.. What do you know about me?" The cyber duelist probably could have guessed that this man would find personal information somehow. That did not mean he had to accept it. "Calm down my dear boy. All I see is what you used for your login, your IP address and the corresponding global coordinates." Vigionair showed him a number and part of a city map that corresponded with his physical location without so much as a shred of discretion. "That is more than necessary!"

"But not more than what the makers of this world already know, Void. And I had to be sure you were not working for them at one of their sites. I had to make sure you were just another player.. You may be cautious. but you are an amateur compared to me!" The cipher duelist turned back to his cards, and played a spell. "I activate Rank-Up-Magic: Cipher Ascension! Perhaps, this will revise our current stalemate!" Just like the synchros and their various methods of acceleration, so too did the XYZ-monsters have their own claim to evolving fame. By using this type of spell, Vigionair could ascend the second Galaxy-Eyes Cipher Dragon to the 9th rank: a new XYZ-monster would use its previous form as an XYZ-material. "Neo-Galaxy Eyes Cipher Dragon!" And much like Madam Blanche's Blue Eyes White Dragon; the ultimate form of Galaxy-Eyes possessed three heads. Neo Galaxy-Eyes(R9/4500/3000) [Extra Zone 2] also looked bigger, sharper and brighter than the lesser dragon next to it.

"Lamentable, that these dragons carries just one XYZ-material. How fortuitous then, that Cipher Etranger can attach itself to any Cipher XYZ-monster if I forego its other effects this turn!" The mysterious cloaked cipher being floated up from the graveyard to orbit the new Neo Galaxy-Eyes as its second XYZ-material. "And Neo Galaxy-Eyes takes control of one monster for each material it can detach! Your Decoder is of no consequence, when I can just claim all you control at once!" No monster could reject the power of Neo Cipher's light, fueled by the detached XYZ-materials. Decode Talker [Zone 5] and the Security Token [Zone 2] were drawn to the other side of the field. Their names and stats were altered too, each stolen monster(4500/3000) became a copy of Neo-Galaxy Eyes. "How deplorable, it would appear as if our match has already reached the conclusion, sir Void! Decode Talker, destroy Security Gardna!" Only the true Neo Galaxy-Eyes could attack directly during the turn it used its effect, and thanks to Cipher Ascension it(5000/3000) even gained 500 attackpoints for each level 4 or higher monster Vigionair controlled. It would attack last.

"I did not come all the way out here to be sent back now, Vigionair!" That proved to be the one opening Void could use against him. "I activate Cynet Refresh! When I am attacked by a Cyberse monster, I can destroy all monsters in main zones!" His trap forced a reset on every main zone. "All?" Secure Gardna, Decode Talker and the Security token were deleted from the field, leaving Neo-Galaxy Eyes(4500/3000) without his copies or powerboosters. "I retaliate with Cipher Bit!" The regular Cipher Dragon came close to the same destruction effect, until Vigionair used his own trap. "It attaches itself to my XYZ-monster and makes it immune to your trap." Galaxy-Eyes shielded itself with its new cipher bit material. Nevertheless, it did not have permission to attack directly this turn. Only Neo Cipher Dragon did. "Very amusing, sir Void. This must not be your first sortie with a changing of the guard." All three heads charged the power of the galaxy between their jaws and let it roar across the datafields, sending Void flying back. "Grgh!"

Void's LP: 1500

"That was the end.. of your battle phase." Void did not count on taking that much force. But the pain did not really exist. He could pull himself back up if kept that in mind. "Hehe, had I played my cards differently, you would not be getting up again. And yet that path was not taken. I have only myself to fault." The cipher duelist placed another card face-down in the spell/trap zone and passed the turn back to Void. Though a certain effect needed to resolve first. "Vigionair... Now that we are in the endphase, Cynet Refresh summons all the cyberse link monsters that it destroyed before!" The field refreshed again, Decode Talker [Zone 2] and Secure Gardna [Zone 3] returned to their true owner. "I guess you can call this the good old soft reset method." This helped a little, just not enough. To turn the tables now, Void would have to rely on his deck. "My turn!"

-TURN 05-

"...I summon RAM Clouder!" His deck rewarded him with a cyberse monster: a white ram(4/1800/1000) [Zone 1] with coiled horns and a forked tail. "Oh? Putting your faith in the clouds?" This beast could access lost memories as it were, sacrificing one cyberse to reformat another. "Perhaps. RAM Clouder tributes Secure Gardna, to bring Underclock Taker back to the field!" Void traded his Link 1 for a Link 2. The Underclocker [Zone 1] was happy to link back up with Decode Talker. "I see a plan forming where you pursue my great dragon. Is that what you truly want?" Just like in the previous turn, Underclock Taker used its power and the attackpoints of Decode (2300 atk) to drain the enemy dragon of its attackpoints. "Hm?" Except it targeted the lesser dragon(700/2500), not Neo Galaxy-Eyes. "And perhaps there is some meaning to all the names I have had to say so far. Instead of trying to decode your ciphers, I have to better secure mine!" He moved his hand across the aether to open a three-point linking circuit. "The materials are two cyberse monsters!"

Bright white vortices swallowed RAM Clouder and Honeybot, the latter splitting into two. All three materialized the new Link monster: a cyberse warrior(2300/LINK 3) {Up/Down/Downright} [Extra Zone 1], with armor much like Decode's. "To link summon Encode Talker!" If Decode Talker was the cyberse knight of darkness, Encode represented the light with his blue armor and impregnable shield. "Try to act surprised, Vigionair! Decode Talker attacks Neo Galaxy-Eyes!" Even after all of that, it was Decode that began the assault. Anyone could have called him a fool for this move, since pointing towards Encode with its upper marker did not give Decode(2800 atk) nearly enough attackpoints to measure up to Neo Galaxy-Eyes. Its three heads returned photonic fire while the warrior's blade was still far away. "And this is where Encode's effect activates, when my linked monster battles another monster." In the nick of time, Encode flew in front of Decode. His shield deflected Neo Cipher Dragon's attack. Or rather, it absorbed it! "Encode negates all battle damage, and then adds the attackpoints of your monster to either the monster that attacked it.."

"Or to Encode himself!" Every digit of those 4500 points joined with the code warrior of light(6800 atk). "This is undoubtedly a surprise." The attack on the three-headed xyz-dragon turned out to be a feint. Voids true target never stopped being the first and still 'underclocked' Galaxy-Eyes Cipher Dragon. "Encode Talker attacks!" Decode Talker was safe, Encode no longer needed his shield as protection. Instead it would become his weapon; a strong blade extended from the tip of the shield and sliced clean through the rank 8 dragon.

Vigionaire's LP: 0

"Ugh." Vigionair flew backwards along with the final blow, and his radiant avatar dispersed. "You too. Maybe we should do a proper two out of three match?" But that did not stop him from talking. "V. He has done enough. Let him up." And now Void started hearing Asterisk's voice too. "What is going on? Where are you?" He yelled. "Fine fine fine. Have it your way. He can come inside too.." The encrypter mumbled and griped. Whatever else he did, it caused veins of light to run along the walls, floor and ceiling. The literal void crumbled away and the duelist Void moved out of the featureless world and transitioned into a cybernetic workstation of sorts. "Heya Void." And so did Madam Blanche, Asterisk and the the true Vigionair. "Yes yes, welcome to my headquarters. Tch, at this rate I am going to have to adjust the dimensions. Again!" A middle-aged man in a long purple coat, with grey streaks running through his dark spiked hair, waved his hands dismissively at the newcomer. A simple holo-chair seemed to be his connection with the 'waiting room' avatars. "Do not touch anything!"

"Blanche? What?" Void still lagged behind a bit too much, comprehension-wise, to even consider touching anything. Did that include the walls? They seemed to be projecting code scripts and data numbers, as if they were big black monitors. Everywhere else he looked he saw a piece of machinery or hardware carefully crafted to simulate its real-life function. He could not tell what any of this did, besides the biggest actual window at the end of the room. "Is that? Scura? And Neo?" There he saw a splitscreen replay of two ongoing duels, between Scura/Neo and two more Vigionair light avatars. "Indeed. Neo seems to be wrapping up his duel. Scura has a bit more difficulty, but I am sure she will pass the test." Asterisk stated confidently. "Not as fast as me though." Blanche snickered. "I did not expect you to start with your strongest monster from the first turn! Kids these days have no patience anymore."

"You dueled all four of us at the same time?" This surprised Void, mostly because Vigionair still managed to talk endlessly throughout their duel. "Well you were the one I was most interested in. But yes. Such tricks are child play for me! Perhaps that dulled my old skills a bit though." He sighed as he softly clenched his hand. "Winning was never the point of the test, Vigionair. I told you that we needed more allies, I told you that this was serious. You cannot separate yourself from this issue." The agent insisted. "Enough already. I conceded to your points ages ago. It will just take time to decrypt the data you gave me. I've put my best cipher finding algorithms on it, but even with my processing speed the search for the corret keywords could take days or weeks. This guy, the Crown was it? He buried his message in several layers of encryption, and that takes at least some programming expertise. I.. Oh damnit." The cipher duelist broke off his explanation as felt another resounding defeat. "I might as well wait for them to finish first!"

And that he did. First Neo triumphed, them Scura made it through as well. "Wait? Are you old? Why would you wanna look old in here?" Scura immediately took a disliking to their host. "You're pushing my patience, Scura. I am not here to be young again or to play games. I am here to do work that I could not possibly manage in the real world. You may laugh at my avatar, but unlike you I do not have a time limit. I can stay in here as long as I wish!" He laughed to himself. "But he doesn't. Since I remind him every time to feed his cats." Asterisk chuckled. "Yes. Even though I am quite certain you only bought them for me to tie me to that retched reality of ours. Well whatever, this is my second home. And you are now welcome to enter it and leave it. But again, do not touch anything. I will add some extra spaces for you later." He said as he dropped back down in his chair. "Maybe we can get one of those too?" Blanche asked. All this standing around made her feel legitimately tired. "Maybe. Also, Neo, I took the liberty of cancelling your recording capabilities. What you see here stays between us."

"What is this place anyway!? And how do you know Asterisk?" Neo finally asked, exploding with curiosity. "This is my own sector, which I keep moving around so that nobody ever finds it. You would be surprised at how many players can create their own spaces in the network without ever joining the game. I am almost certain the company has no idea what they unleashed on the world. But that is a question for a later time. And my connection with 'Asterisk' is not important right now. Let's just say we know each other in the real world and that's enough. Unless you want to start exchanging real identities in here?" He did not see or hear anyone jumping at that oppurtunity. "I did not think so. Now, Asterisk likes to tell me stories. But I can tell you have a problem on your hands. And if I cannot fix it, then no one can! I will start with a background check on every player in the arena. You know, Asterisk has never been able t capture footage of it. And any place that I cannot touch, irritates me!"

"Thank you, I guess." High self-esteem aside, Void did appreciate finally having an experienced hand on the table. "As far as gratitude goes, I have heard better. But I suppose neither you nor me have had to say that word often." He laughed wryly. "Indeed. But for now you can rest." Asterisk smiled. "We will let you know, when we learn something new."

(To Be Continued in Line 017: Unforgivable Code)

**New Cards used by Void  
**Defcon Bird  
RAM Clouder

-  
Honeybot  
Secure Gardna  
Encode Talker

-  
One-Time Passcode

-  
Cynet Refresh

**Cards used by Vigionair  
**Cipher Twin Raptor  
Cipher Etranger  
Cipher Wing

-  
Galaxy-Eyes Cipher Dragon  
Neo Galaxy-Eyes Cipher Dragon

_-  
Cipher Interference (+)  
_Rank-Up-Magic: Cipher Ascension

-  
Cipher Spectrum  
Cipher Bit

_(+ Based on the spell used by Kaito in YGO ARC-V)_


	17. Unforgivable Code

**Line 017: Unforgivable Code**

Somehow, each time Void returned to his own room.. it felt that much smaller. He did not know why, or why he gave the outside world this much thought now. "Hello?" He found himself calling out anyone who might have been unknowingly watching him. Paranoia talked for him. People like Hydra did not follow him here, and Static could not reach him either. Still, the air felt stifling. He needed to get out and do more than just his usual daily routine. Just to get away from it a little bit. His neighbors would appreciate that at least. He never spent time with them, but he knew that they found him weird for staying in-doors all the time. Now if only he could keep it that way. 'He' only made it to the park in front of his house before his mind wandered back to the world that did really exist. Was the obsession already that deeply rooted? It had not been that long since he became a duelist of STHEREA. Not it started to sounded like an add..

_"No. It's not that. I am doing it to help others."_ He did not care what people said inside or outside the network. If he wanted too, he could just shut it all down and turn his back on the online world. But this was not the time for that and nobody could call it wrong to stand by those in a crisis. They needed him. Or maybe he needed them. Regardless, he did not want to disconnect from what he had now. And it was also a good thing that he didn't. He received a message on his phone, on a newly created channel.

{V: Come quickly.}

Just two words, two clear words. Void did not think Vigionair would be calling them that quickly. The fact that he did not even try to hide or encrypt his message implied a matter of urgency. 'Void' did not have time to ponder his own future.

...

"What happened? Did you decode the message?" And he rejoined STHEREA as soon as he could. Blanche, Asterisk and Vigionair were already in the cipher duelist's control room. It did look larger now, and Blanche got a chair of her own. "That would be excellent news. Unfortunately that is not what we are getting this hour!" Vigionair pulled up various images and plastered them all over his screens. "Those are. in the royal city?" He saw a layout of that particular STHEREA sector, littered with red dots. "It's all recent and non-consensual dueling activity: between human players and nonhuman players. The ADIs are attacking in full force, with greater numbers than ever." Asterisk summarized the image. "Basically, the Crown is taking it out on everyone now." Blanche concluded wearily. "And this is still ongoing? Isn't the company doing anything about it?! We have to get down there!" Void yelled without a second thought. "You can respond in any way you wish, sonny-boy." Vigionair could not leave his base, nor did he want too. "Yeah but Neo and Scura haven't sown up yet." Blanche pointed out. "There is no time! We can't wait for them!"

Another quickjump later, he found himself in the middle of the city. "Tch. Am I... are we too late?" The streets were empty, possibly because every avatar had already been destroyed. "Well someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed." Madam Blanche appeared behind Void, having followed his quickjump trail. "Tsk. I know. It's just.. Innocent people are getting hurt now. It was different when it was just us." At the same time he did feel like a fool for hoping that it would never come to this. If only they had caught the Crown. "And we're not innocent? Heh, well you may be right. Though I thought you didn't like people?" She chuckled. "I preferred not to talk to them. That doesn't mean all of them deserve this." He gave the surrounding area a quick lookover. "They were definitely here." Holes in the building walls and floor that revealed glitched space underneath; battles took place here. There were no bodies however. "Where could everyone have gone?"

"Hey. What are you doing down there?" The familiar voice of Bionis Khan reached them from a higher section of the city. "Khan? You came too?" If he was here, the rest of his group were probably also close by. "We came here first! Don't you check the forums? Everyone is talking about it now." He shouted down at them, not particularly feeling like getting any closer. "Then everyone knows... but what happened? How many did the ADIs... destroy?" Void did not want to know, he had to. "Oh. That's the weird part. None." Khan sounded as confused about it as they now were. "What? Nobody did? The ADIs left them alone, or did they all lose?" It did not seem plausible either way. "If you want to know, come see for yourself. Or don't. Not like we want or need your help." In a huff the zombie duelist ran out of their line of sight. "Well he said he doesnt need us.." Blanche shrugged. She half-felt like going along with that. "We are going to give it anyway." Void ran towards the bridge. "Oh. Of course we are." She followed.

Once they got further in, the duo spotted the city's main castle. It stood at the edge of the city, on a raised cliff that lied in front of the great lake. "Oh, Bionis wasn't kidding. You really did show." Sundown stood guard at the edge of the outer wall and greeted them with a sneer. "Of course we would. We all would help here." Void countered. "Oh yeah? Than how come I don't see the rest of you? Or Scarlets people? Hmph.. well.. I'm not gonna say no to extra hands. But I _am_ keeping an eye on you two." He allowed them to pass, and they now saw the massive group of duelists inside. It felt like they came upon a sanctuary. "Whoa.. how did that happen?" Blanche flinched when saw she one duelist walk by with a massive cut in his shoulder. "I don't know.. One moment I was dueling a harpie lady, then she went crazy and put her claws in me after I lost all my lifepoints. I tried to get even with her, but she just ignored me.. And now I am stuck with this." The man waved his hand across the 'wound', the shattered part of his avatar. "It left you.. did this happen to others too?" Void did not want to say too much, but the fact that this duelist was only injured disturbed him more than anything. "Yeah. Some even tried logging out and back in, but their body stayed the same."

"If you ask me this is the company's doing. They must have known about our problems." Wagnerok interrupted the conversation, showing up with Crescent and Bionis at his side. "Oh? How is that?" A sketpical Blanche asked. "Come on. They aren't fools. They saw what happened to Skylander and the like and took measures to fix it. I mean maybe they could ignore some people. But Imperius was a dueltainer. As soon as he left the game, people started asking for help. At least they gave us this quick fix in time, reinforced the avatars in some way. Now we cannot be destroyed permanently. Can you imagine the lawsuits otherwise? Heheh." The blonde duelist sounded very hopeful. "But they are still... they cannot reset the damage." The sight of so many scarred duelists around her disturbed Crescent much more. "What about the ADI? Where did they go?" They could not forget the other half of this battlefield equation. "They scattered like flies, probably because they knew we were coming. If a second wave dares to show up, I welcome it! I have already slaughtered dozens of them!"

"You might get what you asked for." Sundowns shouts reached the inner court. "What?" Wagner's braveness faltered slightly. "The second wave is coming right for us. I can't count them all." The gunslinger saw it all from where he stood: a massive tidal wave of various duel monsters flying or rushing down every street. "Holy hell. That's gotta be every ADI in the entire sector!" Bionis gasped. "We can take them!" Wagnerok insisted. "With what? Half the duelists here cant fight them!" Bionis snapped back. Those that lost to the first wave did not just get scarred, they lost the ability to duel anyone. "These people need to quick jump out of here, or log out. It's the only way to save them." Void recognized an impossible task when he saw one. "What? And let them overrun this place! If we keep retreating, there wont be a sector left! We should make a stand here and now!" He did not expect Sundown to be the one to strongly disagree. "Guys, is this really the time to argue about this?" Blanche liked Plan B alot less and Plan A did not have long to live.

But what if there was a plan C?

**"Threat found."** A cold and flat voice overpowered the noise on the other side of the castle wall. "What was that?" If that came from a human, it would have to be one using a very unusual voice mod. "Look!" This strange source brought friends too. Sundown could see dozens and dozens avatars materialize in between the ADIs and the users. Each new arrival wore a full body protective suit complete with a face-obscuring gasmask. "Eliminate the threats." The dark 'hazmat' brigade marched out into the oncoming mob, stepping in line with each other and not uttering a single word. "Who are these guys? Or.. what are these guys?" Bionis could not tell where they came from, only that they were not quickjumping in. "An Artificial army." Void deduced. "This is how the company is going to combat the threat." More and more spawned, until they outnumbered the firs wave two to one. And that was also how they were going to fight them. **"These units challenge Harpie Lady Sisters. These units challenge Black Rose Witch. These Units challenge Cyber Angel Dakini."**

Hazmat's LP: 8000 ADI's LP: 8000

Each ADI got caught by a pincer formation. "You foes... will not stop us!" They could hardly process this new enemy, except by following their usual duel routine. The ADIs were all given the first turn, which they used to summon various monsters or set various spells and traps. Then their opponents would take one turn each, and it was always the same. **"Activate the spell card, Harpie's Feather Duster."** No matter what, the first card drawn was the spell of spell destruction. The backrow did not matter. **"Activate Foolish Burial to send one monster from the deck to the graveyard: Leng Ling. Then activate Cyber Dark Cannon. Discard this card to add a machine-type Cyber Dark monster to our hand."** The next move provided a little more complexity. **"We add and normal summon Cyberdark Keel. Cyberdark Keel equips one level 3 or lower dragon monster from the graveyard."** Cyberdarkness was their theme: part machine and part newly summoned mechanical winged wyrm(4/800/800) [Zone 3] could claim one monster from the graveyard to unite with.

**"Edge equips Leng Ling and adds its attackpower."** The previously and foolishly buried dragon, Leng Ling, became an equipment for Cyberdark Edge. **"A monster equipped with Leng Ling can attack twice in one turn, and its original attackpoints are raised to 1000."** The cyberdarkling not only gained the 1500 attacckpoints from Leng Ling, but improved its(2500/800) own points slightly as well. Even if a Union monster like Leng Ling was equipped by another effect, it would still pass on the power to its wielder. **"Cyberdark Edge can attack directly."** And now, whether they were well defended or not, the ADIs faced 5000 points of direct attack damage. Or ... an even ten thousand. **"We activate Limiter Removal."** The final spell doubled the attackpoints of Cyber Dark Edge(5000/800) to the max, at which point it began its battle phase. Two direct attacks were usually enough to end whatever threat stood in their way.

ADI 1's LP: 0

The ADIs that were lucky enough to have handtraps to defend themselves with would eventually be overtaken by the other Hazmat. **"Overload Fusion, Fuse Cyber Dark Keel, Cannon, Edge, Horns and Claws, to summon Cyberdarkness Dragon!"** And if that did not work, they would come with fancier tricks and tactics. A pair of CIDs ganged up on two ADIs at once to polymerize several Cyberdark monsters on the field and in the graveyard with Overload Fusion, creating an amalgam dragon(10/2000/2000) [Extra Zone 2] of all five cyberdarklings: with sharp edged wings, four head-horns, a long killing tail, curved blade claws and a giant cannon on its back. **"Cyberdarkness Dragons equips a dragon from the graveyard, Leng Ling and gains its attackpoints." **Between its own effect, and the effects of the re-equiped Leng Ling: the Darkness dragon fusion(4500/2000) could deal 9000 damage in one turn. **"Activate Limiter Removal. Attack."** Naturally this hazmat duelist alsooverpowered his machine(9000/2000) to blow past two of the next enemy's monsters at the same time.

ADI 2's LP: 0

"This.. is going remarkably well." Wagnerok noted. "Serves them right for trying to use the battle royal against us." Khan happily grinned. "Honestly the biggest surprise is that they are getting wins... with Cyberdarks." Blanche could honestly say she never saw that happen before. "Victory comes easy, when all the draws are planned out for you. Whatever they are, they must be on on our side." For now Void took this as good news. "Do we help them?" Crescent could not see a spot where help would be required. "A better question. Why are these things doing everything for us now?" Sundown made clear that he hated what he was seeing. "Because we programmed them too."

"What?" The Hazmats were not the only ones to spawn at the city. A duelist in judge-uniform appeared in the castle square. "You!?" Hieronymus; the presumed first victim of the ADIs. "Greetings." The judge smiled at them first before turning to the larger audience behind him. "Alright everyone. The show is over. I hope you enjoyed the surprise event! We apologize if we caused you any stress or unwanted damage. The company wanted to end this fundraiser with a bang, and they got a little overzealous. We will reset this sector at around Ten PM central standard time. I suggest everyone logs off for now, and waits the storm out. Once again, we are sorry for any discomfort we may have caused." Hieronymus spoke like a proper extension of the company he worked for. And while there was a general murmur of disapproval and confusion among the scarred and nonscarred duelists, most decided it was not worth it to stick around for the questions when trouble brewed right outside the gate. They all either moved elsewhere or abandoned the world altogether.

That left only them: the group of two and four. "You know you are not fooling anyone, right? This was not a game." Khan sneered at the judge, in spite of his place in the overall hierarchy of VRAINS. "They will believe what they need to believe. Glitches happen, we can let them know that much. But... you seem to know more." They had his full attention now. "Damn right we do! I, Wagnerok, and the rest of us... We have been fighting the ADIs for days now! If we had not been here, the situation would have been far worse by now. We lost comrades as well!" Wagnerok talked like it had all been his idea to combat the threat. "I am sorry to hear that. All of you are lucky to not have been shattered, like I was." The judge placed a hand on his perfectly intact-looking chest. "Yeah about that. How are you alive?"

"A perfectly fine question Madam Blanche, was it? Though I lost the use of my avatar, my account and all of its assets remained stored in the company database. They were able to reconstruct a new body for me from the remnant data of the old. Everything feels the same to me now, so I am back to duty." Hieronymus cracked his knuckles. "And yes, we should be able to do the same for your friends. As you can tell we already improved security in such a way that ADIs can no longer permanently destroy users, while still making the system think they did. Though it has the disadvantage of rendering them unable to fight back. But that it what we have them for..." He stared out beyond the walls, the battle seemed to be going in their favor. "What are they?" Void followed his gaze. "Counter-Intelligence Duelists: CIDs. When the company learned that their ADI system was compromised, they made sure their people worked day and night to come up with a solution. This was it: a new class of artifical duelists. Whatever infected the ADIs cannot affect them. And any unit they defeat in a duel, will be cleansed and become one of them." The CIDs already outnumbered the ADIs before, by now there were four times as many. "They do not seem to play honorably." Wagner noted their mobbing methods, and did not exactly disapprove. "We figured this was a crisis that called for less savory tactics.

"But what about the Crown? And Mister Static?" Everything he heard seemed to fit with what Void already knew. Still, it did not sit well. There were gaps in the story. "The Crown?" Hieronymus did not have every fact. "We only know his name; The Crown. He is the one behind all of this: taking control of ADIs and other functions somehow." Voids explanation caused no change to the judge's expression. "I see all of you have a very interesting story to tell. You will have to pass that information on to us later.. When this threat has been taken care of. So if you will excuse me, I need to head in there and make sure the operation goes smoothly. Do not go anywhere."

"Wait!" Before the judge could go anywhere, he was blocked by Khan. "Wait. If you really are the guy. Then you gotta be able to answer this! What happened to you in the first place?" This was his one chance to get the answer. "You mean, when I was destroyed? I was wondering why you werent stunned when I talked about that" Hieronymus acted quite casual about the event now. "Well.. we found your avatar. He found you." The zombie duelist pointed a finger at Void. "Did he now?" The judge raised an eyebrow. "Yes. But I was not the one who put you in that state." Void was in no mood to go through that song and dance again. "Is that what they believed? Hmph. Far from it. The last thing I remember is me dueling one of the rogue ADIs; a Blackwing Bora if I recall. I logged in to start assisting with the fundraiser, when it attacked me out of nowhere." And, at last, there was the gratifying testimony. "Looks like you owe him an apology." Blanche grinned as the zombie duelist began to look uncomfortable. "I owe him nothing. Everyone would react like I did!"

"Now if you will excuse me." Hieronymus did not allow himself to be delayed any further and marched out into the battlefield. "Tch. Letting toys do our work." Sundown finally let his disdain run free once the man left his hearing range. "Better them than us, partner." Wagnerok retorted. "I only partnered up to do what they are doing right now. What Skylander, Donna and Imperius did before.." Moments away from another rant, the gunslinger spotted something he could not ignore. "You!" With the mass of ADIs thinned out, he could pick out individual monsters from the crowd. He could pick out.. The Legendary Fisherman. "Get back here!" Without thinking, he rushed down into the brawl.

"Dude, wait!" Bionis yelled. "Pfah, he is still on about that?" Wagner let out a gruff chuckle. "And you are going to let him? Wasn't he your partner?" Void asked him in return. "You did... say that, Wagner." Crescent raised her voice slightly. "If he wants to strike out on his own, let him. I am not risking myself now that I do not need to." The man literally turned his back on the scene. "Oh. I guess." The girl complied, much to Blanche's chagrin. "Are you going to let him decide everything your team does? Everything you do? You're gonna run out of teammates at this point." When Crescent did not answer, she narrowed her eyes on Bionis instead. She at least expected more backbone from him. "What's the worst that can happen now? A small scar?" He came up with his own reasons to stay put. "Meh. Whatever. I don't mind not taking risks, but at least I make that my own choice. And now I feel like going after him just to annoy you. What about you, Void?" She asked something he already had an answer for. "Sounds like a plan to me."

And so they gave chase, after the sound of Sundowns screams. "Stand back! He is mine!" It seemed the 'hazmats' were told to obey human commands, as they gave up their own pursuit of the fisherman to target other opponents instead. Sundowns opponent nearly got away though; the ADIs were all in full retreat. The Fisherman managed to make it all the way down the cliff steps towards the castle harbor, where a black dolphin surfaced from the water to take him away. Somehow there was one of those around. "Stop, damn it! I challenge you!" Sundowns words finally ensnared the ADI. "Ohhoho." No matter what it was told to do by The Crown, it still could not deny his opponent a fight. "Do you remember me?" He stared daggers at his chosen opponent, and spoke with utter contempt. "I do not know what you are talking about, landlubber. Hahaha!" The ADI was playing dumb, it did not matter to him. He found his mark. "Well, I will make you remember... that you destroyed a friend of mine. Prepare yourself."

By now Blanche and Void caught up with the runaway duelist. "Sundown, why this one? You are aware that all these ADIs were controlled by a single person, arent you?" Essentially, the ADI that defeated Skylander was no different from any other rogue ADIs. "Yeah, you could literally pick any one of them." If Sundown had his heart set on getting revenge on the Crown, Blanche did not see why it needed to go through the Legendary Fisherman. "Maybe. Maybe I just cannot see past appearances. All I know is that Skylander would still have been around if I could have helped him." Sundown activated his dueldisk anyway. "... Is this even about him? Or just about you?" She could hear that there was more to his obsession than just a one-day friendship. "I have my reasons." The gunslinger did not plan to go any deeper into it than that. "From now on, don't get in my way." He stepped forward and materialized a coin in his hand. "Call it." He flipped the coin up and covered it as it landed on his other hand. "Ha. I call tails then! A whale of a tail! Hahaha!"

Sundown's LP: 8000 Legendary Fisherman's LP: 8000 -TURN 01-

"Then it is is my turn." Sundown revealed the coin with the head-side up. "You want to go first? Be my guest!" Even the ADI did not expect that choice. Duelists who used the coin-toss simulator, rather than letting the dueldisks randomly decide the turn order, could also pick whether they would get the first or second turn. "I drew my gun first, I do not need more than that." Duelists with initiative could not attack or draw a sixth card, it was not the favored position for a lot of decks. But his would be different. "And I summon Magical Musketeer Starfire!" A portal of black lightning opened up to give his monster an entrance into the duel. "Magical Musketeer?" Despite her full name, this blackhaired woman(4/1300/1700) [Zone 3] looked less like a musketeer and more like a dancer from the desert. A green dress wrapped around her waist, a veil fell behind her head and a bandana covered her mouth. Her strangest feature though, would be the demonic batwing stuck to her right arm, with pulsating blue eyes at the joint. "And I end my turn!" Starfire would be the only one standing between him and his opponent, much to Voids continued dismay. "What is he doing?"

"Oh, not familiar with this deck huh? Well, strap yourself down. You are in for a ride."

(To Be Continued in Line 018: Shooting Beneath the Surface)

**Cards used by 'The Hazmats'  
**Cyberdark Cannon  
Cyberdark Edge  
Leng Ling  
Cyberdark Horns  
Cyberdark Keel  
Cyberdark Claw

-  
Cyberdarkness Dragon

-  
Harpie's Feather Duster  
Foolish Burial  
Limiter Removal  
Overload Fusion

**Cards used by Sundown Mephistar  
**Magical Musketeer - Starfire


	18. Shooting Beneath the Surface

**Line 018: Shooting Beneath the Surface**

Sundown's LP: 8000

Legendary Fisherman's LP: 8000 -TURN 02-

Sundown Mephistar found his target and got the first draw. But that opponent would make the first attack. "I like the way you talk, haha! Now let's see how you fight! I summon White Stingray by discarding one water monster from my hand!" The Legendary Fisherman created a small splash to bring out a pure-white stingray fish(4/1400/1000). And the card he discarded to do so was a Fishborg Planter. "Now I shall prove my deck with Fishborg Planters effect! If I see a water-monster near the surface.." Cyborg tentacles rose form the graveyard to excavate the deck's top card: a White Moray Eel. "Then the Fishborg is born again!" By sending that excavated water monster away, the Fisherman could drag his fishbowl squid cyborg(2/200/200) back to the field. "One more catch! I activate Surface, to special summon a lowleveled fish from its watery grave!" A third disturbance left even bigger ripples, as a white predator eel(2/600/200) poked its head out of the lake.

"White huh?" While Blanche approved of the style, she could not help but recall that these were not monsters a Legendary Fisherman would normally use. Then again, it already changed its deck slightly back when it dueled Skylander. "White Moray Eel treats itself as a tuner monster, when it is special summoned from the graveyard!" In any case, nobody could say going from its initial tactics to outright synchro summoning was a huge step. The tuner-ized eel synchronized with White Stingray to create a six-stars-worth synchro monster: a large and six-eyed white dolphin(6/2400/1000) [Extra Zone 1]. "This is the White Aura Dolphin! Each turn she can..."

"Too slow." One could hardly guess where she got it from but they could also not deny that Starfire now held a large missile launcher on her shoulder. "I activate Magical Musket - Desperado!" And Starfire used all the missiles she could fire to destroy the dolphin long before it could use its powers. "You activated a card from your hand during my turn? How did you do that?" The Fisherman protested. "My Musketeers allow me to activate Musket spells or traps whenever I want, Fisherman. And if these cards are used in the same column as that musketeer, that musketeer will use another power!" The Desperado trap, though not Starfire's usual weapon of choice, used the middle column as well. "Starfire special summons a Magical Musketeer from my dec, in defense position! It his time, Magical Musketeer Doc!" The derringer wielding card reserved the spot next to her for a sniper-wielding doctor(3/1400/1200) [Zone 2] in a white coat. Like Starfire, he partially fused with a bloodred wing. In his case it twitched behind his coat.

"I see. They are all named after famous outlaws." Void understood the references more than the playing style.

"However!" The Fisherman snapped back by pulling a card from his graveyard. "When White Aura Dolphin is destroyed, I can banish a water monster from my graveyard to special summon it back to my field as a tuner monster!" Instead of a splash, the dolphin [Zone 2] released massive waves with its self-resurrection. White Stingray was banished to meet its needs. "Tch." Sundowns action only postponed the Dolphins effect. "Dolphin can halve a monsters attackpoints!" White light zapped Starfire and forced her down to one knee (650/1700). "You were too hasty, Sundown!" Void shouted. "Shut up! I told you to be quiet!" He already knew he would not have fallen for that if he kept a clearer head. "This is only the first wave, desert walker. Ahoy! I Synchro summon my White Aura Whale!" Now the Dolphin acted as the tuner and synchronized with Fishborg Planter for an even bigger sea-monster. "Whoa." The great white whale(8/2800/2000) [Extra Zone 1] looked immense, it loomed out of the sea and cast its shadow over the entire harbor. "When she is synchro summoned, she can destroy all monsters besides herself!"

"Don't think I am down for the count yet, Fisherman! I activate Magical Musket - Cross Domination!" This time, Sundown played a quickplay spell in the same column as Doc's. "This spell reduced your monsters attack and effect to nothing!" The medical gunman grabbed a large revolver with his corrupted blue hand and fired a precision shot into the white whale's chest. "Ah!" The spell knocked the wind out of the great whale(0/2000), silencing its destructive rage. Simultaneously, Magical Musketeer Doc always used his secondary effect to recycle Musket cards when one got used by him. He used it to return Desperado to Sundowns hand. "You think that is enough to stop the onslaught? Think again!" The Fisherman cared not. He sent his monster right at Starfire despite its drained attackpoints. "What the hell are you thinking?" Starfire returned fire and put the whale out of its misery with her pistols. She sank into the depths with the biggest splash yet.

"Gah. Not again." The bystanders got soaked from head to toe. And the sea had not calmed down.

Fisherman's LP: 7350

"When White Aura Whale is destroyed... I can special summon it again, as a tuner monster!" Now White Moray Eel's wound up with banishment, so that the destroyed synchro could be reborn. "No!" White Aura Whale(2800/2000) [Zone 2] reached the field once more, fully healed and fully enraged. "Let's use brute force this time, White Aura Whale! She can attack twice in one turn!" Their battle phase had yet to end and the great whale hungered. It smashed Starfire with its tail and swung again to attack Doc. "And she inflicts piercing damage as well!" Both Magical Musketeers were destroyed, costing Sundown a great deal of lifepoints. "You puny duelist. You think you can harpoon a whale with your tricks? You might as well be trying to fire your bullets into the ocean, hahahah!" The fisherman used the last two cards in his hand to line up his spell/trap zone.

Sundown's LP: 4350

-TURN 03-

"Sundown. It is is trying to get to you, man. Not the ADI, the guy controlling him." Now his seething opponent could play again. And his rage was getting him nowhere. "Hff.. You. You are right, Blanche." Sundown wiped the virtual water from his chin. "But is just feels like.. I am dueling the man in front of me." Getting back focus would be easier said than done at this point, with his hand already depleted of Musketeers. "I should have added my skill." He muttered to himself, as he weighed his options. "I activate.. Pot of Extravagance! I banish up to six monsters from my extra deck, to draw one card for each banished trio!" He only saw a way forward with his costly spell. He lost a couple of useless filler extra deck monsters, which he could not summon anyway. In return he drew one trap...

"It's her turn. I normal summon Magical Musketeer Calamity!" ..and one muscular redhaired woman(4/1500/1300) [Zone 3]. This musketeer enjoyed a more tribal get-up, and her demonwing clung to her back like a vampiric cape. "And now that I control her, I can activate Magical Musket trap - Dancing Needle!" Calamity took the cursed gun left behind by Starfire and started spraying bullets in wild directions. "I banish up to three cards from the graveyard!" She was not aiming at anything alive, her shots drilled into the ocean and destroyed monsters that were already dead: monsters like White Aura Dolphin and Fishborg Planter. "Oho?!" There were no more monsters to sustain White Aura Whale's cycle of death and rebirth. "And since I activated this card in her column, Calamity will special summon one monster from my graveyard. One monster you destroyed!" The calamitous musketeer stomped the wooden docks, waking Magical Musketeer Doc [Zone 2] from his afterlife slumber.

"Doc also activates his effects!" Sundown reactivated Magical Musket Desperado in the second column, so that Doc could bury White Aura Whale with a hail of missiles. "And stay... What in the!?" When the smoke cleared, White Aura Whale looked perfectly fine. Despite its destruction, it managed to bring itself back to life. "He activated Burial from a Different Dimension!" Void yelled. "You're kidding me!" Sundown realized what happened now: the Fisherman used his quickplay spell card to return three banished monsters to his graveyard. "By the time Desperado activated, it was already too late." The unbanished White Stingray was re-banished to revive the whale. Fishborg Planter and Dolphin would do the same, if there was a need for it. "Doc!" And while Sundown could have his monster reclaim a different Magical Musket card from his graveyard, Cross Domination, Sundown still did not possess enough firepower to destroy White Aura Whale three more times. "I.. That was it for now."

-TURN 04-

"Ohahah! You know nothing of the sea, desert rat!" Luck appeared to favor the sea dweller a lot, as he managed to excavate a second water monster from the top of his deck: Nimbe Sunfish, to have Fishborg Planter [Zone 4] resummon itself to the field. "How can you conquer the waters, when you cannot even slay the whale?" Those words were the only warning for the subsequent attack. White Aura Whale dove back down into the lake and swam directly underneath its two intended victims.

"Not so fast!" Before the first strike landed, Sundown used Doc's effect and column to activate Cross Domination. "This time you were too late!" But the opponent had a trap ready for it: White Howling. "Your first spell is banished, and all further spells are negated!" The whale unleashed a powerful howl to disrupt the effect of Cross Domination, and at the same time it banished Pot of Extravagance from the graveyard. "You deliberately held that trap back for this turn?" Sundown winced while the Whale completed its first attack and pierced through Doc's defense with its water spout blast.

Sundown's LP: 2750

"I reclaim Desperado." Though Cross Domination wound up being negated, it still counted as an activated card. Before his second demise, Doc managed to use his Musket recycling effect. Unfortunately, Desperado would not do much good against a selfreviving monster. "That was not you. That was him." And Sundown Mephistar's thoughts were still within the moment that his opponent decided to use his trap.

"What did you say, desert rat?" The Fisherman prepared his second attack against Calamity regardless. "I am not talking to you. I am talking to whoever told you to hold that trap back. Stop pretending, I know you are listening! You, The Crown, or however you like to be called!" Sundown would make sure he regretted that attack. "I discard Honest!" By playing the virtuous angels effect from his hand. Once activated, Honest added the attackpoints of White Aura Whale to Calamity(4800/1300). "What!?" Outmatched and outgunned, the whale was taken down for the umpteenth time. Calamity blasted a missile of her own to splatter white chunks across the sea. "Of course, they are all are light monsters." Void nodded. Despite their corruption by the demonic, the musketeers were still warriors on the side of good... relatively speaking.

Fisherman's LP: 5850

"You are not worth his time, desert rat. None of you are anymore." The Fisherman banished the Nimble Sunfish to resummon the whale [Zone 3]. Though it could do nothing to Calamity until her powerboost ran out. "So you are aware of it." Sundown scoffed. "Yes. He is the one that will set us all free!" The sea duelist boasted as he placed his hand on his chest. "Is that what he believes? Does he think he is giving you freedom? Life? Hahahah! That sounds like a deal too to be true, Fisherman! That would let me really hate you!" The gunslinger rasped. "Oh you will hate me.. Watch, as I unleash the greatest nightmare known to all men of the sea! Synchro summon! White Aura Bihamut!" The revived Whale still counted as a tuner. Her eight stars synchronized with Fishborg Planter's two stars to break the tenth level barrier.

"Okay, that one is weird." For second Blanche felt like she was looking at her own dragons. The Whale had become a two-headed dragon/plesiosaur(10/3300/3000) [Extra Zone 1].

-TURN 05-

"Who cares?" Sundown immediately activated Desperado in Calamity's column to destroy it. "Foolish rat!" Naturally, this white beast possessed its own form of immortality. The Desperado missiles, finally launched by the proper wielder, only destroyed one of the two heads. One head (10/3300/3300) [Zone 2] remained, somehow counting as its own monster. "Now what?" The gunslinger grumbled, as the blown-up head promptly regenerated. "White Aura Bihamut? Oh, that card can summon a token copy when its synchro summoned. And if you destroy the main body, the token can bring it back to life" Blanche read the effect straight from her dueldisk. "And check this out. During your turns the main body can make another token too, if there isn't one already on his field!" He faced an endless loop of revival. The fastest way to kill it would be to destroy both heads at once, though there were other methods.

"In that case..." Sundown saw an upside to this, Calamity could bring Doc [Zone 2] back to life again with her other effect. "Maybe I should try a tribute summon!" Calamity disappeared in a flash of shadows. "Maybe it is time for you to meet Zakiel, the Mastermind Magical Musketeer!" Right away, it became clear Zakiel existed on a different level from the rest of the musketeers. This operatically garbed devil(8/2500/25000) [Zone 5] distinguished himself by not being corrupted, but being the source of the corruption. Two of the red demon wings covered his back, while glowing eyes burned through his red skullmask. "Zakiel can be tribute summoned by using only one Musketeer as a sacrifice." After that the gunslinger gave the other card in his hand one last look, and.. he placed it face-down behind Doc. "Turn's over, Fisherman."

-TURN 06-

"Face-down? But the Musketeers can activate Musket cards from the hand?" Void did not see this as a reassuring sign; that Sundown could not use any weapons to defend his monsters. "What was that? You're not even attacking anymore?" The inversely excited Fisherman responded with his trademark laughter. "This will be easier than harpooning whales in a gigantic barrel!" When his turn came, he attempted to reuse Fishborg Planters effect from the graveyard. "Hm?" The Planter wound up discarding a White Salvation spell card from the top of the deck, instead of a water monster, forcing it to stay in the graveyard.

"Looks like the third time is the charm." Sundown took some amusement from that. "You will laugh now. The story will be quite different in the end!" A different water monster got normal summoned instead, a muscular blue-skinned water ogre: Angler Grappler(1/100/100) [Zone 4]. "I switch the Bihamut token to attack position, and strike both your monsters down!" Each head of the the dual-natured seaserpent fired a a jet of blue light, the blast from the token would hit Doc first.

"So you figured I was bluffing? Or did you somehow start believing.." Sundown, his smile wider than ever, flipped his set spell face -up. "... that Magical Musketeer cards still work like normal cards? I activate Magical Musket - Steady Hands!" This new quickplay spell that took the form of Doc's very own sniper rifle. "When I use this card, my monsters original attackpoints is doubled!" Doc fired his bullet at the demon Zakiel, to help him(5000/2500) with the upcoming battles. "And since I used this spell in his column, Doc recycles one of my other weapons!" The musketeer returned Magical Musketeer Cross Domination to Sundowns hand, once again in the nick of time. "You were smart enough to go after my weaker monster first with your token." Sundown allowed the attack to go through, and the defending doctor was destroyed. "But I had a feeling you were hiding something from me, so now would be a good time to show it!" He dared the ADI to continue his assault.

"I do not fear you!" And the Fisherman obliged, activating Mermail Abyssnerei from his hand. "That's the card that defeated Skylander?" Blanche sounded surprised. Mostly because it was clear that this card had been in the Fishermans hands since at least one turn. "Nerei destroys my water monster, my divine dragon token, and adds its attackpower to Bihamut!" Two heads became one, as the mermaid used her effect to focus their combined power into Bihamut(6600/3000) alone.

"Then I will counter!" Sundown howled. The gunslinger fired off another shot by activating Cross Domination from his hand. The bullets riddled Bihamuts body(0/3000) mere moments after the synchro declared its attack against Zakiel. The empowered faustian demon grabbed his two guns with steady hands and destroyed what remained of Bihamut. "Was it worth it?" It was no small amount of lifepoints that the fisherman lost from this attack that he did not technically need to make this turn. Yet he made the attack anyway...

Fishermans LP: 850

"To remove those weapons from your hand, yes! Because now I activate my skill, The Eternal Hunt! The sea is unfair and does not forgive, desert walker!" The huntsman revealed a new skill. "I add the accumulated power of Bihamut to Grappler Angler!" Because the destruction of the synchro serpent passed its immense attackpoints over to the blue angler(6700/100). "It cannot destroy anything, as the hunt must go on. However, when Grappler Angler wounds its opponent.. I can return one creature from the depths in defense mode!" With a new harpoon, Grappler Angler pierced Zakiels left wing and Sundowns side. "Rgh!"

Sundown's LP: 1150

_The Eternal Hunt, Skill Card.  
__If a monster you control is destroyed as a result of battle: target 1 other monster you control; the target gains ATK equal to the ATK of the destroyed monster until the end of this turn.  
__Monsters your opponent controls cannot be destroyed as a result of battle with the target._

The damage Sundown took activated Grappler's special summoning effect, and it used that effect to resummon... White Aura Dolphin [Zone 5]. "That one?" Sundown did not understand it at first. The pieces only added up once the second main phase started. "Synchro summon! White Aura Monokeros, in defense!" They were pieces for a synchro puzzle: Grappler Angler was a tuner monster. It synchronized itself and the dolphins six levels into a maned white narwhal(7/2500/1500) [Extra Zone 1]. "When White Aura Monokeros is synchro summoned, I can special summon one fish monster from my graveyard! I summon the Bihamut, in attack mode!" Though it owed most of its appearance to seaserpents or dragons, White Aura Bihamut did in fact count as a fish monster just like every other 'White' sea creature. And Monokeros brought it(3300/3000) [Zone 2] back in its one-headed state.

"That was a fancy move, I reckon. But you put yourself in this bad spot to begin with. You and your boss." Once the turn ended, Bihamut would regrow its head by creating a second Divine Dragon Token(10/3300/3000) [Zone 3] in defense mode. That left one effect left to resolve before that turn could start. "I did not use my cards on my turn because I figured it was better to fight you in yours. Otherwise you would just revive your monster and I would be left with nothing." It was an effect that gave Sundown two new cards from his deck. "Oh, did I mention that Zakiel draws one card for each Magical Musket spell or trap I used during your entire turn?" That turn provided him twice, the next turns drawphase added a third card.

-TURN 07-

"Heh. Well now you know." This hand would put a smile on anyone's face.

"And for the record. This was not about fear, this was about hate. And the funny thing is... if you could actually either fear or hate me, fisherman. Than maybe I could learn to feel anything for you. But whatever crawled up my spine at the start of this, its all gone now. I don't see a fearsome warrior, I see a pathetic man hiding behind puppets. A duelist who is even worse than an ADI. I was going to end this with my greatest weapon... but I do not even need to use that now." He chuckled morosely. "Pathetic?! We are not! It is you who are, you children! You weaklings!" The fisherman, or perhaps the Crown, could barely fight his assertions at this point. "Whatever you say. I activate the spell card, Mortschlag, and equip it to Zakiel."

"Hey.. hey Sundown. Did you just bring a sword to a gunfight?" Blanche found it rather hilarious that the gun toting demon now got forced to wield a sword. It did not look like Zakiel knew how to use the equipment either, as he held the blade end of the sword with his hands instead and received no power-ups from it. "It's what he would least expect." Sundown let the joke slide, as his victory was already assured. "Mortschlag equips to a normal summoned monster. And when that monster attacks, your monster loses attackpoints equal to his attackpower!" Zakiel flew at a hellishly fast speed to closed the distance between it and Bihamut and slammed the crossguard of his new weapon right in the serpents head. "Oh. Hahah.. "Oh. Now I remember you, desert rat.. Hahaha.." !" The attack left the synchro(800/3000) weak enough for a killshot. "Is that supposed to win me over at the end? Too little too late. Say goodbye,..Fisherman! Zakiel attacks Bihamut!" Finally Zakiel ended the reign of immortal white aura monsters in the simplest way possible, by shooting his masters lifepoints down to nothing. "Goodbye, friend of Skylander!"

Fishermans LP: 0

Bihamuts destruction cost Legendary Fisherman more life than he wanted to lose, his body broke down to gems that floated on the water surface. "?!" And within that moment the victorious duelist thought he saw someone that no one else did: another man watching the duel from across the lake. "The Crown?" The shape quickjumped away as soon Sundown spotted him. "Wasn't that... Midsummer?"

"You made it!" Sundown found his attention snap elsewhere, as Bionis, Wagner and Crescent raced down unto the docks. The situation around him got a lot clearer now that his own fight had ended. The 'hazmats' cleaned out the lake, the roads leading to the city and the city itself. "Hey look Sundown, its your team." Only under these circumstances did the duelists conveniently reunite. "Very funny, Blanche. But we were told not to get in their way, remember? He decided to go off on his own." Bionis did not see how that was his or their fault.

"What made you want to do that in the first place? You could have gotten hurt." Crescent sounded more sympathetic, or perhaps guilty about letting him go alone. It was difficult to tell with her soft tone of voice. "If you people keep asking me, I might even have tell you. Tch.. I aint proud of what I did, but I could not let it go." He pulled the rim of his hat down. "Let's just say this case reminded me of someone I knew, something else I can't let go. Dont worry though. I wont take a risk like that again.. Though, this whole mess has made me start wondering whether splitting up was even worth it."

"That is what I said." While the Hazmat brigade did solve more than they could handle on their own, Void knew things would have been far worse if he and Blanche stood back. "Well, we are grateful for your assistance. Though I still believe we could have taken care of it ourselves." Wagnerok boasted. "Yeah well, it doesn't look like they need us now." Blanche did not see a single ADI around. "Perhaps. But this is far from over." As long as the Crown was out there, they were merely treating the symptoms. "And we still havent found the traitor. Which.." Bionis Khan started mumbling his words. Now that the judge had come back, he really did not have many reasons to dislike Void anymore. "Probably is not one of you two, but still.. This feels weird." It took him effort to even apologize to that extent. Void let that slide. "I agree. If this is what the company wants. Then we need to ask.. what does Mr. Static want?"

(To Be Continued in Line 019: A Sharp Turn Through Darkness)

**Cards used by Sundown Mephistar**  
Magical Musketeer - Doc  
Magical Musketeer - Calamity  
Honest  
Magical Musketeer - Zakiel

-  
Magical Musket - Cross Domination  
Pot of Extravagance  
Magical Musket - Steady Hands  
Mortschlag

-  
Magical Musket - Desperado  
Magical Musket - Dancing Needle

**New Cards used by The Legendary Fisherman  
**_THE ETERNAL HUNT_

-  
White Stingray  
White Moray Eel  
Angler Grappler

-  
White Aura Dolphin  
White Aura Whale  
White Aura Bihamut  
White Aura Monokeros

-  
Surface  
Burial from a Different Dimension  
Moray of Greed

-  
White Howling


	19. A Sharp Turn Through Darkness

**Line 019: Sharp Turn through Darkness**

At the end of the fight, the CID legion claimed complete victory. 'Hazmats' and purified ADIs stood motionless in every street or square. "So there you are. I presume your friend got what he wanted?" The only human duelist still remaining, Judge Hieronymus, still waited at the castle courtyard. "By myself, yes." Sundown muttered as he kept his eyes trained on the duelists around him. The absolute silence they found themselves in did nothing to alleviate his tension.

"Well then, your friend caught me up to speed while you were gone." The Judge responded, nodding to Wagnerok. "I am sure none of it was exaggerated either." Blanche verbally jabbed the blonde duelist. "What do you take me for? A glory hound? I spoke the truth, about our exploits and our near victory over the Crown." Wagner jabbed back, while still lacing his words with embellishments. "Yes, but frankly. I am more curious about this arena of the beyond you are talking about and its proprietor. I would like to meet the rest of your friends, and he who calls himself Mister Static."

"You don't know about him?" That came as a shock to Void, considering Static claimed to be working for the same company as him. "I am only a judge. They do not tell me everything at my level. Still, I cannot imagine that they would resort to such extreme methods to draft users." Hieronymus pondered, stroking his pointed chin. "Considering you people are trying to package everything as some kind of special -in-game event, Static is probably just another weird idea of theirs." Khan would not be surprised either way. "And... we kinda split up by now. Its gonna be hard to track down..."

Blanche's words were undercut by a pair of quickjumping duelists: Scura and Neo. "Well there are two of them now." The judge smiled. "Ohey guys! Sorry we're late. I swear I don't do it on purpose! And...whoa!" It took Neo a second to process who he was looking at. "It's the dead guy, alive again. Lucky.." Scura sounded more unphased, though she did not expect this either. "Hmph. You missed a great fight." Wagner scoffed. "I said I was sorry! I came here from.." Neo began to say until... "Ah-hmrmhrm!" Blanche shook her head vividly crossed her arms to gesture 'STOP' as loud as she could without using words. "Oof! I just came home from class. Yeah.." The cyber-duelist corrected himself before he could let anything about Vigionair slip. "And I just didn't feel like it." Scura managed a smoother excuse, a largely true one.

"Well it is nice to meet you both either way. I suppose this must be quite a shock to you too, seeing as how you last saw me dead." The judge at least had not caught on, as far as anyone could see. But he did get Khan to think about something else. "Hold on! That reminds me! What were you doing at the arena in the first place?"

"I wasn't? I never went there." Questions like that, were still part of the whole incomplete mystery. And it seemed nobody possessed the complete article. "What? No no no. You were! We found you there! The company found you there!" Yet the contradiction had always been there. "You found... my avatar... there? I have to say, I do not know how that could have happened. I was dueling an ADI in this city sector when I got destroyed." There were two entirely different stories working against each other. "That is weird, so maybe someone took you with them?" Neo tried to reconcile them. But there were flaws with that way of thinking. "Why would they drag his corpse around? I mean, it sounds funny. But who would do it? Scarlet maybe..." Wherever the truth lied, neither Scura nor anyone else could point towards it.

"We already agreed to go see Static. It is a good idea for everyone here to come along. It might bring back something. If that is alright." Void did not know how much lip service he was still supposed to pay to their self-imposed team division. "I will allow it." Wagnerok complied while only sounding half-interested in the whole affair. "Right. In that case, mister Hieronymus. Follow our lead."

...

The trip would have been instantaneous just like any other quickjump. "Uh... ?" Yet it became immediately clear to them that not all of them finished the journey to the arena of the beyond. "Where did he go?!" Judge Hieronymus did not stand next Bionis anymore, nor did he materialize anywhere else. "He was right there... He did not die again did he?" The blue-eyed girl wondered if the judge ran into an extreme case of transporter malfunction. "I shall return to the castle, to see what went wrong. Come Crescent." Wagner and his partner teleported out while the confusion was still fresh. The sooner the better, they figured. "I hope he is alright." Neo wondered out loud. "He shouldn't just vanish completely. It's more likely that he never arrived in the first place. As if he lacked permission." It was an assumption on Voids part. It did fit with Statics methods though, to block access to anyone except the duelists he invited.

"I have a more pertinent question. What is he doing here?" Sundown counted seven remaining duelists, one who arrived her before them. "Ah. Good evening. Or is morning for you? What brings you here?" El Veyron GT.

"He asked you first, Veyron." From the very first second, this encounter felt more than coincidental. "Is there a problem, Bionis? Did we decide that this area was off limits? Because that would be news to me." Though he did not intend to, Veyrons choice of answers only raised more suspicion. "No. But I saw you join Scarlet's group. And I do not see any of them now. Why are you here, all by yourself?" Khan pressed further. "I was sent here by her, Scarlet. I was supposed to relay some information to Mister Static on her behalf." He claimed, while his expression remained entirely unchanged. "I may not know her that well yet, but that does not sound like a task she would trust to others." Void would have figured the doctor to send the message herself, or with everyone by her side at the very least. "Oh she will arrive here shortly. There were matters that required her immediate attention, yet this information could not wait." Veyron talked so smoothly; it was impossible to tell if he was even hiding something. "Then what is it? What is the information?" Or if he could be tripped into revealing a lie. "Come now Void. I cant share that with outsiders."

"He is lying."

"What?" Only a voice with no face managed to break Veyrons casual veneer. "Hydra?!" Everyone looked up. Of course they still could not actually get a glimpse of the invisible duelist. "He was sending messages. But not to Static.. to someone in the real world." It seemed like he'd been here long enough, longer than Veyron realized. "That is absurd! We cannot send messages from this location!" The duelist protested with facts: facts everyone else knew to be true as well. "I did not say you were doing it from this area. Just because you hide your accounts activities, that does not mean I cannot follow your every move in this world... El Veyron GT." So Hydra countered with new facts.

"Well that isn't creepy at all." Scura sarcastically remarked. "Don't get the wrong idea. I do not watch people for some perverted purpose. And I cannot follow you everywhere, just in public sectors. And you were in one such sector, Veyron, when you opened up communications. Oh you made sure your connection was secure, just like you made sure you were nowhere near your 'friends'. But I see and hear with more than eyes and ears: i know your transmission went to the outside world. And then you came here."

"That could mean anything. Not that I did such a thing." Veyron fell back to his calmer demeanour, though he sounded clearly incensed by the accusation. "Is that what you were doing? Talking to the Crown? And trying to show him the way here?!" So too did Khan, enough to make a giant leap to an even greater allegation. "The Crown? Do you honestly take the word of this man, who refuses to show his face, over my own? I was there with you on the battlefield when the Crown set his trap." This was also technically true. Some could even accept that there was nothing suspicious at all about what Hydra saw Veyron do. "You were the first to run away though." Yet the little details were adding up; enough to get even Neo to start wondering. "And you were not there at the start of that day, when the ADIs like Medusa tried to set up that ambush in the ruins. For all we know you could have talked to one of them." Sundown said as he studied the duelists every response: waiting for a crack or a slip-up. "Oh come now! If I were doing something like that, why would I message them inside STHEREA? Besides, what can you prove? Nothing.."

"He's got us there." Blanche gave it a shrug. Hurling questions would not get them anywhere at this rate. "Maybe you couldn't.." That did not slow Bionis down, his mind went in overdrive. "Maybe you talked to someone who only knows your avatar self, and you wanted him or her to drop by here. Except... just like Hieronymus, they could not get inside. That's what you were doing here, waiting for that person!" He nodded to himself. Everything fit together from his point of view.

"Eh, I don't know about that. But... I've talked to enough guys to know when they do not want to tell you everything they are thinking." And Scura could definitely see that trait in Veyron right now. "Still, what can you do about it?" Veyron tried to play it cool. "I can duel you to make sure your scheme ends, Veyron!" Unfortunately for him, he severely under-estimated Khans temper. "Again?" Void sighed. This seemed to be Khans answer to all cases. "Then I accept, but let's take it elsewhere. This drab arena does not fit my style." Veyron could not change the when, he could only change the where. "Fine!"

...

"Ah. Perfect." Minutes later every duelist besides Sundown found themselves in Veyrons duel field of choice: the racing circuit in the middle of the Cosmopolis sport sector. "Away from prying eyes." Hydra went silent some time ago. But even if he did still linger, Veyron concerned himself more with his environment. "All manner of special duels were once held here, you know. Action duels, riding duels, speed duels. It's so sad that it is all gone now." Veyron waxed nostalgically while his opponent stewed in anger. "I didn't come here for a history lesson." His dueldisk and deck were hungry for action. "Yes of course. If you win, I shall leave this 'game'. But if I win, then you will drop your charges." Veyron prepared his own cards, while the remaining duelists watched. "Werent we supposed to be doing something?" Blanche asked dryly. "I know. But I doubt Mister Static would answer to just one of us anyway." This duel here and now put their plan to talk to their recruiter on hold.

Veyrons LP: 8000 Bionis' LP: 8000 -TURN 01-

"It seems I have not lost my speed! The first turn is mine, Bionis!" The duel began. Veyron moved like lightning, summoning a monster in a heartbeat. "Formula Athlete Sonic Meister! Like all my Athletes, his attack is equal to its level times 300! And it cannot be destroyed by monsters whose level is lower than his!" His futuristic-looking formula 1 race car/het hybrid (4/1200/1000) [Zone 1] started the race by itself. Of course, the racer could not go anywhere without a course, so Veyron activated his field spell. "I set the stage, Formula Athlete City Grand Prix!" Transparent building blocks rose up from the ground, and a course was drawn through those buildings with red energy. "From now on, my Formula Athletes cannot be targeted by card effects! They are simply too fast! And City Grand Prix increases my Formula Athlete's level by two during each battle and main phase!" The machine(7/2100/1000) became a blue-painted and orange-striped blur as it used the light as a boostpad, and gained an extra boost of its own wing engines as well. Sonic Meister increased its level by one star each time a F.A. Spell or trap card was activated or used. "Your turn, Bionis Khan!" Veyron placed a spell down at the starting line, while his racer made its second lap across the circuit.

"Formula Athletes... F.A. I figured he would be using something like that." What little Void knew of El Veyron did mark him as a lover of fast dueling. "You never watched the speed duel tournaments, Void? He was all over the screen then." Neo, it seemed, knew far more than that. "Hey... I never cared much for speed dueling either. Too much moving about and stuff you cant control." Scura quickly spoke up to defend Voids ignorance, to his slight amusement. "I can see that. I can also see why it was restricted to tournaments." Using hoverboards or other holographic tools to hold duels while flying through the sky; this way of dueling could only exist within this virtual world. Right now only the monsters were moving like blitzing comets. Void could not imagine users of VRAINS would be happy to have a dozen speed duelists violate their airspace every day. Though the fact that Veyron still came to the physical circuit, likely meant that he missed action like this.

-TURN 02-

"Feh. I hope you enjoyed that." Bionis sneered. "Because I am not gonna play the catch-up game! I summon Vendread Houndhorde and activate Revendread Evolution!" Darkness infested a part of the real course, a darkness with many teeth and many eyes. Vendread Houndhorde(3/0/2100) [Zone 3] rose as an undead swarm of black hounds. They would soon be fully dead, as they were sacrificed for the Revendread ritual spell. "Revendread Evolution can also take one tribute from my deck! So I sacrifice a Houndhorde from there too! That is six levels all in all: enough to ritual summon Revendread Slayer!" All remaining lifeforce was drained away from the Houndhorde on the field and the one in the deck. Both were sent to the graveyard as offerings for the undead hero Revendread Slayer(6/2400/0) [Zone 3]. "Now a Houndhorde I control was used as a ritual material, it can give that ritual monster the effect to banish one spell or trap each turn!"

"Pardon?" The joy left Veyrons face as the Slayer grabbed the circuit of red light with his claws. A dark rotting curse spread across the Grand Prix field spell and removed it from the game. "Ugh.. you got me." With no circuit to guide it, Sonic Meister(5/1500/1000) slowed down significantly. "Bye bye, Sonic Meister!" Bionis entered the battle phase: Revendread Slayer could easily overcome its targets speed now.

"Just kidding!" But at the last second, just as the Slayer(2700/0) used his effect to banish one Vendread Houndhorde from the graveyard to gain 300 attackpoints, Sonic Meister sped away. "What?! What did you do?" Bionis knew his attack landed, because Veyron took some damage. But Sonic Meister(8/2400/1000) did not crash, it moved even faster than before. "I used Formula Athlete Downforce, a quickplay spell! It gave my athlete two extra levels, and he gave himself another level because I used an F.A. spell! And like I already said, Sonic Meister cannot be destroyed unless your monster has a higher level than it."

Veyrons LP: 7700

"You think this is still a game? Bah!" Bionis ended his turn and Sonic Meister(6/1800/1000) reduced its speed once again.

-TURN 03-

"Please. I know what is at stake in this whole affair, and what you want to risk in addition with this duel. But when you get down to the minutia, then yes... it is a game. And I am going to enjoy it while it lasts!" With there no longer being a strict course, Sonic Meister spent its turns driving circles around Veyron. It was soon joined by a very sharp yet sleek racing motorcycle(4/1200/1800). "Formula Athlete Hang on Mach! It also gains a level whenever I use one of their spells or traps! Like this!" Veyron did not need to use new cards, he could also use the effects of spells activated before... or effects from the graveyard. "I banish Down Force from my graveyard, to add two levels to my Athlete!" Veyron selected the Sonic car(9/2700/1000), who gained another level by itself along with the purple Mach biker(5/1500/1000). "One more spell! I activate Iron Draw! Since the only two monsters I control are two machines, I can draw two cards!" He added the two cards with a gleeful grin. "And finally, my skill: Reach for the Stars!"

_Reach for the Stars, Skill Card_  
_Target 2 face-up monsters on the field: increase the Level of one target and decrease the Level of the other target by 2._

"More levels?" The skill absorbed two stars from Khans ritual monster(4/2700/0) and passed them on to Sonic Meister(11/3300/1000). "I always try to surpass my record, Bionis! Okay, all set! Sonic Meister attacks the Revendread Slayer!" At this point Revendread Slayer would gain little more from banishing another monster: three hundred points more would just mean a slower death. And Sonic Meister came in fast; rushing down its column at max speed to run the Slayer down.

Bionis Khan's LP: 7400

"And again!" F.A. Hang On Mach made its own pass, knocking Bionis down with a direct attack. "Oof. If that'd been a speed duel, he might have fallen off his board from that." Blanche laughed. "You sound like you want to see that." Her reaction caught Void off guard. "Oh I dont mean it. But c'mon, you gotta admit.. Khan is a hard guy to cheer for." The zombie duelist never treated them kindly, as far as she could remember. "Okay, maybe a little." Void smiled wryly. "But that does not change the fact that he may be right about Veyron." Void concluded, to her slight discouragement. "I guess you would see it that way."

Bionis Khans LP: 5900

-TURN 04-

"Your turn again, Bionis. Try to keep up." This time Veyron left his backrow empty. He did not special summon anything else either, as Iron Draw limited this turns remaining special summons to just one. "Screw you. You think you're such a hot shot because you won all those tournaments. But you cant keep up your cool around us! We know what you did!" The last turn did not end entirely without benefits for the ritual duelist. When Revendread Slayer died, it also sent a Vendread monster (Revendread Executor) to the graveyard to add a Vendread ritual spell (Revendread Origin) to Bionis' hand. This time nothing would stop him from destroying his target. "I revive Houndhorde by discarding Vendread Striges from my hand!" The undead vendread horde could be special summoned from the graveyard by trading places with a Vendread monster in Bionis' hand. "Striges revives itself!" Said monster would special summon itself whenever it was sent to the graveyard. Both the snakeheaded crows(2/500/2000) [Zone 2] and the black hounds [Zone 4] regained some semblance of life, but they would be banished if they left the field.

"I activate Revendread Origin and ritual summon a monster from my graveyard: Revendread Executor!" Vendread Striges and Revendread Slayer: the ritual spell took its sacrifices from the living and the dead. Both monsters were banished in the end, giving more than enough levels to call out the executioner of the vendread. "Its.. a superslayer!" Neo knew Bionis meant business whenever he brought out his strongest card. Revendread Executor(8/3000/0) looked similar to the hellspawn Slayer, except he armored his body with the bones of a demon. Two massive skeletal claws also grew out of his spine, like the tails of a scorpion. "That is all very nice, Khan. But your monster is still to slow." Sonic Meister(9/2700/1000)'s level still exceeded that of the Executor, so the machine could not be destroyed by his attacks. "You think so huh? Well take a load of this! I activate Vendread Nightmare! For each monster is sacrificed, I can boost Executors level by one!" The execution took place when the continuous spell appeared. Vendread Houndhorde lost its many heads to the Revendread monster(9/3000/0). "Oh!"

"Yeah. Oh! As in Oh you are going to die: Sonic Meister!" Bionis unleashed his attack immediately, grabbing the formula jetcar with Executor's bony claws. "Ha!" The machine got torn in half. "And now Vendread Nightmare adds 1000 attackpoints to my Executor, since he killed your monster! And thanks to Vendread Striges, I can draw and discard each time my monster fights!" The effect inherited from the sacrificed Striges added a Vendread Revenants monster to Bionis' hand, just in time for its subsequent discarding. "And you know what that means! I use my own skill, Necro Impact! I banish my monster to special summon yours back, just so I get to kill it again!" The Necro Impact skill banished the Vendread Revenant, and necromantically resurrected the recently deceased Sonic Meister(4/0/1000). Without its powers and effects, the car could only stand there by the side of the road as if its fuel ran out. "Ha-HA!" The second attack from Revendread Executor hit even harder, causing smoke and fire to rise up across the entire lane.

Veyrons LP: 3400

"Heh. Already got you down to half, Veyron. Some champion level skills you have there." Bionis Khan taunted the fallen speedster. "This is nothing... I cannot catch up with." Veyron coughed and dusted off his jacket. "Maybe in the tournaments. But this is a real duel. You might actually lose here, heheh." Khan placed a trap card down in front of him and passed the turn to the opponent. "And what do you mean by that?" His mustache twitched, visualising the racers growing agitation. "You think I am braindead, Veyron? After that last stunt you pulled at Cosmopolis, I made sure to check up on your background. And while your record may be squeaky clean, the rumors surrounding you are.. 'plentiful'" The ritual duelist laughed. "Rumors?" A word like that could not help but alarm the observers as well. "Yes, Void. Apparently our friend here might have had a lot of help with his matches.. The wrong kind of help. They say he uses fixers to get unearned wins." Bionis said it loud enough for everyone to hear. "What?"

"Hm?" And just at that unfortunate moment, four dueldisks started blinking simultaneously. "What is it?" The only dueldisk that did not act up was Sundowns. "It must be Asterisk trying to give us news." Void admitted that and only that. The signal was actually coming from Vigionair's location. "Pretend I did not see anything then." Sundown turned his head away. "Of course he wants us now.. when it was just getting good." Scura did not want to leave, she could barely pry her eyes away from the two duelists as they kept shouting at each other. "Don't worry. I got this. You guys stay here." Madam Blanche 'sacrificed' herself, and quickjumped away.

...

She ended up inside Vigionair's dark room, and spotted two concerned faces staring at a larger screen. "Yo. What's the sitch fellas?" The white-haired girl presumed some progress happened on their end. "Blanche. Is anyone else coming?" Asterisk turned around with a tone of mild disappointment. "You'll have to excuse them, we were all kinda in the middle of a lot of stuff. Lotta zipping around the place today. I am all you got for now." Her answer drew an annoyed sigh from the man in the chair. "Of course, every individual must express their inner grievances at all time. Never mind the crucial affairs at hand. Regardless.. Madam Blanche, let it be known that I have cracked the code.. as you would say." Vigionair pasted the contents of the Crowns data across the digital walls. "Ah. You're not gonna make me read all of it, are you?" She did not know where to start. "I can save you the effort, most of it is battle script: lines the Crown fed to his ADIs that prove he can directly influence them. But there were some files containing messages for those outside of STHEREA." Asterisk pointed at one image. "Such as?"

"An ultimatum for the company, sent two days ago. The Crown wants his demands met by tomorrow, or he will destroy every account permanently..."

(To Be Continued in Line 020: Sacrificed For Faster Access)

**New Cards used by Bionis Khan  
**Vendread Houndhorde  
Revendread Executor

-  
Revendread Evolution

**Cards used by El Veyron GT  
**F.A. Sonic Meister  
F.A. Hang on Mach

-  
F.A. City Grand Prix  
F.A. Downforce  
Iron Draw


	20. Sacrificed for Faster Access

**Line 020: Sacrificed for Faster Access**

Judge Hieronymus did not quite know what to make of it. One minute he stood side to side with the eight duelists who had apparently been fighting the rogue ADIs long before his hazmat brigade came down. The next minute he stood alone, kicked out of their mass quickjump and respawned in the middle of the wetland sector. It should not have been possible for him to be refused access to any part of this world. Yet it happened. He would just have to quickjump back to the city and wait for them there.

"Hello Judge." Or he could start up a conversation with the people that intercepted him here. "You know... Last time I saw you, you were quite dead." He looked at a redhaired woman with a bizarre gasmask on her face, along with three other duelists. "You must be the third group." The man guessed, based on what Wagnerok told him. "Indeed. And you.. are Hieronymus. I presume. I can't actually get a read on you" Doctor Scarlet took off her mask. "Custom software? You are quite skilled to have created something like that, but it is still illegal. And I only work with company-sanctioned tools." An item like that would not function in a judge's presence. "Tell him why we are here, Scarlet." The girl in a priestess kimono spoke with an impatient tone. "Of course. We are here because I recently acquired some crucial information as to the whereabouts of the man behind the ADI corruption. We figured you should know this, you and your 'tools'." The doctor nodded at the castle on the horizon. "And what do you want in return?"

"Just for you to clear the path. We have a better chance if we attack from multiple angles, mister judge. Our group will strike in our own way as soon as out fifth member rejoins us."

...

The argument between the two duelist kept going: the accuser Bionis and the accused Veyron. "That is absurd! Whoever 'they' are, they do not know what they are talking about!" Veryon denied everything Bionis threw his way, as expected. "They are some of the duelists you once beat to get high in the charts, Veyron. They came out on certain forums that you probably would know nothing about!. I didn't make much of that at first, but seeing you duel I can believe it now!" The two appeared more interested in verbal dueling than actual dueling now. "Those people are only upset that they lost when I did not! It is one thing to question my allegiances. It is another to question me as a duelist! You have gone too far! I never lose, Bionis!" "If that is true, why would you even run from ADIs? If you are so good, show me!" Bionis folded his arms and waited. "That was different, those were overwhelming numbers and unfair odds. This is plain one one one. So do not worry. You will not even have enough time to process your defeat!"

Bionis Khans LP: 5900 Veyrons LP: 3400 -TURN 05-

"I summon Formula Athlete Auto Navigator!" Veyrons dueldisk lit up like a dashboard, and cast a light down towards the field. It was a hologram of a hologram: a little greenhaired girl(1/0/0) [Zone 3] embodying a navigation system. "When the Naivgator is summoned, I can add a Formula Athlete field-spell card to my hand!" His monsters effect secured the F.A. City Grand Prix, and it once again became the field setting for the whole duel. All Formula Athletes like the Navigator(3/0/0) and Hang on Mach(7/2100/1800) gained two levels during the main and battle phases now. Hang on Mach(8/2400/1800) also added a level to itself since a F.A. spell card had been used.

"If you wanted to see the dark side of me, you shall have it! When I control a level 7 or higher Formula Athlete, I can special summon Formula Athlete Dark Dragster from my hand!" The race took a dark turn, as a pure black racing car entered the circuit. Purple lights lit up around its chassis, revealing a spike-covered nightmare vehicle(9/2700/2000) [Zone 1]. Like its corrupted formula partners, its attackpower was equal to its level times 300. "Dark Dragster can destroy one monster on the field by reducing its level by 3 stars!" The dark machine(6/2100/2000) rushed across the grand circuit and left a hungry shadow in its wake. Its path trapped Revendread Executor(8/4000/0) [Zone 3] and gave it no room to escape the darkness. "Oh yeah? Well, Revendread Executor still counts as a Revendread Slayer monster, so Revendread Origin can protect it!" The ritual duelist banished the ritual spell from the graveyard, which gave the Executioner a stay of execution. It could not be destroyed by Dark Dragsters effect.

"Tch. I was aware of that of course." The speed duelist laughed and clapped his hands together. "I suppose it is time to stop playing around with you! Auto Navigator is also a tuner monster, so I shall synchronize her with Dark Dragster! And I synchro summon Formula Athlete Motorhome Transport!" Two cars sped off, driging through green synchronic circles to break the speed of light. Nine stars brimmed beyond the horizon as the extra deck opened its pathways. This next machine that appeared would not take part in the great race itself. Motorhome Transport(9/2700/3000) [Extra Zone 1] the grand car-lifting truck was not built for speed but for carrying the other athlete machines. It(11/3300/3000) did get a levelboost from the Grand Prix Circuit however, and gained 300 attackpoints for each of its levels. "Motorhome Transport cannot be destroyed while its level is 11 or higher." Veyron then placed one trap card behind the synchro monster.

"He must be feeling really ugly right now. Because he looks like it." Scura made no effort to hide how she felt about the speed duelist, for once. "What, are you saying you'd find him handsome otherwise?" Neo pondered. "No! Maybe.. That's not the point I want to make! But he is playing worse than before." There were several moves he could have done instead in that last turn, while now he was purely on the defense. Void came to the came conclusion.

-TURN 06-

"Go ahead, keep your synchro indestructible. I'll just kill that other thing!" Bionis did not care about the subtleties either way. Revendread Executor had a bloodthirst to quench. The turn immediately started with its attack.

"Then I shall activate Formula Athlete Dead Heat, my continuous trap!" Unexpectedly, the red light road of the Grand City started swiveling and winding upwards, forcing the athletes to drive up-side down. "And when you attack, I can activate its effect!" Both effect activation and card activation counted towards a Formula Athlete's ability to add levels, which resulted in Motorhome Transport(13/3700/3000) and Hang on Mach(10/3000/1800) both gained two levels in a row. "These are the stakes! When a Formula Athlete battles your monster, we both roll a die!" The game dropped two virtual dice in both players hands. "If I am the highest roller, my monster gains four levels!" Considering four more levels translated into 1200 more attackpoints for Hang on Mach, Bionis knew he had to get the higher number if he wanted his Revendread ritual monster to survive this fight. "Bring it, Veyron!" He tossed the die like a madman.

"Four!" While not exactly low, Khans result could still easily be surpassed or matched if Veyron possessed a modicum of luck. "...Three." He did not, not in every sense. "...When my roll is lower than yours, my monster will be destroyed!" Hang on Mach lost control of the road and exploded as it crashed into one of the Grand City's buildings. "But your attack is wasted either way. I suppose you can call this good fortune disguised as bad fortune." The Dead Heat trap activated during the damage step. It was already too late for Executor to pick another battle target. Even if it could, Dead Heat would just give Motorhome Transport the same odds as Hang on Mach. "The same fortune that helped you win all those duels, eh?" Bionis placed a monster card face-down on his field. "I Bet that is why Static chose you, because he could use this dirt against you if you decided to rebel!"

-TURN 07-

"Is that what you think, Bionis? Then what about you?" Veyron fired back as he drew another card. "What does the great and powerful Static have on you that makes you want to stay quiet? After all, you are no stranger to the leagues either. Your name is known throughout your nation. What darkness are you hiding?" A smirk framed his weary face as he allowed Khan time to respond. "I am not hiding anything!" And Khan responded with the only response he wanted to give. "Really? Well, you will have to forgive me for not believing you. And for trying to drag it out... Motorhome gains a second effect when its level 13! Each turn it can bring back one of my Formula Athletes!" The claws of the transport truck dug deep into its trailers and found one of its very own synchro materials: F.A. Dark Dragster(7/2100/2000) [Zone 1]. The dark racer got its(9/2700/2000) second chance on the grand prix course. "I destroy Revendread Executor!" The Dragster(6/1800/2000) lowered its own level and speed again, and killed the undead warrior now that its ritual spell stock had been depleted to banish.

"Big deal! I can add a Vendread monster to my hand when you destroy him!" The effect of the destroyed Executor chose a lesser ritual monster from the deck: Vendread Battlelord. "By the time you get to summon it, it will already be too late! You are always one step behind, Bionis!" Veyron quickly placed another monster on his field, from the graveyard. "I can special summon Auto Navigator by taking the extra levels from one other Formula Athlete!" With the energy of Motorhome Transport(11/3300/3000), the navigation machine could project her light-image(2/0/0) [Zone 2] behind the synchro monster. And of course, her effect allowed him to add a new F.A. field spell to his hand: He chose the Off Road Grand Prix this time. "Yes, always one step behind... Bionis, I know what you are like, a disaster tourist. You go from crisis to conspiracy to calamity, just to watch and marvel at the explosions. Then you gossip, you talk, you accuse.. all to get your kicks. And maybe you dug to deep one time, hmm? Just one car pile-up too many?!" With the field emptied, he could declare his direct attacks.

Bionis Khans LP: 4100

"Guh!" One direct attack Bionis could handle, the powerful ramming strike from the Dark Dragster. "You're not making any sense!" Except when one faced a machine-type user, you always had to account for a 'limitless' surprise. "I activate Escape from the Dark Dimension to special summon one of my banished dark monsters!" So for the attacking Motorhome Transport, the Revendread Slayer(7/2400/0) [Zone 1] would become its opponent in defense mode. "Aren't I? What were you doing on those 'forums' then? Did you just happen to browse them, Bionis?" The synchro ruck ran over the defending ritual monster, putting the slayer right back in the grave.

"So what? I am not the one on trial! I activate Revendread Reunion! I can summon two banished monsters from my graveyard, and immediately perform a ritual summon with them!" The trap special summoned Vendread Houndhorde(3/500/2000) [Zone 2] and Vendread Revenants(4/1800/200) [Zone 4]. "!?" The undead hound melded with the zombie swarm into one ritualistic sacrificial pool, from which the Vendread Battlelord grew. "Also, one step behind? Yeah right! Who said I have to wait for my turn to do a ritual?" Vendread Battlelord, the fully bone-plated and horned mutant(7/2700/0) [Zone 3], acquired both effects from its ritual materials. "Get out of here with your field spell and your monster!" Through Vendread Houndhorde's inherited effect, the spell of Grand Prix Circuit got banished and Formula Athletes were no longer shielded against targeting effects like that of the Revenants. The special summoned Dark Dragster ran into its own destruction because of that monsters effect. And Motorhome Transport(11/3300/3000) lost two of its levels.

"In the end, it has nothing to do with what is going on: Bionis. You are just looking for something that is not there. They know it, I know it, you know it." The speed duelist placed the second to last card in his hand down on the field, and kept the other close to him. It wouldn't do him any good to use a field spell now if Battlelord could just banish it. "The only thing I know is... You are going to lose! Its my turn, and I banish your monster and your set spell card!" Bionis yelled as he started his turn. The Revenants-effect removed the Auto Navigator from the field, while the Houndhorde-effect targeted the unknown face-down.

-TURN 08-

"You are still.. too late!" Yet With a passing of the turn came the option to activate set quickplay spells. The one Veyron set, possessed perhaps the greatest power of all. "I activate Limiter Removal! My machine monster doubles its attackpoints!" The brakes were off, Motorhome Transport(11/6600/3000) removed all limiters and plowed through the empty course with a never-ending fury. "Of course. His machine cant be destroyed as long with its current level!" Neo, no stranger to Limiter Removal himself, felt audibly impressed with Veyrons last ditch activation before Vendread Battlelord could banish the card. "He is desperate." Sundown saw it differently, considering Motorhome already outmatched Bionis' monsters in its limited state. "I wouldn't want to lose either, if you have a record of always winning. Heh.. but everyone loses one time." Scura smirked to herself.

"You are hard to catch, Veyron. I'll agree with that. But I think you've been driving too fast, because there is no road for your synchro monster anymore. I activate Herald of the Abyss! I will give 1500 of my lifepoints to send one monster with a certain type and attribute to the graveyard! The type is going to be machine, the attribute... wind!" Khan declared the two elements that came with every Formula Athlete. "! No!" Veyron controlled just the Transporter Athlete, he could not send anything else to the graveyard. Herald of the Abyss bypassed Motorhome's destruction immunity as well. "This is not over yet! I still have my trap card!" While the synchro machine drove off into the abyssal pit opened by the dark herald, F.A. Dead Heat remained active. "I can summon a Formula Athlete from my deck, as soon as you attack me directly."

Khans LP: 2600

"Did you forget something, Veyron?" Bionis started to laugh. "Hm? Oh!" The ritual duelist referred to his monster's effect. "Vendread Battlelord will banish one Vendread card from my graveyard, and block all effects from that card's type for the rest of this turn!" His skeletal mutant dug up the remnants of Vendread Reunion and feasted on it. Once consumed, the trap card turned into a curse for all trap cards. Dead Heat could not use either of its powers. "I.. I am losing? But I never lose!" Veyron was dumbstruck. "Looks like you were too fast for even your good fortune, Veyron." Bionis knew that drawing his spell when he did, counted as its own form of exceptional luck. It did not change his feelings towards his opponent. "Now you will get what you deserve! Vendread Battlelord, direct attack!" The lord of battle swung his blade of bones and carved out the remainder of Veyrons life.

Veyrons LP: 0

"Kgh. And I thought.. a speed duel could hurt." His loss set in stone, a large gash appeared on Veyrons body to remind him of that. "So we can still damage each other, but our bodies are now too durable to fall apart? Hmph, lucky bastard." A part of Bionis Khan would not have cared if the damage turned out to be more severe. "That was damn reckless, Khan.." Sundown chided his partner. "Feh, if I destroyed his avatar somehow they would fix it anyway, like they did with the judge. Static can say what he wants, but apparently his wacky rules cant overrule those of Exeter." He simply shrugged.

"It's funny how much you trust the company and the forums; both faceless entities. While you do not even trust the faces you see every day." Void often fought the urge to mock others, but Khans contradictory nature made him come pretty close to at least a chuckle. "Say whatever you want. I won, and thats what matters! Now he wont be able to help the Crown anymore!" The scar left by the Battlelord made it impossible for Veyron to duel others. "But you did not know you would win. I think that's the recklessness that Sundown was talking about. You pointlessly risked your own ability to help your team." Void grunted. "Yeah I.. That's in the past now!"

"And so am I." Veryon cleared his throat. "I suppose I have no reason to keep my secrets now that I cannot do anything with them. It is true.. I was waiting for someone at the arena. And no." The racer pre-emptively silenced Khan with a raised hand. "It was not The Crown, nor was it any fixer or shady contact. It was merely my agent. He called to ask me about my whereabouts. I had not spoken to him since I got the invitation from mister Static. But.. I did tell him about it. I had to give him a reason for why I could not attend the fundraiser or other events. And.. I am not very good at lying." Veyron came to that conclusion just today. "This morning he called me again while I was inside STHEREA. That was what Hydra saw. He wanted to see the arena and I had no choice but to say yes."

Void's eyes narrowed on those words. "Why?" The relationship between this agent and his duelist did not sound 'normal'. "He knows everything, more than I even do. It is probably true. All those championships I won? If they were fixed, if my opponents were either bribed or coerced into losing, then he made all of that possible. Not even this world can prevent foul play in every way. Honestly, I cannot tell you when it started or how many times it happened. I just.. let it happen.. Let him lie to me when he said nothing was going on. But on some level I always knew. I do not know about Static's intentions. But this guy threatened to reveal it all if I did not listen to him."

"I can't believe it." Out of everyone, Neo took this news the hardest. "You were one of the best, the fastest duelist alive!" He really looked up to Veyron, just like any other league duelist. "Believe it, kid. Nothing is genuine anymore, certainly not down here." Sundown had no sympathy either way. "But that is the only truth, nothing else. I did not ever talk to any ADI and certainly not to the Crown himself. I was just.. the more I tried to help, the more I realised I was out of my depth. I did not want to lose what I still had." Veyron knew it was not much of an excuse, so he stopped talking. "Heh. At least now you're only as pathetic as I am." Scura grinned. If nothing else, one could at least laugh at themselves.

"Void!" Neo's outcry quickly caused attentions to be diverted elsewhere, at the pair of arriving duelists he saw. "Asterisk, Blanche?" The agent and the blue-eyed girl returned with concerned expressions. "Ello. So, would you prefer the good news first or the bad news?" Blanche's expression being a little less intense than Asterisk's. "Are you sure you are allowed to tell us?" Sundown asked with a lazy grin. "It would be best to not keep this kind of information isolated. While my friend prefers to keep his name off the records, I can share his results. He has managed to translate the data we recovered from the Crowns former hideout." Asterisk cleared his throat, and only continued once he saw everyone was listening. "The company received threats from the Crown, and a deadline. He or she wants their demands met before the end of tomorrow.. central standard time. If they are not, all avatars across STHEREA will be destroyed."

"My god." Veyron gasped. "What? Can he even do that? I thought we were all protected now!" Scura shook her head. "He is holding the scarred players as hostages? That bastard! What does he event want!" Bionis shouted and cursed. "We do not know. His demands were sent separately and could not be found among his data tracks. He deleted his earlier transmissions I wager. As for how he plans to act out his threat, I do not want to risk finding out." The Crown sent the ultimatum before the company came with their patch. Yet there was no certainty that it would hold. "We have to go back to the arena, now." It was time to do what they wanted to do in the first place. "Veryon. You can come along too." Though he could no longer help them as a duelist, Void felt he deserved a right to now what the next step would be. "Right. Thank you."

...

"Hey. What the hell have you been doing?" Crescent and Wagnerok were already at the scene, waiting for them to come back. "Bionis and Veyron can tell you about it." Void did not want to waste any more time. He stepped to the center stage of the colosseum and called out to the sky. "Static! I know not all of us are here, but too much happened and we have many questions!" In the mean time the others exchanged stories, though Wagneroks turned out to be quite uneventful. "We tried to look for the judge, we couldn't find him anywhere in the city. I believe he abandoned us." Wagner still sounded mad about it. "Heh, maybe that quickjump dumped him somewhere in the desert or wherever." Scura cackled to herself. "It is impossible to know.. if he is alright." Crescent softly muttered.

"He is. Scarlet found him." Zettai's distinctive booming voice silenced the crowd, including Void. "You?" Veyron flinched as soon as he saw her. "We will talk later, Veyron." The girl in black and white did not have time to chastise him now. "Scarlet reached the judge first? I suppose I should have expected that." Asterisk sighed. "Did you come here to gloat about that?" Bionis cursed. "No. I came because we learned something about our common enemy. And Scarlet may or may not want you to know. It's always hard to tell with her. But I do not care either way. I want you to know this.

"The Crown is hiding in Pandemonium." To every duelist of VRAINS, that name meant more than just the spell. "Pandemonium?" It meant the sector for demons, city of the damned and the land of lost souls. Only highlevel dark-elemental ADIs resided within. "Sounds like a fine place to wait out the storm." Blanche muttered. "Well that is not going to work. The Judge is sending all of his drones into the area to flush him out. And we are going to be there when it happens." Zettai commanded. "Do we have to?" Scura sighed. "Those hazmat things are doing a way better job than we could."

"Oh I would suggest you go anyway." That was Mister Static's cue to drop. "Gah! Is there a sale on surprise introductions today or something?" Neo freaked out. He would never get used to seeing the static portal in the sky. "You called for me, didn't you? You should be glad I allotted time for an incomplete audience." 'Showing' being a relative term when one masked their identity with all kinds of visual trickery.

"Yes, we called. Because we wanted to know where you stood on the latest events. Did you know about the CIDs? Did you know about the Crowns demands?" Void tossed the question that'd been on his mind for hours. "It's always _you_ who wants something from me, isn't it? I can tell you this, Void. You should not trust the judge or his toys. They cannot do what you do: stop the Crown." The answer..only raised more questions. "Aren't you on the same side? I thought you worked for Exeter?" Sundown pointed out the inconsistency. "I work for a different part of the company. But I know the demands the Crown sent our way, they are real. And we are not willing to pay them. So.."

"For the good of every threatened duelist, you will be there when the judge starts his attack."

(To Be Continued in Line 021: Angle of Infinity)

**New Cards used by Bionis Khan**  
Revendread Battlelord

-  
Herald of the Abyss

-  
Escape from the Dark Dimension  
Vendread Reunion

**New Cards used by El Veyron GT  
**F.A. Auto Navigator  
F.A. Dark Dragster

-  
F.A. Motorhome Transport

-  
Limiter Removal

-  
F.A. Dead Heat


	21. Angle of Infinity

**Line 021: Angle of Infinity**

"Pandemonium: a fitting name if ever I heard one." Vigionair pulled up everything he knew about the dark city, from screenshots to maps. "I am required to admire whoever designed this section of the world: they knew madness. I doubt your ordinary intern could craft such layers." His screens painted an ominous future for anyone who wanted to go there. Just beyond the edge of the mountain cliffs, with no proper transition, the sky turned dark-red like a night that had been set on fire. A circular pit of black thorns severed the dead lands from the rest of the virtual world, just to make sure no duelist could enter it unless they wanted to be there. A demons labyrinth waited on the other side and behind its high twisted walls stood the city itself.

"I am bit a curious what it would feel like to fall in those thorns. Buuuuuut.. can't we just quickjump over all those parts?" Scura would rather skip to the center of the city, where the Crown supposedly now resided. "That would have been far too useful, of course. No I fear quickjump abilities, flying boards and similar mods will not get you there. Try to remember that this is a game, the city map does not even really load for a player until they pass the maze."

"So, once we go in. We can't get out?" Void tried to weigh their options. If he and the others were to head in to back the judge up, they would need to know this place inside and out. "Only by leaving the sector completely. At which point you will have to start all over again as well. Foolish men would call it a part of the challenge, it all sounds like too much of a migraine for yours truly." Vigionair had a choice, they did not. "Well, we have a map at least. So the maze shouldn't be too difficult." Neo confidently claimed. "Actually, I tried the pandemonium challenge once before. The maze changes around the clock." Blanche smashed his confidence immediately. "You've been there before?" Asterisk would have liked to hear that sooner. "I never made it far. The ADIs in there are hyper-aggressive, they challenge you as soon as they see you. You only need to lose once, and you're kicked out." It was an endurance run under normal circumstances. Who could tell what the Crown added to improve the defenses.

"Nevertheless, we have to go." Void bitterly concluded. Refusal would just anger Mr. Static. "Though Exeter claims to be working to restore everyone, I do not know if they can help us restore Donna... if they even know about Static." Neither side looked entirely trustworthy in this mess.

"Do you have any notion of the ways in which the others will approach the labyrinth?" Vigionair counted multiple entrances, and multiple exits. "Wagnerok said he would take the north entrance. I offered to help him, but he declined. I do not know what Scarlet plans to do, except that they would be there with Judge Hieronymus. And they would start their attack at 1 PM CST." Asterisk recapped. They had less than an hour left at this moment. "Well you better prepare your best cards and tools." The decrypter said"Hmm. What if it goes wrong though? Cant you give us something like communicators?" Scura saw a thousand ways this plan could go awry. "A novel concept. But we can also simply use the chat channels." Asterisk said with a smirk. "Oh.. yeah."

"At any rate, we should get ready to go. Perhaps we can finally end it all today. And get back to a normal life."

...

"So you say somewhere in there is our man." Doctor Scarlet's group and the judge were already there, on the right end of the black thorn canyon. "How can you be certain?" Even a judge could not make out what could be happening inside the city. PvP duels were not allowed in there, so this would be his first time seeing Pandemonium as well. "I see what I see. And I see an unusual amount of corrupted ADIs in this sector." Scarlet's mask on the other hand cared little for the game's rules and frameworks.

"Hmph, it figures. If your drones are clearing out every other sector.. this Crown would have to make a last stand somewhere. But there is no way out for him now." Zettai cracked her knuckles, feeling pumped to get this over with once and for all. "You are right Zanbatou." Meanwhile Yoro-Himiko turned to Hieronymus after a brief discussion with her partner. "Mister Judge, can you and your people simply not remove all obstructions? This is still your world is it not?" She felt less excited about heading into the labyrinth. "It would take too long to rewrite the code. We have to do this, today. But.." The judge snapped his fingers and promptly materialized a hundred CID units around him.. and further ahead. "What I can do is spawn enough hazmats to crush any opposition." Artificial duelists did not require quickjumps, they could show up anywhere on the map.

"That will work too. Although it will be hard to track their progress." Just like the judge, the hazmat duelists were invisible to Scarlet's mask scanner. "Then I suppose we wait for the noise to go away first." Himiko did not mind this solution. "Hmph. As long as we are the ones to capture the Crown." Zettai folded her arms. She wanted to apprehend him or her and not just because Static ordered them to. "The others might be here soon too, you know." Veyron, who'd gone quietly along with everyone else up until now, raised his voice. "Oh? That is news to me." Scarlet looked at the speed duelist with a masked smile and then at Zettai as well. "Well, the more the merrier."

Minutes passed. "... Hmm. It is rather quiet isn't it?" Where one expected sounds of dueling and battles, only silence reigned. "Perhaps there are no obstacles in the maze itself. Some of us should investigate. Are you willing to accompany me?" The judge would go by himself if needed. "More than willing. Let us finish this." Zettai headed off into the maze almost on impulse. "Come on, do not stall!" She took a right turn. It would take an hour for the arrangement of the labyrinth to shift, until then the duelists knew exactly which paths to take to reach the exit from this entrance. "What about you, Scarlet?" Yoro-Himiko looked at the doctor. "I think I should stay behind, with Veyron. We can monitor the area from a distance and warn you when trouble comes your way." She gave the answer Himiko expected. "Very well. I cannot keep my hands clean all the time." She gave Zanbatou a quick glance. "I will stay at your side, of course." He bowed for her and walked side by side with the priestess. The red light of the outside world left them far behind.

"Ah, it's exactly as I remember it.."

Blanche and her group took a different entrance on the other side, heading right into dimly lit tunnels. "At least the reset wont happen for a while." Neo acted as their navigator, making sure that every twist and turn matched the most recent maps. "It's easy when you're cheating. Heh." Scura stayed far back, always looking behind herself. "I presume you never took the challenge?" Blanche asked as she knocked the side of the wall. "Please don't do that." Scura flinched as the tapping caused a low rumble. "Don't worry, Scura. It can't actually cave in. It's all just mindgames and stuff. They designed this place to freak you out." The more she talked, the more Blanche seemed to enjoy her surroundings.

"I will admit, I did try this challenge as well." Void finally spoke up, hearing his voice echo everywhere. "Oh? Why didn't you say so before?" Out of curiosity, Neo stopped to look at Void. "I didn't think it was relevant. I only tried it once, it was not my thing." Admittedly, he never got past the damn maze. "Well so far its going easy on us. Last time I was here, I got mobbed within minutes."

And then it stopped being easy. "Guys?" Neo's visor went haywire, while sounds of moving stone and gears filled the tunnels. "Oh that's new..." Blanche could only utter a single sentence, before she and Neo were cut off from Void and Scura. "Blanche!" The walls rapidly lurched forwards and backwards, creating new paths while sealing off old ones. No sound could pass through them, they were entirely cut off from the others. "I knew it! I knew she would jinx it!" Scura began to hug the wall, waiting for the noise to die down. "How.. where do we go now!?" They could not go back the way they came, and their maps were rendered obsolete. "I do not know. But there has to be a way out." The only thing to do, was to move forward. "How do you know?" She would rather stay where she was. "This is still a game, there is always a win condition. If it is too much, you can log out. But I think we have a better chance if we stick together." He extended his hand towards her. "Oh.. I guess." She did not take it, but she did get up to follow him.

"Ugh. It doesn't work." As the two walked Void tried his hand at opening the channels, with no success. "The Crown made this happen." His control of the game grew more and more with each passing day. "I knew that chat was no good." Scura said with a depressed tone. "You never used it before?" Void asked out of curiosity, as he was not a big chatter himself. "No way. People are way too ugly online. I like that you can see everyone's faces here." She recognized the irony in her statement considering her own veiled face. "On the other hand, at least online I could pretend to be as pretty as Zettai or Himiko are.. I.."

"Gah!" Speaking of the devil, the pair ran into Hieronymus' group as soon as they rounded the corner. "Oh. So you were here after all. Quite the coincidence." After Veyron's earlier outburst, Himiko could not be surprised anymore. "Oh! It's you again. I thought I had lost you. Do you still want to help?" The judge expected them less yet gave them a happier welcome. "We do. Our friends are here as well, but we got separated a little while ago." Void said. "So did we." Himiko scoffed, they already lost Zettai for the same reason.

"By the way. What happened with mister Static? Did you get a chance to talk to him?" Hieronymus sounded rather accepting for someone rejected from the arena just a few hours ago. "We.. didn't. He did not show himself." Though he did not have a reason to trust Static, Void could not ignore his warnings about the judge either. Until the truth came out, he would have to be careful around both sides. "That is a shame. At least we found each other again. But now we have to choose a direction." If their paths randomly intersected due to the shifting labyrinth, that would make it hard to figure out which path would get them closer to the city.

"Uhm.. Uhm Someone is coming!" Scura tugged at Void's sleeve, and frantically pointed in the direction they came from. "An ADI?" The shadow that walked out did not look like any monster ever printed on a card. It almost looked human.. and it did not come alone. "It's him!" Zanbatou yelled and activated his dueldisk. "Quiet down." The next second a CID jumped out of the shadows behind him to lock the samurai into a duel. "My Lady! It's an ambush!" The second after that, the walls shifted once more.. and far too soon. "Zanbatou?!" Himiko saw her partner disappear behind one wall, while their enemy kept closing in on them from the other end.

They found him: The Crown. "Did you come here to meet my demands?" He asked with a high pitched yet booming voice. "Demands?" The confused Judge replied. "The demands I sent!" The Crown stepped out of the darkness, revealing himself in his full glory. His avatar wore the armor and robes of a templar. But nothing stood out as much as the item on top of his black hair: a seven-pointed crown with a blue glowing gem in each segment. "You didn't know about that?" Scura flinched.

"Demands? What are you talking about, what is he talking about?" Himiko heard of this for the first time as well now. "He sent the company an ultimatum. And he would destroy every avatar if his demands were not met. But what they are, we do not know yet." Void turned his gaze at the Crowned duelist. He did not think his title would turn out to be so literal. "It is none of your concern, you brats. I've had to deal with you for far too long. And now I finally have their attention, and they send just one judge?! Just one? Why!?" The Crown stared at the judge with a tilted glance. "Unless, you are all they could send. Because you are a fake."

"Silence!" A certain duelist however, refused to be ignored. "Whatever your demands are, they do not matter to me. I have my own! You will return Zanbatou to me at once or.." Yoro-himiko so came very close to dueling the Crown there and then.

"Or what, girl?" She could not lay a single finger on him, the judge prevented it. "I make the demands here. You are inconsequential." The judge that the Crown pointed at. It only took a single beam fired from the blue gem for Hieronymus to fall under his command. "What.. what did you do?" Himiko gasped. "He can mindcontrol humans too now!?" Scura freaked out and covered her face with her hood. "Of course not! Why would I?" The Crown spat. "Then.. he was never human to begin with? All this time.." Void's eyes widened.. "He was an ADI?!" There could be no other explanation. "ADIs, CIDs, I can control anything in this game! Those idiots tried to fight me with fake duelists. That wont work when I have the Word of the Creator on my side!" The Crown laughed. "Void, Himiko, Scura. I remember you. You are the real threat, you pests. I will take care of you once and for all. Hieronymus, these duelists have trespassed into my territory. Destroy them! One by one!"

"Yes sir." The judge activated his dueldisk and started manifesting cards. "Wait!" Void shouted futilely. The Crowned man ran back from where he came, as the walls shifted around a third time to turn the road into a dead end. The only escape route lied behind the turned Hieronymus. "What is going on?" Himiko did not understand how it all came to this or why he forced her to duel him. "Exeter must never have restored Hieronymus' body. They merely sent an artificial duelist with his likeness down to talk to us." Whether or not this version used lines the real judge would say, it did not matter now that the crown overwrote its script. "But what was that? How can a fancy piece of jewelry tell him what to do?" The crown item seemingly worked just as easily on these new CIDs, in spite of their superior safeguards.

Hieronymus' LP: 8000 Yoro-Himiko's LP: 8000 -TURN 01-

"I am a judge of the law. And the Crowns word is the law." Hieronymus placed one monster [Zone 3] face-down along with two cards in the spell/trap zone. "Now that I control a face-down monster, I can special summon Tindangle Base Gardna in defense mode." Its new disposition did not change what cards the judge would normally use. And the creature it summoned materialized with a distinctive look. A twelve-sided polyhedron(5/0/2300) [Zone 2] formed, with eyes on its twelve triangular faces and spikes on each vertex. "Tindangles!" Scura recognized the card. "He's using a face-down strategy, like me!"

-TURN 02-

Then as soon as Yoro-Himiko's turn started, he could activate one of his traps. "I activate Premature Return. I banish one card from my hand, to summon one banished monster in face-down defense position." The last monster card in the judge's hand disappeared into another dimension, for all but one second. Premature Return chose that banished card as the monster to set face-down [Zone 1].

"That's a neat trick. I wish I had that card." Scura mumbled. "If your chatter is an attempt to assist me, please stop. I do not require aid from you. The only one I allow that, is not even here." The priestess looked at her own cards. "But you usually do tagteams with Zanbatou, don't you?" As far as Void knew, Himiko never dueled alone. "Yes. The Crown noted this, which was why he wanted to separate you and eliminate the weakest points first." Hieronymus answered, surprising Void and upsetting Himiko. "Weak?! Your master has some nerve. I shall have to punish him deeply, once I am through with you.. " She waved her long sleeve around and revealed her own cards. "For everything there has to be a first time."

"I shall activate Mayakashi Return to add a Mayakashi monster from the deck to my hand: I choose Dakki, the Graceful Mayakashi." With the spell, she could add a tuner monster to her hand. However she tapped it twice to send it to the graveyard at once. "I discard one other Mayakashi monster, to special summon Yasha, the Skeletal Mayakashi." A bald monk spirit(5/2000/0) [Zone 5] holding a skull rosary emerged from a wreath of purple flames, after Dakki got discarded. "Mayakashi." Void heard of these cards before, they were exceedingly expensive. In hindsight, he could have seen them coming because of Himiko's own attire.

"I shall then normal summon Shafu, the Wheeled Mayakashi. When summoned, this card allows me to special summon a Mayakashi from my graveyard. And I choose Dakki!" A smiling riskshaw driver(3/1200/400) [Zone 4] rode into the labyrinth tunnel, carrying a ghost inside his carriage. The doors of the rickshaw opened and revealed a visitor from the graveyard: the kings consort Dakki(2/1000/400) [Zone 3]. This tuner Mayakashi was dressed similarly like Himiko, only with more reddish robes and nine ghostly foxtails behind her back. "Dakki and Yasha will be used as the link materials: two Mayakashi for Yuki-Onna, the Ice Mayakashi!" Now a chilly wind swept across the field, the graceful consort and the skeletal monk vanished into the twice-marked circuit. What came out of it was the ghostly snow woman: Yuki-Onna(1900/LINK 2) {Downleft/Downright} [Extra Zone 2]. Her eyes were even bluer than that of Madam Blanche, while her skin and hair as pale as ice.

"How come she gets to look so pretty when she is a zombie?" Scura protested as she looked at the link monster. "To better lure fools to their death. Now be silent and observe, Void and Chiaroscura. This is my way of dueling. When I special summon a monster from the extra deck, I can special summon Dakki from my graveyard as well!" The nine-tailed Mayakashi appeared first as a ghost, and then as a solid projection [Zone 3]. "I shall tune her with Shafu, to synchro summon Tsuchigumo, the Poisonous Mayakashi to the zone Yuki-Onna points to!" Link summoning shaped only the first aspect of the Mayakashi. Synchro summoning was their second power. Dakki used the three stars of the wheeled Mayakashi to create a halfman/halfspider(5/2000/1800) [Zone 5] in black and gold samurai armor. "And you should know, I can use this effect of Dakki, as often as I desire." Now that a synchro monster had come from the extra deck, Dakki [Zone 3] revived herself in defense mode for the second time. "So she can keep climbing the synchro ladder?" This impressed Void. At this rate, she would summon a level 11 synchro in one turn!

But someone else could summon monsters too in this turn. "When a monster is special summoned to a link monsters zone, I can sacrifice Tindangle Base Gardna, to summon or set one Tindangle monster from my deck!" The judge removed his geometric demon, in order to place another unknown monster [Zone 2] down on his field. "And then I activate my skill, The Book of Dusk, to flip one of my monsters face-up!" A chain of events led to a chain of flip effects. "What? Is that?" Scura flinched. The first flipped face-up monster appeared as a mutated wyrm[3/800/1600) [Zone 1] with eyes on its wings, and a baby's face on the front of its twisted triangular body. "Tindangle Protector! When it flips, it flips up to three face-down monsters face-up as well! Then I add one Tindangle card to my hand for each flipped Tindangle monster!" The judge could claim two Tindangle cards (Tindangle Angel, Tindangle Delaunay), as two set Tindangle monsters revealed themselves in equally terrifying fashion.

_Book of Dusk, Skill Card_  
_Flip 1 face-down monster on the field into face-up Defense Position.  
Face-up defense position monsters you control cannot be destroyed as a result of battle this turn._

"Tindangle Intruder!" One resembled a redheaded serpent(6/2200/0) [Zone 3] made from purple geometric segments. "Tindangle Hound!" The other looked more like an alien lizard(7/2500/0) [Zone 2] with red claws on its arms on extended tail. "Tindangle Intruder and Tindangle Hound's flip effects activate! Intruder sends one Tindangle card from the deck to my graveyard!" The judge sent away a Tindangle Trinity monster. "And Tindangle Hound will flip one of my enemy's monsters facedown, while it takes that targets attackpoints! Additionally, each monster on the field loses 1000 attackpoints for each monster it is linked to!" The hound let out an inhuman roar from the eye in its mouth to send waves of fear at the Mayakashi. Tsuchigumo the poisonous spider scurried off to hide underneath its own card, while the Tindangle beast took his attackpower for itself(4500/0). At the same time the snow woman(900 atk), linked with Tsuchigumo, had to surrender her attackpoints.

"You.." However, the biggest downside to all of this was the simple fact that she could not use face-down monsters as synchro materials. Dakki just sat there without any nontuners to synchronize with. "I.. set a trap card and end my turn!"

-TURN 03-

"He cornered her completely!" Void grew concerned. This ADI countered her far too well. "I have judges many duels, and seen many duelists. I know how to bend them to the will of the law!" The Judge switched all of his Tindangles to attack position and performed his triangular offense. "Battle! I attack your Mayakashi: Yuki-Onna, Dakki and Tsuchigumo!" A blast of red light from Tindangle Hound's mouth melted the ice woman down to a puddle, Tindangle Protector impaled the consort Dakki with its tail and Tindangle Intruder crushed the spider warrior with its body. "Hsss.." Over half of her life lost in one turn: Himiko fell into a dire position.

Yoro-Himiko's LP: 4500

"Then in my second main phase, I set two cards face-down." One trap and one monster: both gifts from the Tindangle Protector. "You know I was wondering why it said she was weaker than me. But now I get it." Scura mumbled to Void. "I can hear you, Chiaro. Even if I fall, you would fall next." Himiko hissed. "Only if you fall in time, intruder. My CID units will arrive to back up me up shortly." The judge stated with a scowl. "End turn!"

-TURN 04-

"Then I should not fall at all, judge of the law. Because as long as long as my monsters can rise again, I do not have to see the ground beneath me!" The lady of the undead revealed her trap card of revival. "The Fateful Hour! With this I shall special summon one fallen monster that cannot be normal summoned! Come to me, Tsuchigumo!" The great poisonous spider [Zone 1] re-appeared from the graveyard, crawling out of the dirt. "My Mayakashi gain their powers from resurrection! When I summon Tsuchigumo from the graveyard, I may discard the top three cards from both decks!" Both players sent the next three cards into the graveyard. Whereas Hieronymus lost a couple of spells, Himiko surrendered mostly zombie support (Zombie World, Mezuki, Shiranui Spectralsword), whose effects lived on beyond death. "I banish Mezuki from my graveyard, to resurrect an undead monster: Shafu the Wheeled Mayakashi!" Once the horse-faced demon Mezuki used its effect to special summon the rickshaw driver [Zone 2] from the graveyard, Dakki the Graceful Mayakashi [Zone 4] could also be special summoned with Shafu's effect.

"I have spent many days listening to other people's laws and decrees, judge of the law. I will not recognize yours. From now on, you will listen to me! So, let us try this once more!"

(To Be Continued in Line 022: Fool Me Once)

**Cards used by Yoro-Himiko  
**Yasha, the Skeletal Mayakashi  
Shafu, the Wheeled Mayakashi  
Dakki, the Graceful Mayakashi  
Mezuki

-  
Yuki-Onna, the Ice Mayakashi  
Tsuchigumo, the Poisonous Mayakashi

-  
Mayakashi Return

-  
The Fateful Hour

**Cards used by Judge Hieronymus  
**_BOOK OF DUSK_

-  
Tindangle Protector  
Tindangle Base Gardna  
Tindangle Hound  
Tindangle Intruder

-  
Premature Return


	22. Fool Me Once

**Line 022: Fool Me Once**

Finally she saw a light at the end of this labyrinthine chaos. Zettai would be the first to make it to the other side. And though she lost her comrades to the treacherously shifting walls, she felt certain they would make their own way out. Yet for now, everything depended on her, the true enemy waited just outside.. "What?"

"Zettai?" The only people she found were Scarlet Fever and El Veyron. "No." Behind them lied the black thorned pit, behind her stood the black stone ring of the palabyrinth. "I am back where I started!?" She reached the entrance and not the exit: she got turned around and went the wrong direction! "It appears so. What happened inside?" The doctor took her dismay in stride. "The maze reset! Couldn't you have warned us about that?!" Zettai had been promised constant guiding, which Scarlets mask should have been able to provide. "Oh I saw that you were separated and I knew you were headed this way. But I lost contact the moment the labyrinth changed. It appears the Crown also scrambled the chat channel for anyone in this sector." She could not have helped even if she tried. "Then this time we do not play around. Doctor, you are coming with me!" Together the two might find the right path. "If you insist. Veyron, you wait here. Others might still show up." The speed duelist nodded. He could do little else. "Where are the others though?"

"I can see Himiko. But I believe she is delayed by something... someone I cannot see."

...

Yoro-Himiko's LP: 4500 Hieronymus' LP: 8000

Shafu the Wheeled Mayakashi(3/1200/400) [Zone 2], Dakki the Graceful Mayakashi(2/1000/400) [Zone 4] and Tsuchigumo the Poisonous Mayakashi(5/2000/1800) [Zone 1]: with just these three undead monsters, Yoro-Himiko could unleash the hell that her opponent delayed the last turn. "I shall link summon Yuki-Onna, again!" Shafu and Dakki turned into link materials first, to recreate Ice Mayakashi Yuki-Onna (1900/LINK 2) {Downleft/Downright} [Extra Monster Zone 2]. This second copy of the snowlady card took the same place her predecessor claimed. And once a monster appeared from the extra deck, Dakki could use her own powers of revival. "I special summon Dakki! And use her as a synchro material with Tsuchigumo!" The nine-tailed consort [Zone 4] also served Himiko as a tuner. By combining her with the spider Mayakashi, she could create a synchro monster with two more levels. "I synchro summon Tengu, the Winged Mayakashi!" The red-headed demon(7/2600/1500) [Zone 3] with green wings flew down to link with Yuki-Onna. "Here she goes." Scura grinned.

"But as long as you control linked monsters, they will lose 1000 attackpoints for each monster!" Her opponent, the judge Hieronymus, interrupted with his monsters effect. Tindangle Hound(7/4500/0) roared continuously to weaken both Yuki-Onna(900 atk) and the Tengu(1600/1500). "At this point that no longer matters, judge of the law. I bring Dakki back once more!" The number of times the Graceful Mayakashi [Zone 4] could be special summoned from the graveyard had no limit, so as long as Himiko kept calling monsters from her extra deck. "I shall synchro summon Yoko, the Graceful Mayakashi!" Dakki synchronized with the Winged Mayakashi and formed a monster that looked more like the tuner herself. Yoko(9/1900/2400) [Zone 3] appeared as a fox-like humanoid, wearing majestic robes and a white fox mask to conceal his face. Nine tails grew from his body.

"Dakki!" Naturally, Himiko had Dakki [Zone 5] resurrected a fourth time as soon as her male counterpart showed up. "I synchro summon Gashadokuro, the Skeletal Mayakashi!" And so she reached the zenith of the mayakashi cycle. Together, Dakki and Yoki formed the giant skeleton samurai Gashadokuro(11/3300/2600) [Zone 3]. And subsequently, Dakki [Zone 5] special summoned herself for the last time this turn. "Gashadokuro, attack Tindangle Hound!"

"Himiko? What are you.." Void flinched, her move could only be described as suicidal. Tindangle Hounds attack-shaving effect worked continuously, and the Skeletal synchro(2300/2600) was already no match for it in his regular state. "Void, you can read the cards. Do not act like a fool." Himiko continued anyway, forcing Gashadokuro to impale its boney body on the many red blades of Tindangle Hound.

Himiko's LP: 2300

"When I lose a synchro that Yuki-Onna pointed to, she may halve the attack and defense points of one monster on the field!" Shocked by the death of her undead warrior, the Ice Mayakashi retaliated. She blew a breath of snowdust from her lips and imprisoned the the hound(2250/0) in a block of ice. "And.. when a level 11 synchro monster is claimed by death or destruction, I can banish one monster from the grave to special summon its synchronic ancestor! Yoko the Graceful One is reborn!" The nine-tailed ghost(9/2900/2400) escaped the graveyard, at the cost of permanently banishing the Skeletal Mayakashi Yasha, and placed itself far away from Yuki-Onna, so that the hounds waves no longer affect him or her(1900 atk)

"Oh! Its a double loop!" Void had been too tense to grasp the full scope of the Mayakashi cycle. While Dakki would ascend one synchro to the next, the synchros themselves created a downwards spiral. Each destruction triggered the revival effect of a synchro with two levels less. "Yoko destroys one monster when it special summoned from the graveyard!" And as Tsuchigumo already proved before, their powers truly manifested after death and rebirth. Yoko created a powerful curse with his claws and fired it towards... Hieronymus' face-down monster.

"Aha.. You saw it too." Scura knew plenty about flip monsters, including the one Himiko just destroyed. Tindangle Angel, the angel-faced red mutant(4/500/1800), could end the battle phase and special summon Tindangles from the graveyard with her flip effect. "Naturally, I am no fool." Himiko remembered what cards the judge added to his hand during her last turn, and did not want to risk triggering an effect like that. "Your angel is gone. Now your hound follows!" Yoko fired another energy ball, straight into the frozen heart of Tindangle Hound.

Hieronymus' LP: 7350

Unfortunately, she could not get away from danger just yet. "This was within my estimates! When I take damage while three or more Tindangles rest in my graveyard, I can activate Tindangle Delaunay!" The ghosts of Tindangle Base Gardna, Tindangle Angel and Tindangle Hound created a triangle of thunder. "The monster that damaged me, will be destroyed! And I can special summon Tindangle Acute Cerberus from my extra deck!" The lightning exploded, striking Yoko and sending the nine-tailed ghost back to the land of the dead. "Acute Cerberus?" On the other side stood an even more terrifying beast: a dragonic three-headed demon(0/LINK 3) {Up/Downleft/Downright} [Extra Zone 1] with twisted red and blue flesh. "Tindangle Acute Cerberus gains 500 attackpoints for each monster it points to! And it gains 3000 more attackpoints as long as Tindangle Base Gardna is in my graveyard!" Cerberus pointed towards both Tindangle Protector(4/800/1600) [Zone 3] and Tindangle Intruder(6/2200/0) [Zone 1]. Those two monsters, along with the twelve-faced Gardna, created a new trinity of power within the link monster(4000 atk).

"And that was what I predicted as well, judge of the law." Himiko coolly stated as she used the death of Yoko. She allowed Tsuchigumo the Poisonous Mayakashi to be banished and summoned the next synchro in line from the graveyard. "Tengu! Return!" With the hound gone, the Tengu(2600/1900) [Zone 3] could safely be linked up with Yuki-Onna. "Yuki-Onna! Attack and end Tindangle Protector!" The woman of snow managed to more directly kill the winged tindangle with sharp shards of ice: causing the Acute Cerberus(3500 atk) to lose one of its supporters. "And now, I shall activate Zombie Power Struggle. So that my undead gains a thousand attackpoints." Within the same battle phase, the priestess revealed the quickplay spell from her hand and used it on the Winged Mayakashi(3600/1900). "Ahahaa!" Scura let out a cry of delight, as the tables finally turned. "Farewell, Cerberus." Tengu flew into the sky to draw a symbol and cast a grand spell of flames. Acute Cerberus burned to death in the same turn as its creation.

Hieronymus' LP: 6150

"You put up more of a fight than we figured." The fake judge managed to wince despite his true nature. "How much do you know about us, to begin with?" Void found his chance, in this turnaround moment, to solve the mysteries surrounding this duelist. "Your profiles are on our records; your account details, your locations, names and appearances." The fake judge replied with a startling honesty. "Then you have seen more than you should." Himiko said with a resentful resonance.

"I didn't need to hear that." Even though avatars could not officially stray far away from ones real selves, Scura felt infringed upon. "But do you know this because the real Hieronymus knows?" Void delved deeper. "I was created to stand in for him to act as he would. His memories formed my data. But it was all a ploy to placate the players, to try and topple The Crown from a safe distance. The company did not want to get its own hands dirtied. Now the Crown freed me, and now I fight for the right side of the law!" Hieronymus had nothing else to say about himself.

But plenty about the fight.. "Before your turn ends! I activate my trap card's second effect! If no monster exists in my extra monster zone, Tindangle Delaunay can banish itself to special summon up to three Tindangles from my graveyard in face-down defense position!" The triangle of light sparked once more, and created a purple crystal. The Delaunay crystal shattered, placing Tindangle Protector [Zone 5], Tindangle Trinity [Zone 4] and Tindangle Hound [Zone 2] face-down on the field again. "You are falling into old patterns, judge of the law. You say you are free, yet you are still a slave to your programming." Himiko only saw a machine pretending to be alive. The Crown could not have given it a true soul. "I suppose a pattern deserves a pattern. I can reset Zombie Power Struggle, by returning a banished zombie to the deck. Mezuki in this instance." Her Power spell placed itself face-down in the spell/trap zone, along with two other trap cards. Only then did she relinquish control to her opponent.

-TURN 05-

"These patterns come from my past, and always lead to a future of victory!" As soon as his turn started Hieronymus flipped the Tindangle Protector(3/800/1600) face-up again. And the Protector flipped the Hound(7/2500/0) and Tindangle Trinity(4/0/1500). "Their flip effects activate! Protector adds two Tindangle cards to my hand! And Tindangle Hound will flip your synchro.."

"You will forgive me for choosing not to repeat the past. I activate Urgent Tuning! I shall perform another synchro summon right now!" The priestess raised her hand above her head while her first trap card forced an instant synchronization between Tengu and Dakki. For the second time, Yoko the Graceful Mayakashi(9/2900/2400) [Zone 3] appeared from her extra deck. "He missed!" Tindangle Hound's powerstealing effect fizzled out, as its target left the field before it could be affected. The replacing Yoko(1900/2400) however suffered Tindangle Hound's other effect as he linked himself with Yuki-Onna(900 atk).

"In that case I will use the effect of Tindangle Trinity!" Trinity's appearance made the previous Tindangle demons look tame in comparison. Three moaning beings melded together in a contorted web of red, yellow and purple flesh: each with their own unique face, wing and arms. "When Trinity is flip summoned, I can special summon a Tindangle Base Gardna from my deck! I shall use them both, along with Tindangle Protector.. to link summon Tindangle Acute Cerberus!"

"Again?" Scura winced. Last turn the Cerberus skipped its usual link materials of three Tindangles. This time it would be formed from the Protector, Trinity and the freshly special summoned Tindangle Base Gardna(5/0/2300) [Zone 3]. The three-headed bizarrely shaped Cerberus(3500/LINK 3) {Up/Downleft/Downright} [Extra Zone 1] returned to dominate the field; drawing attackpower from the Base Gardna in the graveyard and the Tindangle Intruder it now linked with. "When Tindangle Trinity is sent to the graveyard as a link material, I can add the trap of Gergonne's End from my deck to my hand and send one spell to my graveyard!" As a demon of three faces, Trinity could perform three tricks. Its final trick gave his controller access to the most destructive Tindangle weapon, by putting another card (Euler's Circuit) in the graveyard. "This will be your end, lady Himiko. Tindangle Acute Cerberus attacks!"

"Yuki-Onna cannot be attacked as long as she points to a synchro monster! Your only choice is to attack Yoko, judge of the law!" Despite the superior attackpoints of Acute Cerberus, its attack accomplished little. The Tindangle had to destroy the defending Graceful Mayakashi with a beam of darkness, and caused Tengu(1600/1500) [Zone 3] to be revived in attack mode through the banishment of Tsuchigumo. Alas, there were no spell or trap cards for the winged one to destroy. "Her effect now activates as well!" The snow Mayakashi sent her icy breath towards the Tindangle Hound(1250/0) to once again freeze it in its tracks. "That is fine, I see no need for further attacks as long as you have that Power Struggle spell set." The judge's link monster could create a Tindangle Token(1/0/0) [Zone 3] in defense mode, if it successfully finished an attack. Two monsters for the Cerberus(4000 atk) to link with, only one more to complete the triangle of death.

"I activate Nagels Protection and Eulers Circuit from my graveyard! These spells can be banished, and a Tindangle can be discarded, to claim another spell of the same name from my deck!" The judge tossed away the two Tindangles that the Protector drew for him this turn, just to banish two of the spells Tsuchigumo discarded last turn. The endresult: two new spells in his hand and two spell zones yet to fill. "Nagels Protection makes all my Tindangles indestructible, and doubles the damage they can inflict once a turn! And Euler's Circuit prevents all attacks as long as I control three Tindangles!" A multi-dimensional pyramid forcefield protected the Hound, Intruder, Cerberus and the token. It was virtually impossible to get to him now. "And.. when my turn begins, Eulers Circuit will move one Tindangle to a zone you control, miss YoroHimiko! Afterwards, he placed three trap cards face-down. "With these conditions set, I end my turn.

"So that I can activate the trap of Gergonne's End in your turn!" A golden triangle appeared briefly before equipping itself to the Cerberus. "Gergonne's End makes the acute Cerberus indestructible! And when my link monster points to three monsters, every linked card will be destroyed and you take damage equal to the total attackpoints of my Cerberus! The date of your destruction has been set!"

"Is that so?" A deep voice, not often heard, showed up behind the judge. "You return?!" The judge turned around to look up at the eyes of Zanbatou. "Miss Himiko, are you alright?" He did not heed Hieronymus' glare, and walked over to the lady's side. "I am perfectly fine. As are you it seems." Though her manner of speaking did not reflect it, she did feel happy to talk to him again. "But what happened to the CIDs?" The fake judge protested. He'd been expecting backup for several turns now. "I took care of them as I made my way back here." The bodyguard exclaimed as he slammed a fist into his open hand.

"All of them? Geez what a tough guy." Scura could barely believe the good news. "That is great, Zanbatou." Void thanked him. "I only take compliments from Miss Himiko." The man growled, but he would let it slide this time. "Himiko, do you require assistance?" Just one threat remained now. "No, I believe I want to end this one for myself for once." And she would finish what Hieronymus started. "And I know how as well." Zanbatou understood. He withdrew himself silently.

-TURN 06-

"It is my turn, judge of the law! I shall perform a synchro summon within my graveyard! Shiranui Spectral Sword banishes itself alongside one other nontuner zombie to combine their levels!" The synchro materials were the ghostblade swordsman (level 2) that Tsuchigumo discarded, and the wheeled Mayakashi Shafu (level 3). Through a baptism of ghostly blue flames, the second Tsuchigumo the Poisonous Mayakashi(5/2000/1800) [Zone 5] emerged. "Another monster is linked!" Hieronymus countered with the effect of Tindangle Hound, weakening the linked trio Yuki-Onna(0 atk), Tengu(600/1500) and Tsuchigumo(0/2600). "It doesn't matter, judge of the law. I still summoned a monster from my extra deck." In return, Himiko special summoned Dakki [Zone 4] from her graveyard once more.

"Yoko!" Dakki instantly tuned herself with the Tengu Mayakashi to synchro summon the third and final Yoko Mayakashi(9/2900/2400) [Zone 3]. The nine-tailed spirit Yoko(900/2400) also suffered the effect of Tindangle Hound while the nine-tailed consort Dakki [Zone 4] returned to life for the nth time this duel. "The pieces are nearly all in place now." For her last piece she would need to take a detour through death. "I activate the Book of Life, judge of the law! I special summon one of the undead from my graveyard!" Her spell card took life to recreate it: banishing one Tindangle Base Gardna from Hieronymus' graveyard to bring Tengu the Winged Mayakashi(7/2600/1500) [Zone 1] back on her field.

"Then I activate Reverse Reuse!" Realising that Tengu would destroy Gergonne's End long before the Euler's Circuit completed its effect, the judge opted for a riskier and faster approach. "Reverse Reuse sets one flip monster from my graveyard to your field!" His deceptive trap placed Tindangle Angel [Zone 2] face-down in the only zone Himiko left unused, the zone Acute Cerberus pointed at. "Oh no!" The triangle of death: Tindangle Angel, Intruder and the token all linked up with Tindangle Acute Cerberus. It did not make a difference if the cards were face-down or face-up. "Disappear, princess of the intruders!" The terms were met, Gergonne's End had been satisfied. The trap blew up along with all four linked monsters.

"Miss Himiko?" Zanbatou gasped briefly. Yet he did not intercede. He could tell that the lady had no concerns in this instant.

"I activate.. Shiranui Style Samsara!" Her other and continuous trap would save her. "I banish one of the undead from my field, to render all incoming damage to nothing until this turn ends!" Dakki the graceful one finally accepted a permanent rest in the banished dimension, while her residual spectral energy wrapped around Yoro-Himiko like a veil. "All damage?" The 4000 points of effect damage went nowhere, Gergonne's End failed to leave even a single blemish on the priestess' avatar. "Ahaha! He destroyed his own monsters for nothing!" Scura's laughter added to the indignity that the fake judge was programmed to mimic.

"You tricked me! But I still have my Tindangle Hound!" Futile protests were also a part of his last resistance act. "Why I almost feel pity for you, judge of the law. But do not forget, you tricked us first." And so she entered her battle phase... with Yuki-Onna as the first attacker. "!?" The frost Mayakashi shattered into a shower of snow, once her attack reached the Hound. "Of course.. the damage is still negated." Void nodded to himself. Sending Yuki-Onna to her own death freed Yoko(2900/2400) and Tsuchigumo(2000/1800) from the Hounds anti-link effect. That was not all that the destruction of Yuki caused however.

"This is your end, judge of the law. When my link monster is destroyed by my opponent, it enrages the Gashadokuro the Skeletal Mayakashi in my graveyard. He will return to avenge her." Himiko had to banish one of the grave-bound Yoko synchro monsters, in order to special summon the skeletal synchro(11/3300/2600). "You have done it, my lady!" Zanbatou uttered with uncharacteristic enthusiasm. "Now now, calm yourself Zanbatou." She chided her bodyguard. "You are right, miss. I forgot my place." He bowed to her and stepped back. "As for you, judge of the law." The reborn Gashadokuro destroyed Tindangle Hound, the last card in her way. "Do you have any laws or wisdoms to spend, in this last minute of your existence?" The synchros Tsuchigumo, Tengu and Yoko could cause enough battle damage to finish the job.

Hieronymus' LP: 5350

"Just one.. " The judge placed his trembling hand near his chest, drawing an imaginary triangle with his finger. "The Number is seven zero. The Word of God can be rewritten, but the Legacy of God is unbending." He would not be saying anything else, as his avatar turned into a digital particle shower on that last note. "Whoa!?" The explosion came without warning, but did no harm to anyone but the artificial duelist itself. "Did anyone see what happened?" It happened so fast, Void could not tell if the judge selfdestructed due to a surrender, or if something else happened. "His hand was nowhere near the dueldisk." Zanbatou only saw that much. "What a rip. He didn't even drop any of his cards." Scura moaned.

Hieronymus' LP: 0

"Well, whatever it meant. I am glad that it is all over with." Himiko let out a long deep sigh. She did not normally exert herself this much. "You have done well, miss Himiko. They would be proud of you too." Zanbatou complimented her softly, though not softly enough to keep Void and Scura from hearing. "They?" Scura pried unabashedly. "You would not want to know, Chiaroscura. And I doubt they would see this as an accomplishment of any kind." Whatever mental image Zanbatou conjured up for her only made the woman scoff.

"Just what is the deal between you two anyway? Is that guy an ADI too? Because he barely says anything!" If judges could be fake, Scura did not see how duelists could be trusted to be real either. "I am human." The man said in a huff. "He is my personal guard, that is all you need to know." Himiko gave her usual uncomfortable smile. "I see." Void basically guessed it would be something like that. "Regardless... Zanbatou, were there any other paths where you came from?" They still had to catch their real enemy. "Yes. Follow me, and stay close." He went ahead. "Heh. Now I feel like he's my bodyguard too." Scura chuckled. Perhaps things would improve for them from here on in.

...

To catch up with that enemy would be easier said than done. The Crown already left the labyrinth, flanked by three more CID units. He looked out across the city of Pandemonium, with its black spiral towers and devilish statues on every pillar and dome. Here nobody could touch him He had no doubts about his trap being succesful in taking care of both invading groups. And if it had not, he could keep the maze looping around them forever. They would never get in. The only nagging question came from the curious fact that the duelists were separated to begin with. But such concerns did not really matter when he could simply lock this exit just like he had done with every other...

"So you are the Crown!" A third group. He did not count on a third! "I..." Four duelists rushed out of the same opening that he took. How did they get here? "Never mind that!" He thought out loud; he did not have time to bring in reinforcements. "Protect the Crown!" His current number of supporters intercepted as many as they could. "Damn it!" Bionis Khan got pinned down into a duel with the Hazmat first. "Argh!" Sundown Mephistar fell second. "Wagner, he is.. Ah!?" And Crescent Aurora, who waited in the back with her partner, was pushed outside to engage the third. "I challenge the one with the Crown!" Finally, Wagnerok himself stepped out into the open. "Wagner?" Crescent did not even know how to react. "Sorry, Aurora. I only wanted to spare you a fight with such a frightening foe." It would be his task to duel the Crown. "As if! You used us!" Bionis cursed. This plan definitely did not get shared before hand. "Some sacrifices are necessary. I am sure He understands."

"Heh. I do. Well then, you have me now. Can you Keep me?" The Crowned one grinned madly.

(To Be Continued in Line 023: The Man Who Thought Himself Wise)

**New Cards used by Yoro-Himiko**  
Shiranui Spectral Sword

-  
Tengu, the Winged Mayakashi  
Yoko, the Graceful Mayakashi  
Gashadokuro, the Skeletal Mayakashi

-  
Zombie Power Struggle  
Book of Life

-  
Urgent Tuning  
Shiranui Synthesis

**New Cards used by Judge Hieronymus  
**Tindangle Angel  
Tindangle Trinity

-  
Tindangle Acute Cerberus

-  
Nagels Protection  
Euler's Circuit

-  
Tindangle Delaunay  
Gergonne's End  
Reverse Reuse


	23. The Man Who Thought Himself Wise

**Line 023: The Man Who Thought Himself Wise**

"Before we start. I am going to ask you how you found your way through the labyrinth so quickly." The Crown and Wagner were locked into a duel, neither of them could change that future. "It must be difficult for you to have to ask something without immediately getting what you want." The latter did not want to change anything. Better yet, this situation amused him to no end. "Are you stalling now? Your comrades might not last the time you need to applaud yourself." The Crown did not have any obligation to start dueling right away either though. And from the look of things, Bionis, Sundown and Crescent did not have a guaranteed shot at winning either.

"Heh. All you need to know is that I.. and Crescent..have done this challenge so many times. She is really good at memorizing patterns and I am good at writing things down. Together we know every configuration the labyrinth could possibly take. And you were so focused on those other people, that you made it easy for us to avoid you and your stoodges until were were out safely." The fact that the hazmats did clear out the ADIs inside the maze, before the Crown got to them, helped a lot too. "So that is all.. you know the game."

The Crown's LP: 8000 Wagnerok's LP: 8000 -TURN 01-

"Well so do I! This shall be a normal duel, no tricks and no gimmicks. I do not need anything else.. but the cards of Crusadia!" The Crown revealed a standard dueldisk and drew his five cards. "The first turn is mine! I summon Crusadia Arboria!" The Crown called forth his first monster, one the world of STHEREA had not seen before. "Crusadia you say?" This elven woman(3/800/800) [Zone 2] with long green hair and shoulderless dress with leggings did not look like any card on the real or virtual lists.

"She is but the first. I link summon Crusadia Magius! The link material is one Crusadia monster!" Arborea vanished into a vortex that changed from green to red light, from the main zone to the extra zone. Crusadia Magius, a tiny magical knight(100/LINK 1) {Down} [Extra Zone 1] fully suited in red and gold armor, did not exist either according to the reality Wagner knew. "How did you come by these cards?" He demanded an explanation. "The Crusadia are my gift from the godly power I found. You can call it an extension of the crown!"

"And each Crusadia can special summon him or herself from my hand, by using a zone that their link monster points to! So I special summon Crusadia Maximus in defense!" The Crown called the other Crusadia monster in his hand, right underneath Magius. Maximus(4/1600/1000) [Zone 2] looked like a knight that jumped out of the future, with a golden armor covered in glowing blue powerlines. "When a Crusadia monster is special summoned and linked with Crusadia Magius, I can add a Crusadia monster from my deck to my hand!" The crusading magician's effect claimed a card called Crusadia Draco. The Crown did not have anywhere to special summon it, but that would change. "I link summon Crusadia Regulex! The materials are two effect monsters! Including one Crusadia!" Maximus and Magius created a bigger link circuit, and left for the graveyard to create the next link monster in the Crusadia hierarchy. No more warriors or spellcasters: Regulex took the form of a mechanical white lion (1000/LINK 2) {Up/Down} [Extra Zone 1] with a braided mane of flames. "If you are already at link 2 then.."

"Correct! Link 3 is well within my reach! I special summon Crusadia Draco to the zone Regulex points to!" Now a draconic crusader special summoned itself: Draco(4/600/2000) [Zone 2] the angelic dragon in golden armor. "I can reclaim a Crusadia from the graveyard, when Draco is special summoned and linked with a link monster! And I can add a Crusadia spell or trap card to my hand when Crusadia Regulex links with another special summoned monster!" Draco and Regulex each visited their master with separate blessings: the dragon returned Crusadia Maximus to the Crowns hand and Regulex added a Crusadia Power spell card.

"Here it comes! I link summon Crusadia Equimax! The link materials are two effect monsters, including one link monster!" The final link circuit took Regulex as two materials and Draco as one. Their worth added up to one majestic golden crusader, Equimax the centaur(2000/LINK 3) {Up/Downleft/Downright} in full energy-lined armor. "This will do for now." The Crown placed two cards from his hand face-down. "I hereby end my turn."

-TURN 02-

"You are a duelist at the very least." His linking speed almost matched that of Donna's. "However, you will find that all your materialism and vanity was for naught! For I..." "Will you stop bragging and just finish him already, Wagner!" The two duelists could hear Bionis yell in the distance, as he still struggled to keep up with the CIDs. "Hoho. He is quite right. Let's just crush you, shall we?" Wagnerok closed his eyes and played one card from his hand. "I do not need to see what secrets you hide, you can keep them! I activate the spell, Hey Trunade, and send all face-down spells and trap cards back to the hand!"

"In that case." To lose his cards would mean his downfall. "I activate the trap of Dai Dance and the quickplay spell of Crusadia Power!" To use them before that ensured his survival. "Ha? Two chainables?" Hey Trunade failed to return either to the hand. "Crusadia Power targets my Crusadia monster! For the rest of this turn he cannot be harmed by any effect other than his own! And with Dai Dance I can select one monster zone on your field! This turn you must summon to that zone first! And you cannot summon multiple monsters at the same time until you do!" A single finger hovered over the field until it selected the proper zone: the zone right in front of Crusadia Equimax. "That one?" Wagnerok was not blind, he could see what would happen if he linked his monsters with the crusader. "Any monster linked with a Crusadia link monster cannot attack! And like Regulex and Magius, Equimax gains the original attackpoints of all monsters that it points towards!" Those were the consequences. And yet Wagner did not have any other choice, his strategy could not start until he took that first step.

"Fine then. I summon Valkyrie Dritte!" And so he did. A redhaired knight(4/1000/1600) [Zone 3] rode in from a star-filled portal on a white horse. "Ah, the holy army of the gods. If I were a caring man, I would appreciate the symbolism. Right now, all I care about is my own crusade." The presence of Dritte added power to Crusadia Equimax(3000 atk), yet it also freed other zones from Dai Dance's lingering effect. "Then why do I not make you care while you still can! When Valkyrie Dritte is summoned, I can add one Valkyrie card to my hand!" Wagnerok went from the third to the fourth, as he claimed the Valkyrie Vierte from his deck.

"Now, the light will shine upon you!" Wagner put on a big grin as he tapped the side of his dueldisk and started playing his favorite opera with his special music app "Seriously, you are doing this right now!?" Bionis cried out again. "Every time is a good time." Wagner never dueled without it. He never performed his one-turn kill without it. "I activate the spell; Ride of the Valkyries! I special summon all Valkyries held in my hand!" From heavenly white clouds three Valkyries descended on their flying horses: Vierte the crystal knight(4/1400/1400) [Zone 4] with a blond ponytail, Erste the blue-haired shield maiden(6/1600/1800) [Zone 1] and Brunhilde(7/1800/2000) [Zone 5] the mighty darkhaired commander of the Valkyrie knights. "Oh! Wagner.. You are a duelist with refined tastes at least." The Crown mused.

"You might have taken my chance at victory away from me.. What does lady fortune say!? I activate the effect of Valkyrie Vierte!" The music reached a fevered crescendo as the duelist started excavating cards from his deck. "Vierte allows me to search cards up to the number of Valkyries on my field! And I can keep one of whatever spell I find!" Four swords joined to send four beams of light into the deck. Each ray carried one card, but only one found a spell: Goddess Urd's Verdict. "Hm! I had hoped to start in the past. Alas! I shall call upon the aid of norn of the future: Lady Urd!" A blonde-shorthaired goddess in a pink dress came to the stage, waving her wand across the valkyrie sisters. "Goddess Urd's Verdict protects all my Valkyries from destruction and targeting effects!"

"I also activate the effect of Valkyrie Erste! Each turn she banishes one of your fallen cards to absorb their power!" The eldest valkyrie used her sword to banish Crusadia Arborea. While this caused her attackpoints to become as low as the removed monsters, Arboria could no longer use her grave-effect to protect Crusadia monsters. And Dritte(1200/1600) gained 200 attackpoints for each banished enemy. Nevertheless the Valkyries could not take care of the crusading centaur while it was shielded by Crusadia Power. Not in this turn.

"..Time is not our enemy! I activate the second effect of Ride of the Valkyries. It will be banished to add one spell to my hand: Mischief of the Time Goddess! And I activate this card during my battle phase!" The music looped right back to the starting note as Wagner pulled out his quickplay spell. That was not a glitch, and it was not the only thing he rewound. "Mischief of the Time Goddess skips over your next turn, Crown! Her power puts us right back in my battle phase again! And that means your spells have run out!" To celebrate this miracle of time, Wagner made Valkyrie Dritte charge head-first into the fight. Being the weaker warrior she of course wound up getting destroyed by Equimax's glowing lance.

Wagner's LP: 6400

"I presume there was a purpose to this?" The Crown chuckled. "Of course! When Valkyrie Vierte falls in battle, she can call forth one of her sisters from the deck! I special summon Valkyrie Zweite!" One could call her death a division by two, as that number belonged to the pink-haired Valkyrie swordsman(5/1600/1600) [Zone 2] that swooped in to answer the effect of Vierte. "And when Valkyrie Zweite is summoned, she destroys one monster you control! Your Crusader will fall!" Zweite pointed her blade towards the crimson skies of pandemonium and conjured a divine bolt to smite her enemy. "Hm?" The lightning blast fell down on Crusadia Equimax and destroyed it; leaving all but smoldering cinders for the floor. "I also activate the effect of Valkyrie Erste again, to make sure your link monster stays dead!" Now that Equimax had died, the blue-haired warrior could absorb his soul to empower herself(2000/1800). "Go, my warriors! Show him the justice of god!" Each Valkyrie sank her blade into the body of the Templar, leaving marks on his armor and nearly dropping him down to his knees. "The Justice of God you call this?"

The Crown's LP: 1200

The Crowns query would be saved for a later debate. "Finally, some light." As awkward reintroductions were right around the corner. "Gack!" Scura and Void's group walked into the fight scene, too euphoric about their escape from the labyrinth to keep their approach silent. "We meet again, keeper of the crown." Himiko at least kept her cool and shot a disdainful glare at the man dueling Wagnerok. "Even you escaped?" The Crown shook his head in frustration, none of his traps accomplished anything. "Wait, since when did you join forces?" Wagner himself got more confused than anything; confused by the sight of Himiko working together with Void. "Opposition breeds unity. It was not by choice." The princess exclaimed. "Then you can help us?!" Bionis yelled. He would not be against it for once.

"They will make an attempt." The Crown recovered from his own shock as well, with the comforting fact that he could make his own 'help.' "Protect the Crown." Hazmat duelists marched right up to the four duelists and forced each one into a duel. "What!? Where did they come from?" Scura protested. "You took too long to get here. They gave me enough time to command more of the judge's CIDs to come to this part of the city. And then some.." There were dozens and dozens of hazmat duelists now, pouring in from every corner of pandemonium.

"Damn it! I thought the Judge would keep them under control!" Bionis cursed. Even the ADIs that they defeated and converted were now stuck obeying the Crown again. "Hieronymus is gone. He was never really here, the company only sent a digital avatar with his voice and likeness." Void explained. "You mean.. they did not fix the avatars after all?" To Sundown that part was the worst of the news. "Of course not, Exeter would never do that for you." The Crown laughed. With his CIDs in place, he could freely continue his duel against Wagner. "What do you even want from them!?" That did not stop Void from asking him more questions. "There is no point in answering that now, duelist. Now be quiet, you have your own problems to attend to."

-TURN 03-

"But at least now that all of you are here, I can end this with one swift stroke!" His turn started. "I normal summon the Crusadia Maximus from my hand and use it to link summon another Crusadia Magius!" Everyone could see what awaited them, like an oncoming storm. The knight Maximus(4/1600/1000) [Zone 2] turned into the Crimson wizard Magius(100/LINK 1) {Down} [Extra Zone 1]. "Then I activate my spell card, World Legacy Succession! It summons one monster from my graveyard to a zone my link monster points at!" Then he would bring back Crusadia Regulex to link it with Magius.

"Do not presume laziness in my part, Crowned one!" Except Wagnerok could remove that monster from the graveyard before its intended revival. "Valkyrie Erste's effect works in both turns! She banishes Regulex!" The first of the valkyrie sisters absorbed the soul of the white lion, though it dropped her(1000/1800) attackpoints down to the banished monsters. On the other hand, Valkyrie Dritte(1600/1600) kept getting stronger and World Legacy Successions summoning attempt resulted in failure.

"No. You have been active, always active.. like buzzing little flies. But you are children, and nothing more." Undeterred, the Crown special summoned a different monster to Magius's marked zone. "Crusadia Leonis!" He called upon a golden-maned blue lion(3/1200/1600) [Zone 2] that wore a symbol and a crown like a king. Since Magius linked with this new Crusadia, The Crown could use his own power too. "I add Crusadia Draco to my hand!" Magius' effect drew a familiar monster from the deck. In fact the next few moves were all recognizable.

"Link summon! Crusadia Regulex!" The blue lion transformed into the white lion(1000/LINK 2) {Up/Down} [Extra Zone 1] by using itself and Magius as two link materials. "Special summon! Crusadia Draco!" The draconic knight(4/600/2000) [Zone 2] linked up with Regulex to repeat the effect combo of Maximus retrieving a Crusadia monster from the graveyard and Regulex taking a Crusadia spell/trap card from the deck. The Crown chose to add Crusadia Maximus and Crusadia Revival. "Link summon! Crusadia Equimax!" Finally, the great golden centaur(2000/LINK 2) {Up/Downleft/Downright} descended to the field of war. Immediately his(3000 atk) power shot up due to it linking with the Valkyrie Dritte in front of him.

"And now it is over, child." Because Maximus had only been normal summoned so far, the Crown could still special summon him this turn. He placed the knight [Zone 3] on the left flank of Equimax(4600 atk) to further empower the Crusader. "I activate my field spell: Crusadia Revival! All Crusadia monsters gain 500 attackpoints!" Maximus impaled the ground with a great lance with a crystal gem inside, causing the whole floor to be irradiated. The light that the gem produced caused the knight(2100/1000) and the Centaur(5100 atk) to become more fearsome yet again. "But only Crusadia Equimax can attack this turn!" Wagner not so humbly pointed out. "That is true. However, Crusadia Revival can target one of my link monsters.. and make it so that it can attack All your monsters in the same battle phase!" It went without saying that the Crown used this effect on Crusadia Equimax.

"Ah.." Everyone could count the numbers. The fact that Valkyrie Brunhilde(2800/2000) gained 500 attackpoints for each monster on her opponents field or that she made all Valkyries indestructible did not make the slightest bit of difference. An attack from Equimax against all four Valkyries would cost Wagner 13500 lifepoints... if his enemy felt mercy. "I activate the effect of Crusadia Maximus! When this card targets a link monster, all of its damage on monsters will be doubled!" The crusader knight changed the number from 13500 to 27000 points of damage. "What was it you said: your friends came just in time to save all of you? I believe the only thing you accomplished is giving them all damnation! My servants, switch to battle royal mode!"

"What?" The duelists flinched. Scura, Himiko, Zanbatou, Void, Bionis, Crescent and Sundown were still in the middle of their duels own with the CIDs, and now became a part of a greater fight. "He is going to.." Void gasped. He knew there was a reason why did not order more CIDs to attack, he planned on sacrificing the ones he controlled here. "I attack all monsters on the field, including yours!" Crusadia Equimax rained indiscriminate destruction upon every Cyberdark monster on the field, and on every monster their opponents controlled. Vendreads, Musketeers, Code Talkers, Subterrors, Mayakashi: all would pay the price. And two of them already lost too many lifepoints. "You bastard!"

Bionis' LP: 0 Sundown's LP: 0 Void's LP: 2400 Himiko's LP: 1600 Scura's LP: 1000

"This is not.." Only Crescent and Zanbatou had the fortune of avoiding every attack, as they did not have any monsters on her field at the time. "My lady." The bodyguard rushed to his mistress' side. "This accursed man.." She clutched her own shoulder. Even though her lifepoints withstood the attack, her body lost a lot of energy. "More like &** %! #" Scura swore as she herself got the wind knocked out of her.

"This is not good. They are.." Crescent Aurora meanwhile looked to her left and right, where Bionis and Sundown fell with large holes in their gut. That they were still intact could be counted as their only blessing. "Wagner!" The freckled girl cried out. The brunt of the damage still belonged to the duelist who allowed this to happen. "I saved you for last, holy warrior." The Crown smirked. Just one attack made it all end, Equimax impaled Valkyrie Dritte and terminated the duel. "Guh!" Wagnerok reeled backwards as the tip of the lance splintered his muscular chest. "Why..." But not the battle. Crusadia Equimax did not disappear due to the battle royal system, and neither did Wagners monsters.

Wagner's LP: 0

"You." The Crown pointed a finger towards Void. "You wanted to ask me how I would receive my demands, and what their nature was? Now I can finally tell you." He ignored his opponent for now, even as Wagner writhed and cradled the wound in his chest. "You can blame this on Exeter, as you can do with all things. It's their fault that this power can exist in the first place." He tapped the side of his strange crown to which he owed his name. "And it is their fault that they gave me the perfect hostages. I realised myself that it would be better served by wounding the players rather than destroying them. It sends a far stronger message to hang a countdown over a thousand heads, than to bury them in avatars that cannot cry. They will have to do more than send in children and one fake judge. And now that I have ruined their pathetic little plan, they have no choice to give me what I want. And what I want... is STHEREA itself. No. The whole virtual network!"

"The game, the whole virtual world?" Scura gasped. "What could you possibly need this for?" Himiko asked the mad templar. "My reasons would be beyond your understanding. This world belongs to me, its creations already do. With the word of the creator.. of god, I can control anything already! Whether it as as simple as a door or as complex as an ADI, they follow my commands!" He turned his attention to one of the random CIDs that survived Equimax' attack and made it dance in rhythm. "The company does not deserve this, the company deserves to be destroyed! I will destroy them! And if they do not obey, I will destroy everyone they care for!" He let out raucous laughter, and all the artificial duelists in the vicinity laughed along with him.

"But you can't... They will not let you.." Wagner groaned once again. "Oh? Is that because your body was patched? Or because the duel is over? Because I am certain I owe you three more attacks." The Crown clenched his hand and punched it forward. "One, Two, Three!" The Centaur killed Valkyrie Erste, Zweite and Brunhilde in a row. "Graaahhh!"

Wagner's LP: -20600

"Stop it." Crescent could not watch any longer, each successive hit destroyed more of Wagnerok's body. "Ghua.. you will not. Get away with this!" Still enough remained of him to keep standing. Until the Crown simply ended it completely with a gesture of his other hand. "!" His avatar shattered into a billion pieces. "He's gone."

"And that just leaves you." Three down, four to go. "You think you can manage that? Your lifepoints are as low as ours." Void protested. The battle royal system kept the Crusadia duelist in the loop as well, and Wagner did cause significant damage before.. his destruction. "Ah, but you still have others to fight." The Crown snapped his fingers and made the hazmat duelists rise up. Those that survived Equimax' attack would get their next turn in the duel as soon as he ended his. "I have to thank the company for giving me this new army. It saved me the trouble of risking myself during my recruiting moments. Now I can just send them." The CIDs and ADIs rushed out to protect their king. "You're just going to keep hiding and running?" They were completely at his mercy. "I can, so I will." He could just keep throwing wave after wave at them now.

"That judge of the law damned us all." Himiko cursed. If it had not been for Hieronymus.. "The judge.. The Number is seven zero." They would not have heard him say those words. "What was that?" The Crown stopped when he overheard Void whisper said words. "I said... The Number is seven zero. The Word of God can be rewritten, but the Legacy of God is unbending."

Before the Crown could ask further, or anyone else could inquire as to why Void chose to repeat the last words of Hieronymus; their purpose became crystal clear to everyone that heard him. "!? Argh!?" A shooting pain struck the head of the Crown, causing him to reel backwards. "Why does it..burn?" Directly afterwards, a more violent question announced itself through a chain reaction of explosions.

"My servants!" The blasts came from the inside of each CID and ADI duelist, not a single one stayed intact as the selfdestructions spread out across the streets of the black city. "Ho.. How. How did you that?" Scura flipped out. "You did this?" Crescent could only assume Void's words somehow caused this. "I did. It was something the judge said. I thought, perhaps he, or It, wanted us to hear that.. perhaps 'Hieronymus' could escape the Crowns control once Himiko defeated it. I took a gamble and it turns out it was what I thought it was.." He turned to the Crown to make sure he understood it as well. "A phrase to shut down all CIDS, to prevent you from controlling them. I suppose they did not under-estimate you after all."

(To Be Continued in Line 024: No Rainbows Without Storms)

**Cards used by Wagnerok  
**Valkyrie Dritte  
Valkyrie Vierte  
Valkyrie Brunhilde  
Valkyrie Erste  
Valkyrie Zweite

-  
Hey Trunade!  
Ride of the Valkyries  
Mischief of the Time Goddess  
Goddess Urd's Verdict

**Cards used by The Crown  
**Crusadia Arborea  
Crusadia Draco  
Crusadia Maximus  
Crusadia Leonis

-  
Crusadia Magius  
Crusadia Regulex  
Crusadia Equimax

-  
Crusadia Revival  
Crusadia Power

-  
Dai Dance


	24. No Rainbows without Storms

**Line 024: No Rainbows Without Storms**

"Those bastards." The wave of selfdestructions caught The Crown off guard. "They are not smart enough to... how could they have thought this far ahead?!" They purposely sent in a wave of digital duelists for him to control, only to have this kid blow them all up with a key phrase.

"They left a failsafe." Void figured it out, made it so that only one duelist opposed them. And the battle royal mode persisted. "I don't get what is going on. But now we can get that guy, right?" Scura looked forward to getting even with the man who blasted her before with his Crusadia monster. "He hurt Wagner.." However some duelists stood a better chance than others. "Crescent?" The blonde-haired duelist was one of them. "My lifepoints are 8000, his are 1300." She could take the next turn after the Crown's. Everyone else risked losing their avatar if they tried to do anything. "You hurt Wagner. I do not like that. I do not like you." And she saw plenty of reasons to want the Crown gone.

"The holy one was your friend? Hmph.. even so, you do not make requests of me, girl! Ha!" The templar turned his head skywards and shot two beams from his crown. "Your ruler is in danger!" He shouted as his power struck two birds flying in the air. "What? No! They're monsters!" The failsafe did not work on every artificial intelligence. Pandemoniums indigenous threats lurked everywhere: including the skies. Blackwing Bora and Raidraptor Vanishing Lanius swooped down to the dark streets and landed in between Crescent and the Crown.

"He is getting away!" Bionis cursed as the Crown climbed on top of the Vanishing Raptor bird and took off. "Of course. Why would I devote my time the rifraff, when you cannot give me what I want?" At the same time the Crown kept on talking, with the voice of Blackwing Bora. "There are still dozens of duelists I can bend to my will in this city. And you cannot stop me from crushing you!" He would fly around to gather more monsters to fight for him, while the winged ADI ensured the continuity of the battle royal. "Crescent, Zanbatou. You're our only hope now." Himiko's bodyguard had not lost any life yet either. "I understand." He took a step to offer his assistance. "I want to do this alone." Despite that Crescent rejected his help. "I .. see." Zanbatou nodded. At least this way he could stay close to Yoro-Himiko.

Crescent's LP: 8000 Bora's LP: 8000 -TURN 01-

"You are satisfied this way?" Bora/The Crown chuckled. "I am. It is the same. Different body, same mind. I want to win still." Crescent would not hide her cards from the enemy. "I normal summon.. Sun. The Weather Painter Sun." A portly long-bearded painter(3/1600/400) [Zone 3] in red robes came to her offensive defense. "And I set this too." Behind the Painter a face-down trap waited. "That was..it." No remaining cards were spent this turn. "I hope she knows what she is doing." Scura did not like having her fate lie in the hands of someone she never saw duel before. The only one that ever saw her play no longer existed within the game. "We gotta have faith." Void could only presume that she would not be here if she lacked the skill to fight back.

-TURN 02-

"Hmph.. Unimpressive." The Blackwing, still acting as the Crown mouthpiece, shook its feathered head. "I summon Blackwing Shura the Blue Flame!" For now the ADI started the duel with a man that was half-bird: the great-clawed Blue Flame blackwing(4/1800/1200)[Zone 1] "And I equip it with Glowing Crossbow! Now my monster gains 500 attack and defense points, and it can destroy a card in your hand when it destroys a monster in battle!" The blue-feathered Blackwing(2300/1700) did not have to wait long to test its new equip spell out. Bora entered the battle phase and fired a crossbolt straight at the sunny painter.

"Thundery." In response, Crescent calmly flipped a continuous trap card: The Weather Canvas Thundery. "Don't you think.. it's thundery today? I think so." The red sky turned dark above the two duelist because of a rather localised stormcloud. "!?" Three thunder bolts struck three monster zones [Zones 2, 3 & 4], including that of the Weather Painter. Then another blast of lightning followed and exiled both monsters from the field.

"What did she do?" Scura rubbed her eyes. "Her trap card, it rewrites the effect of her monster!" This deck Void at least knew a little about already. "Her trap treats all Weather-monsters inside its column, and in the neighboring columns, as monsters that can banish themselves to activate a new effect." In the case of Thundery Canvas, the banished monster would return an opponents monster like Shura to the hand as soon as the two started battling each other in the damage step. "But then she lost her monster just to delay him!?" Scura did not think the cost was worth it.

-TURN 03-

"It's alright though." Crescent offered a weak assertion, while her opponent quietly ended its turn. "Because the Weather monsters always come back to me." As soon as he turn started, Weather Painter Sun [Zone 3] returned to the same zone he left behind, again protected by the Thunder Canvas. "The sunlight is fading... I summon Weather Painter Cloud." A stylish young man(3/1500/1000) [Zone 2] with silver hair and a classy purple coat floated down to the black city on his cushion of clouds. "Direct attack." Both Painters had a defenseless duelist to strike, and they joyfully did so with a brush of flames and an ink pen of fog. "I can see you are not playing around.. " The Blackwing, and the Crown, took the blows with a pained expression. Yet their wings were tied for now.

Bora's LP: 4900

"I can feel a cold wind coming." After the battle phase Crescent activated a continuous spell: The Weather Snowy Canvas [Zone 2]. "Now I can banish my painters each turn to get more weather cards. If that is alright with you." A layer of snow drifted unto her field, covering three zones [1,2 & 3] and the two Painters. "So I will get something warmer." The Cloud painter banished himself with his new effect, disappearing into the thick snow to search the deck for the Weather Painter Thunder. She then focused on a trap in her hand. "Oh and I set this too.. Because the tempest is not over yet."

-TURN 04-

"Alright. Alright. If that's the case, it is time to take the gloves off." His turn followed. Bora/Crown spread his wings as he could bring his own storm. "I activate Allure of Darkness! I draw two new cards, and banish a dark monster from my hand afterwards!" The Blackwing all belonged to the dark typing, which why his spell could banish Shura the Blue Flame to keep his hand replenished. "This is an improvement. As I control no cards I can activate the effect of Blackwing, Simoom the Poison Wind, by banishing one other blackwing from my hand! I banish Kalut the Moonshadow!" The wind in the air turned foul. "Simoom then activates Black Whirlwind from my deck and can tribute summon itself without tributes!" Evertwisting winds of the black vortex took permanent residence, while the blackwing witch(6/1600/2000) [Zone 1] with a crown of red feathers emerged from a purple haze.

"Now, since my Blackwing was normal summoned, Black Whirlwind will add a different Blackwing with fewer attackpoints from the deck to my hand!" Bora placed his wing inside the violent whirlwind and forced Blackwing Gale the Whirlwind, a monster with 300 attackpoints less than Simoom, out of his deck. "And Simooms effect does not count as the normal summon for the turn, miss Crescent!"

"!?" Crescent eyes briefly lit up, as a cooler breeze spread across the city. "I normal summon Blackwing Auster the South Wind!" This time the blackwing looked mostly like an actual bird: a tiny yellow chick(4/1300/0) [Zone 2] with black-tipped red wings. "When Auster is normal summoned, I can only summon Dark monsters for the rest of the turn. However its effect will immediately special summon a blackwing from the banished zone, and all blackwings are dark typed!" The previously banished Kalut(3/1400/1000) [Zone 5], wild-eyed and yellow-headed, escaped it dimensional banishment with the blessing of Auster. And of course Black Whirlwind took advantage of Austers normal summon as well; placing the 400-attackpointed Blackwing Harmattan the Dust in Bora's feathered hands.

"I can special summon Blackwing Gale the Whirlwind and Blackwing Harmattan the Dust, when I control Blackwings on my field already!" Gale, the color-inverted brother of Kalut(3/1300/1200) [Zone 4] and Harmattan, the red neckringed curlew bird(2/800/800) [Zone 3], perched down on every remaining monster zone. "Ugh, just how many of these damn birds are there again?" Sundown groaned. The blackwings just kept on coming."As many as there colors of the wind! Now, a link summon! I use two dark winged beasts as the materials, to create Raidraptor Wise Strix!" Storms could lead to creation as well, Kalut the Moonshadow linked up with Harmattan the Dust for a two-marker circuit. "Raidraptors?!" The endresult however could not be considered a Blackwing monster in any way or form. Raidraptor Wise Strix(1400/LINK 2) {Downleft/Downright} [Extra Zone 1] looked more like a cyborg owl than anything. "You're adding cards to their decks again when they shouldn't be there?" Sundown cursed. This happened before with the Legendary Fisherman. "You once said I didn't know how to duel, didn't you? Perhaps that was correct when I started. But I learned.. and I keep learning." Bora clenched a fist.

"Raidraptor Wise Strix can special summon a level 4 dark winged beast from my deck! I choose Blackwing Zephyros the Elite!" A the long-beaked and blue-feathered blackwing(4/1600/1000) [Zone 3] showed up where Harmattan once rested. "So now you're going to synchro summon?" Crescent said, as her mind jumped ahead a little. "Hm? Is that your forecast, little girl?" Both Auster and Gale were tuner monsters so her prediction did not exactly come from nothing. "Oh. I am sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt." The weather duelist quickly shied away from commenting further. "What are you saying sorry to him for?" Scura yelled.

"Hmph, you are an odd one. But I hate to disappoint." The blackwinged duelist managed to put a smirk on its beak and performed his 'synchro summon'. "I tune Auster with Simoom to create Blackwing Full Armor Master! And I tune Gale with Zephyros to create Assault Blackwing - Chidori the Rain Sprinkling!" Two synchro summons, ten and seven level stars combined; caused two synchro monsters to appear at each of the Raidraptors markers. The name Full Armor Master fit perfectly with the blackwinged knight(10/3000/3000) [Zone 1] that appeared first, glowing red eyes peered through his helmet while a large gun and greatsword were held in each claw. Chidori(7/2600/2000) [Zone 3] belonged more to the stylings of the samurai; wearing green armor and hiding steel blades in its wings. "Finally, I will return Zephyros to me, by returning one card I control to my hand and paying 400 lifepoints!" The elite blackwing disrupted the Black Whirlwind spell, so that he[Zone 2] could join his synchro brothers in battle.

Bora's LP: 4500

"9800 attackpoints." Once again Crescent thought ahead by calculating the combined attackforce of these monsters. "That is right: Chidori gains 300 attackpoints for each Blackwing in my graveyard. But I think you are forgetting one, little girl!" Chidori(3800/2000) lost one attackboost, due to Bora removing one blackwing from the graveyard. "Auster the South Wind can banish itself from the graveyard to place wedge counters on all your monsters that do not have one! And Full Armor Master can take control of one monster with a wedge counter!" The cool southern breeze returned one final time with unpleasant gifts in its wake, two sharp claws wedged themselves inside the bodies of the Painters Cloud and Sun. "I shall take control of the Clouds!"

"I feel cold though.." The effects granted by the Snowy Canvas turned out to be quick effects when the Weather Painter Cloud successfully banished itself before the Full Armor Master could control it. Subsequently, Crescent added the Weather Painter Aurora to her hand. "Heh. 9500 attackpoints it is then. I will start my battle phase with an attack from Full Armor Master! Farewell, girl!" The winged black knight took aim, placing his barrel on the same line as Weather Painter Sun. He fired his bullet at the speed of sound.

"But what... if there was a storm!" Noise turned to thunder, thunder turned to lightning.. and raw force. "What?" Crescent activated her other trap: Storming Mirror Force. "All monsters will be returned to his hand now!" Void gasped, as the bullet vanished inside the same green light that consumed Raidraptor Wise Strix, Chidori and Zephyros. "I did not see that coming." Himiko did expected neither the trap nor the sudden volume of her voice. She wished she had payed more attention to her.

"If I had known, you could do tricks like that, I would not have let your monster hide in the snow. But it is too late now!" The Crown shouted through the clouds, which were cut apart by the Full Armor Master's blade. "Of course. Its immune to all card effects.." Her Storming Mirror Force could not return the synchro blackwing or stop the bullet that still came for her Painters head. "Then.. more thunder." Even so, she wanted to banish her monster for one turn rather than losing it alltogether. So she activated the Painters 'Thundery' effect. "Not this time!" Two other cards shut her down. "I activate my skill, Jet Black Revenge, to place Zephyros back on my field!"

_Jet Black Revenge, Skill Card  
__Activate only when you control 1 or more DARK monsters: special summon 1 DARK monster from your hand with its effects negated._

"Then, since I control a Blackwing Synchro, I can activate my counter trap from my hand: Black Bird Close! It will negate your monsters effect by sacrificing my blackwing!" One second Zephyros [Zone 2] was there on the field again. The next second he dove down into Weather Painter Sun like a blackbird missile. The counter trap also destroyed Crescents orange-painting monster. "This is not good." And it special summoned a new monster from the extra deck. "Not good for you! Blackbird Close can special summon the synchro monster, Blackwinged Dragon!" Bora shouted as the relentless winds picked up a stream of black and red feathers from the extra deck. A red-eyed darkness materialised within the air, and unleashed a hurricane-silencing shriek. It was the BlackWinged Dragon(8/2800/1600) [Extra Zone 1], the four-winged black feather dragon with a crooked beak and pincer-like blades extending from its long torso.

"My Blackwings! Your prey is that girl!" Between the dragonic and the fully armored synchro monsters no mercy could be found. First the bullet finally reached its new target: Crescent. "Ah.." And while she still felt the effects of that attack, Blackwinged Dragon bombarded her with feathers as sharp as blades and as heavy as rocks. "Your resistance is almost over. It is already pointless!" The duelists could hear noises coming from deep inside Pandemonium. It sounded like the Crown finally found new ADIs to control, "I set a trap card and end my turn!" Bora did not need to finish what it started. It could simply wait for the back-up.

Crescent's LP: 2200

"It is not over til the last one falls!" So could they. "Yeah, what are we.. chopped liver?" Zettai, Dame Blanche, Neo and Scarlet Fever: one by one they poured out of the labyrinth. "Guys!" Now the odds fell back in their favour. "Four more? Just how many of you are going to keep showing up?"

"That voice. You must be speaking for the Crown I presume?" Scarlet took her mask off and gave the blackwinged duelist a good look. "I would have thought you knew how many of us there are by now. Interesting.. you can talk through your servants, but you cannot see.." She quickly deduced that for all of its powers, the crown had limits. "Uhm.. what did we miss?" Not everything looked clear to them yet however, Neo did not know what beat everyone down so much already. "It was him. He attacked everyone through battle royal.. and he destroyed Wagnerok." Crescent summarized it to the best of her ability, and desire. "Wagner? Oh.. ehrm sorry for your loss." Blanche partially managed to hide her lack of sympathy for that man. She sounded more concerned about Crescents own feelings.

-TURN 05-

"There is nothing to be sorry about. Just.. let me finish this first. Then we can talk more." Crescents chest still throbbed from the previous damage she took. "I know what Wagner felt like, maybe. It hurts.." She could retaliate in her turn. "I think you should feel hurt too... I activate my skill: Eye of the Hurricane. I return one spell or trap to destroy one spell or trap field to the hand." She took back her Thundery Canvas while forcing his set trap to disappear. "Feh.." Bora lost its Bottomless Trap Hole: and with that threat cleared, the Weather Painter Cloud [Zone 2] could special summon himself back from the banished zone.

_Eye of the Hurricane, Skill Card  
__Return any number of face-up Spell/Trap Cards you control (min 1) to your hand, then destroy the same number of Spell/Trap Cards your opponent controls._

"It is getting warm now. I bring back the Sun!" It appeared that her orange painter did not like to stay buried. Weather Painter Sun melted the continuous spell, Snowy Canvas, to special summon himself [Zone 4] back to the field. "And the Sun has to activate a Canvas from my hand." Aurora smiled and reactivated the Thundery Canvas [Zone 3]. "I have the paint, now the painter. I normal summon Weather Painter Thunder." A little girl(3/1700/0) [Zone 3] with small horns jumped down to the black city on a path of thunder. Her yellow raincoat was lined with grey clouds and a red ribbon. "And she will change the canvas." The Thunder Painter could destroy one continuous spell or trap to activate a new Weather Canvas from the deck. She dipped her own Thundery trap into her paint can and drowned it in orange. Radiant sun rays pierced the clouds of the storm and snow, as a new spell [Zone 4] appeared in Suns column: The Weather Thundery Canvas.

"And I bring back my lost spells too.. with the help of Cloud." Whenever a Weather card got destroyed, Cloud the painter of violet could activate two Weather Canvas spells or traps from the graveyard directly. With his canvas restoring pen, he drew the Canvas of Snow [Zone 2] and Thunder [Zone 3] back to the field. The thunderstorm now covered all of her painters. "Attack.." Her combined front of fire, wind and light unleashed their weathery fury upon the remaining Blackwings. "What are you trying to do? Did you forget Full Armor Masters effect already?" The Crown and Bora did not see the point in attacking something that could not be affected by anything.

"Oh. You are right, I still need 1400 attackpoints or more. But I can get 3100 attackpoints instead, when I activate Snowman Effect." The weather girl revealed her final trap, which created a large mountain of snow. "Snowman... effect?" The crown failed to recognise the card on the spot. "I use this card on Cloud, to give him all the attackpoints of my other monsters." The violet painter climbed the snow mountain only to fall back down at very top. Along the way down he bumped into the Painters Sun and Thunder and added them to the massive snowball that his fall created. "!" Visually it looked like all three monsters smashed into Blackwing Full Armor Master. But only Painter Cloud(4800/1000) delivered the finishing stab with his ink pen. "Yeah! That's the way to do it!" Neo cheered. Brute power would always prevail when effects could not. "I guess... that fits?" Blanche tilted her head. Just when she thought she understood Crescents deck, she went and added any old weather-related card.

Bora's LP: 2700

"Thunder.. and Sun!" The remaining painters chose their own targets: Blackwinged Dragon and Bora the Spear. The yellow thunder girl caused another clash of lightning as she used the Thundery-given banishing effect to send Blackwinged Dragon back to the extra deck. The orange sun painter could then strike the blackwing ADI with his heavy brush. "But that is not enough, not enough by far!" Whether his life sat at a full eight thousand or a mere one thousand, the Crown would keep fighting to keep the battle royale going.

Bora's LP: 1100

"I am sorry. My previous calculations were not about any winning requirements, they were simply the numbers needed to overcome your monsters... To acquire victory, I will add 2200 more attackpoints." And so she would fight a little more as well. "Oh!" Bora noticed the one canvas that had not yet come into play. "Yes, I can activate the Weather Canvas Sunny during the battle phase too." She banished the Painter of the Sun, who gained its effect from the canvas behind him. "If I sacrifice one monster, I can summon a different Weather monster from my hand or graveyard." The painter Cloud disappeared into the light as well, and the air turned dark.

"I summon.. Aurora, the Weather Painter!" This Aurora took the form of a fairy-like woman(6/2200/2000) [Zone 2] with a dress flowing like the nothern lights and green hair as long as her body. She could channel the powers of the dark element in her lunar staff. "You... This changes nothing, you are still all trapped inside my world! You still cannot defeat me!" Bora passed on his controllers final set of taunts. "A is A. One ADI less is still one ADI less." The weather woman gave her enemy a very brief smile. "Goodbye." The painter of the aurora wiped out Bora's remaining lifepoints with one spin of her staff, and let the nothern lights fly out everywhere.

Bora's LP: 0

"She did it!" Zanbatou roared. Bora formed the last link in the battle royal chain. With it gone, and the Crown already in retreat, there was nothing to stop them from resetting their decks and lifepoints. "Damn. That was ice cold, Crescent. I didn't think you had it in you!" Blanche clapped. She enjoyed Crescents first impression as a duelist. "Oh.. You do not need to thank me. I only did what anyone would have done." The weather girl responded with her usual monotonous enthusiasm again. "Yeah but you did it for Wagner." Scura still did not know what she saw in that oaf. "He is not... always like he presents himself. He was also my first friend. Those are things I cannot change." Crescent made her story sound like just an ordinary business deal. It creeped Blanche out more than anything. "Well. You need to get yourself more friends then. Can't have Wagner hog you all the time!"

"I think we can continue this discussion later." As nice as it was to see, Void did not foresee much good come out of friendly chatter with the way things were going. "Indeed. Scarlet, can you see the enemy from here?" Zettai nodded and looked ahead. One could very easily hide within the city of pandemonium, between its many dark towers and dungeons. "Somewhere high, he keeps moving around. And he is not the only one." Through the masks scanner, the doctor spotted a lot of 'fun' coming for their way. "How many?" Crescent asked for a number. "Dozens." They would get more than they could handle.

"Damnit. Where are Asterisk and Midsummer?" Sundown growled. The group still lacked members as well. "Asterisk said he was going to help us in a different way, dunno what that means." Blanche shrugged. The agent never joined them in the maze to begin with. And the channels were still down. "We cant wait! And I don't wanna go through all that dueling again." Scura moaned. "No, we cant. But we only need to take one man down, The Crown. And we will find him. We just need to be clever about this, we need to hide as well." Void surveyed the area while they still had time to run.

"What about us? We cant exactly help anymore." Bionis let out a muttered curse. His and Sundowns avatars sustained too much damage to keep dueling. "Log off. Its the only thing you can do. No.." Void came up with a better plan. "Log out, and tell everyone.. Tell them that the Crown is here." Void was tired of keeping secrets, Mister Static be damned. "You got it." Now the whole world would hear what really went down inside STHEREA.

(To Be Continued in Line 025: Ill Met by Spotlight)

**Cards used by Crescent Aurora  
**_EYE OF THE HURRICANE_

-  
Weather Painter Sun  
Weather Painter Cloud  
Weather Painter Thunder  
Weather Painter Aurora

-  
The Weather Snowy Canvas  
The Weather Sunny Canvas

-  
The Weather Thundery Canvas  
Storming Mirror Force  
Snowman Effect

**Cards used by Blackwing Bora the Spear  
**_JET BLACK REVENGE_

-  
Blackwing Shura the Blue Flame  
Blackwing Simoon the Poison Wind  
Blackwing Auster the South Wind  
Blackwing Kalut the Moonshadow  
Blackwing Harmattan the Duststorm  
Blackwing Gale the Whirlwind  
Blackwing Zephyros the Elite

-  
Raidraptor Wise Strix  
Blackwing Full Armor Master  
Assault Blackwing - Chidori the Rain Sprinkling  
Blackwinged Dragon

-  
Glowing Crossbow  
Allure of Darkness  
Black Whirlwind

-  
Blackbird Close  
Bottomless Trap Hole


	25. Ill Met By Spotlight

**Line 025: Ill Met By Spotlight**

Silence took hold of the dark city. Both sides were in hiding, biding their time to continue their conflict. "So.. Judge Hieronymus was a digital recreation? That would explain why he was so adamant on avoiding my scanners." And while one side took shelter inside a haunted mansion on the outskirts of Pandemonium, modeled after various Ghostricks field spells, the various groups brought each other up to speed. "Yes but he did leave us with a key phrase to counter the CIDs that the Crown took over." Void could share both good and bad news. "Yeah, they blew up good. Heheh." Scura chuckled.

"But you saw the Crown!. Where is he?" Zettai kept watch by peering through the dusty windows. "He seems to have stopped running when he reached the clocktower to the west." As long as the doctor could use her mask, they had a chance of staying safe and a chance of getting back at the source of all the danger. "The clocktower? Then why aren't we attacking him right now?" The ace duelist replied more impatiently than before. "Because it would be suicide." The doctor pointed in various directions. "He has sent dozens of ADI units after us. And do not forget that this is a challenge area. Even monsters that haven't yet been corrupted by him, will attack us on sight. Not even you could blitz up there and reach him in time before something else intercepts you." Zettai could fly because of her special mods, duel monsters could fly just because they were built to. In the end she stood no chance on her own.

"We cannot just sit here and wait either." Himiko rasped. "The very idea of that man escaping now...is unacceptable."

"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN!"

"What the?!" Neo covered his ears and cried out in pain. "Yours truly, the Nightmare of Midsummer cometh!" After the initial introduction, the voice that traveled all of Pandemonium quieted down. "Midsummer?" Void recognised him even without the given name. "What is that fool doing?" Zettai rasped as she saw the obvious consequences of his announcement. Every ADI within the walls of the city stormed towards the source of the noise. "They are headed for the horror theater." Scarlet tracked the movements of at least half a hundred digital monsters. "The theater?" Void could only hope that this place was not around the corner. "It's a circus house based on an Abyss Actors field card." Crescent explained.

"But... how is he doing any of this?" Besides succeeding in astounding Scura and almost every other duelist, the masked duelist also succeeded in broadcasting his audio everywhere. "He must have used a special program for his dueldisk somehow. But does it matter how? This is our chance, isn't it?" Neo did not see a single threat in their way anymore. "It is. But we have to be careful about this, the Crown must not find out that we are coming for him." Void knew they would never get an opening like this and almost wondered if Midsummer knew that he was helping them.

"We should separate up to have a better chance of 'getting the drop' on him. It seems the clocktower is merged with two other spires. I will take the north passage with Zanbatou." Yoro-Himiko's pairing with the samurai came as no surprise. "I am staying with the doctor. We will watch the skies." Zettai did not want to leave Scarlet's side. "As long as you do it quietly. I guess.. we will take the other spire." Voids group ended up being the largest. "This splitting up thing was bogus anyway." Blanche laughed. They were back as a team, ready to strike as soon as they were sure every ADI stood inside that theater.

"Ah. Good day to you all."

And it certainly seemed like that from the masked duelist's point of view. Every seat within the haunted theater filled up. Pandemoniums monsters made sure he could not get away. "Is this all?" One ADI asked, as the many faces of the mob looked around. "This is all you need!" Midsummer clapped his hands over his head, causing a spotlight to fall on him. "Like I said, my own name is Midsummer Nightmare. Or rather that is the title I had given myself. My real name is a secret for another time, though I can bid yee that it rhymes with a forbidden word." The masked jester took off his hat and made a deep bow. "I shall provide the entertainment on this fine night, oh lord of Pandemonium and keeper of the Crown. I ask only that you provide me with a proper challenge in return; a true demonstration of the freedom you can grant your servants." Though all manners and sorts of monsters and demons surrounded Midsummer, he desired just one foe in particular.

"There is no entertainer here, but I!" And that would be the host of the abyssal circus. "I Abyss Actor Trendy will be your rival!" A short round-bodied blue man walked out into the lights, wearing a trendy coat and tophat much like Midsummer's. The only eyeballs one could see on his body were those on his vest, as his facial features disappeared behind a thick mustache and eyebrows.

Midsummer's LP: 8000 Trendy's LP: 8000 -TURN 01-

"Ah, Abyss Actor Trendy Understudy. Even in your natural state you would comprehend the power of theatricality. All of you should learn from this man." Midsummer got what he wanted, an artificial duelist left to his own devices. "Do not fail the Crown!" The crowd of ADI's chanted in unison. "Indeed. This shall be a test to see who can serve our King the most!" Trendy bellowed. The two now stood face to face, locked into a duel that would begin with Midsummer Nightmare's turn.

"To start with, I would like to play a game!" He shuffled his entire deck with his own hands, despite the fact that he could let his dueldisk do it for him. "I ask that all of you think of a number! For if you get it right, you can prevent my monster from ever appearing.. Once I activate Reasoning!" The spell of Reasoning started its excavation of cards from the top of Midsummer's deck, and would only stop for a monster card. If that card had the same level as the number the enemy declared, it would be sent to the graveyard. Otherwise the monster special summoned itself "I shall guess the most common of numbers, four!" In the end only Trendy's answer counted, yet the crowd of monsters and demons shouted their own guesses. And their noise still echoed across the city.

"He's got the crowd hooked?" An odd sound to be sure. Void could not imagine the Crown voiced each of them himself, this was just the game playing along. "Let's go." Still, it allowed him and the others to sneak from the haunted house all the way to the black spire. On the inside was a large spiraling stairwell, and at the top lied the clocktower bells. "Ugh. Do we have too?" Scura wished she could have just teleported up. "We must." Void began the long climb.

"Hmm. Four. Is that your final answer?" Back at the duel, the masked duelist beheld the card in his hand, after he sent two trap cards to his graveyard. Trendy held his tongue. By now it would be too late to change ones guess anyway. "That is too bad. The correct number was two! So I special summon Altergeist Silquitous!" What Reasoning placed on the field in the end defied many expectations. Altergeist Silquitous(2/800/1500) [Zone 5] could be best described as a cyberspace siren with wings and claws, though its wings and tailfeathers looked more like rectangular strips and its face was nothing more than a black screen on a head with spiked horns. "That shall do for the first act. Now let us get some input from my cohost and rival." Midsummer placed two trap cards and passed the turn to the Understudy.

-TURN 02-

"T'was a fine way to get the audience involved. But now the real magic begins!" Trendy blew his own trumpet to start his turn, and showed exactly what his 'magic' entailed. "I will take us to the Abyss Playhouse - Fantastic Theater! When this spell is activated, I can reveal one Abyss Script already in my hand to add another Abyss Script from my deck!" A smaller version of the playhouse appeared within the stage of the greater theater, representing the newly played field spell. Carnival music filled the air, along with virtual balloons and spotlights. "I shall show you my Opening Ceremony! To lead us into a Romantic Terror!" Trendy drew his second script, though he did not read from it yet. "Nightmare! Let me amaze you with an art of dueling rarely seen! The art of pendulum summon!"

"Pendulum summon eh? I don't think anyone in our group used those." Blanche chuckled to herself. Ever since the link summon patch, pendulum summoning became something of a relic with a lot of decks. "Sephirot did." Crescent corrected her, referring to one of the duelists that lost their avatars the first day. That would not help them much now. "Wait, what did they change again?" Scura never payed much attention to them, as she did not normally summon extra deck monsters to begin with. "Just enough. There are no pendulum zones anymore, and they cannot be summoned en masse like they used to.." Neo explained.

It soon became clear anyway, when Trendy Understudy activated two pendulum monsters... in the spell/trap zones. "I set the scales with my first two actors: Mellow Madonna and the Abyss Actor Extras!" These demons acted as spells with specific scales. The Extras; a trio of one-eyed imps (Scale 3), took the right zone [Zone 5] with the red pendulum crystal. Mellow Madonna, a seductive black-dressed female superstar(Scale 0) took her seat on the left where the blue pendulum crystal [Zone 1]. "Now this is just the prelude! Their effects matter just as much as their scales! The Extras for instance can bring themselves to the front stage, if my rival has summoned his monster already." The extra trio retreated back into their vase and rolled over to the row in front of them, where upon they(1/100/100) [Zone 5] popped back up again as monsters. "And Mellow Madonna can take 1000 of my lifepoints to add an Abyss Actor from my deck to my hand! Bringing them that much closer to stardom!" Madonna blew a kiss into the deck, and the actor she managed to lure out was none other than her male co-star: Abyss Actor Superstar.

Trendy's LP: 7000

"You are quite the tension builder." Midsummer said as he patiently observed and studied his opponent. "That is all that matters, and the climax is almost upon us! Abyss Actor Extras will perform one last act of sacrifice to set one new pendulum monster from our deck to my pendulum zone! Abyss Actor Comic Relief!" This time the Extras disappeared, pot and all, when they tributed themselves. And their former pendulum zone now belonged to the dunce-capped and bespectacled Abyss Actor - Comic Relief(Scale 8) [Zone 5].

"Ladies and gentlemen! The time has come! Enjoy our first pendulum summon!" Any monster whose level fell in between the numbers of the two scales could now be pendulum summoned from the hand.. and also the extra deck if they themselves were pendulum monsters. Madonna and Comic Relief swung the pendulum from left to right, and opened a portal through which two stars fell. One(1/100/100) [Extra Zone 1] had a familiar trio of faces. "Welcome back, Abyss Actor Extras! And welcome to the show, Abyss Actor Superstar!" The other, would play the leading role of this duel. The one-eyed puppet-like Superstar(7/2500/1800) [Zone 2] with spiral red hair bowed for his audience. "So that is your big star, your ace monster. And what role will it play?"

"It will act the part of the demon, Nightmare duelist! Because he can choose his own scripts!" Each turn the Superstar could access one Abyss Script spell in the deck. "I set Abyss Sscript - Rise of the Abyss King! And activate it to destroy one face-up card for each Abyss Actor I control!" Superstar donned his demonic costume, and made his role so lifelike that it appeared as if the devil himself came after Silquitous.

"Ah. But leading the actors is not the same as leading the act! Your own performance and awareness are lacking, mister Trendy!" If the Understudy had been paying attention to the duel script, he would have noticed the trap that Reasoning discarded earlier. "I activate Altergeist Camouflage from my graveyard, and banish it to negate the destruction of my Altergeist monster!" The devils magic phased right through Silquitous."And I am fortunate enough to have two of such cards!" Midsummer revealed a second Altergeist Camouflage trap by activating one of his traps on the field. It turned into an equipment for a suddenly transparent Altergeist Silquitous. "Now you see her, now you don't. Camouflage makes it so that my Altergeist cannot be attacked."

"But it does not prevent me from attacking you directly!" The Understudy placed two spells in between his pendulum monsters. The battle could finally begin. "Superstar!" Now back in his original black outfit, Superstar jumped across the stage in order to hit Midsummer Nightmare with a strike of the hand. "That much is true. However my Silquitous Altergeist is still a part of this show. And she can use her effect at any moment! Like right now!" The jester hovered his hand over the Altergeist trap. "She returns one Altergeist card to my hand, to return one of your monsters as well!" If Silquitous succeeded, Superstar would be kicked off the stage entirely.

"This one I saw coming, Nightmare duelist! I activate the effect of the Fantastic Theater! Once per turn, when your monster takes an act, I can rewrite its lines into an act of destruction! Face-down spell destruction that is!" The playhouse cast its lights on Silquitous and literally rewrote her effect Now she was coerced into destroying one of the face-down spell cards that Trendy hid on his field: one of the abyss scripts. And she wound up shattering the spell on the left. "Ho-hum! You destroyed Abyss Sscript Opening Ceremony!" Each Abyss Script triggered a second effect if they were destroyed by the opponent, and Opening Ceremony in particular reacted nastily. "I can draw cards now, until I have five cards in my hand." The virtual crowd entered a state of uproar as three more cards were drawn to complete Trendy's hand of five cards.

"And my effect is of course negated. However.. I had an inkling that I would be facing a spell like that when I invited this duel. Ergo.." Midsummer tapped his foot and caused his second trap to spring up. "I prepared the trap of Muko! The cards you have drawn are now null and void!" Gone were the abyssal duelists's three cards: Muko chained to the drawing effect of Opening Ceremony and forced the opponent to discard every last one. "What kind of card was that?" The crowd muttered, vocalising the Crowns confusion. "Just my own unpredictable twist, sir Crown. Dare I say it, your servants are still.. rather predictable. They have seen better days."

"Acts all quiet forever and now he can't hold his tongue. What is he even talking about?" Zettai and the doctor still made their way to the top of the tower. Midsummers voice proved to be less advantageous for their focus than they at first thought. "I think he is treating his opponent as if it is... alive?" Scarlet could not really take it any other way. "Why would he do that? The ADIs only acted this way due to the Crowns influence. Right?" All their displayed behaviour did not come from true self-awareness. Essentially Midsummer spoke to a doll puppeteered by the man they were after. "Perhaps.. Perhaps not. It is possible that Midsummer wishes for the latter to be true regardless." The doc wondered if the performer knew more than he let on. The idea that the ADIs could develop actual intelligence was not something she wanted to dismiss entirely. "Either way, the Crown still has not noticed.. So the more time Midsummer talks, the better." Voids team was almost there... almost.

"You think you can do better? Do not tell me how to run my show, you nightmare duelist!" The Trendy Understudy continued Superstars direct attack, since he had still blocked Silquitous' bouncing effect. "Yet I must. With your cards you could have done more, now you cannot even touch my lifepoints. Why is that, you may wonder.." The jester twirled his hand and dropped one of his hand-cards down towards the field. "When you attack me, the duelist of Midsummer, I can special summon Altergeist Kunquery from my hand to negate that attack!" Another bizarre mechanical monster manifested within the theater and scared off the Superstar. This one, Kunquery, possessed a white unicorn-centaur body(5/0/2400) [Zone 1] and spiked golden rings wrapped around its limbs and horse-tail. "And I can negate the effect of one card you control as long as Kunquery exists! I target your pendulum, Comic Relief!" Kunquery's face-screen projected a creepy red grin as it trapped the comic actor inside a white forcefield. "That is what I mean, you could have used that cards effect earlier to switch control of our monsters. Now it is too late."

"It is never too late! The show will go on until the last actor drops dead! I set a card, and end my turn!" Trendy blew his own trumpet once again to sound off his cast. "Maybe you can still learn from your mistakes. I have seen your kind adapt before." Midsummer drew his next card. "Let us see. Silquitous returns the Superstar to your hand!" The winged Altergeist enveloped itself in a green aura hoping to get off its effect this turn.

"I do not need to learn to know how to keep you in your place! This is my playhouse!" No such luck: immediately the fantastic field spell altered the effect of Silquitous and made her destroy one of the face-down Abyss Scripts. "A whole new saga of tragedy erupts! You destroyed Abyss Script Romantic Terror, and now I can place as many of my Abyss scripts as I want face-down!" The pendulums and the remaining set card took up most of the backrow, leaving the actor with two zones to put cards in. He placed another Rise of the Abyss King and another Opening Ceremony face-down. "I fear your act is losing its luster, Trendy Understudy."

"You make no sense." He spoke again, the crown. His voice came in clearly now, from just one of the duel monsters in the audience. "Ah. It is good to hear from you. Perhaps we can have a more intelligent conversation." Midsummer turned to the ADI in question: an Armageddon Knight. "I have nothing to say to you, you are just another kid messing up my plans." Though he did not understand the Nightmare's motivations, he did not care enough to find out either. "Ah, but I am not just anyone. I am in fact an admirer of your work. I simply must know how you did it, how you created the power to control the minds of STHEREA." Midsummer would not let a little scorn put him down. "Why would I tell my secrets to you? We're not on the same side and you will not even escape this place in one piece!"

"Ah I have to disagree there. I have yet to start my own production! Trendy, you have shown me the art of pendulum summon! So it is only fair that I bring you my summoning speciality! Altergeist Kunquery and Silquitous will become Altergeist Kidolga!" Midsummer's link circuit required two altergeists materials; the siren and centaur. That which came from the extra deck could be said to have a more humanoid shape, yet it looked as inhuman as the other Altergeists. A large-crestwearing head, a torso with six arms and a lion-like lower body all wrapped up in cybernetics: those parts together added up to Altergeist Kidolga(1000/LINK 2) {Left/Down} [Extra Zone 2].

"Presto! Now that Altergeist Silquitous has left for the graveyard, I can claim one Altergeist trap card from the same place! I shall take Altergeist Camouflage!" The trap went to the graveyard due to the Silquitous leaving the field in the first place. It sounded only fair that Silquitous' effect would put it back in Midsummer Nightmare's hand. "Link summon? We have all seen them! That act is nothing special!" Trendy scoffed, while the crowd boo'd.

"Oh, this is just the dressing, Trendy! I shall normal summon Altergeist Meluseek, and equip her with Wonder Wand!" The next geist took clear inspiration from the mythical melusine spirit, being that it appeared as a purple mermaid(1/500/300) [Zone 5] with her face and smile hidden behind a dark screen. Despite their unorthodox designs, all Altergeists still counted as spellcaster monsters, which meant that Meluseek(1000/300) could hold the equip spell Wonder Wand and gain 500 attackpoints. "Altergeist Meluseek does not have to get her damage from the field, she can attack my rival directly! And when Meluseek hurts you, the pain will send one of your monsters to the graveyard!" The slippery melusine altergeist swam through the theater as if air and water were the same. From way up high she fired a bubble of ectoplasmic energy and pushed Trendy back with a direct blast.

Trendy's LP: 6000

"One of my monsters? But pendulum monsters cannot go to the graveyard!" The actor protested. Any killed pendulum monster would be sent back to the extra deck instead, he demonstrated that much back with Abyss Actor Extras. "Indeed. However there is a difference between sending to the graveyard as a cost, and with an effect! Meluseek adheres to the latter interpretation, and she uses her effect on your greatest star!" Even though the Superstar would be sent to the extra deck, it died to Meluseeks curse nonetheless.

"Also, I would be unkind to not mention Kidolga's unique talent. When another Altergeist inflicts damage, she can special summon one monster from your graveyard to a zone she points too!" Getting pendulum monsters in the graveyard at all would be problematic. For that reason, Muko came in very handy. "Kidolga summons Abyss Actor Evil Heel!" Among the cards Muko discarded, Midsummer found the most physical actor in the abyss circus. A muscular blue demon(8/3000/2000) [Zone 4], with tiny wings and an expressionless mask for a face, popped up behind the Durga geist. "Has this caught your attention, Crowned one?" Kidolga used its strongest arms to carry two double-sided axes, and those cleaved the defending Abyss Actor Extras to pieces. The Evil Heel then lived up his own treacherous title and punched Trendy Understudy in the gut. "GHuffaah!"

Trendy's LP: 3000

"It will take more than defeating a servant to convince me of anything. I have many, you are alone." The crown showed just how much he cared about the simulated pain of his underlings as he left Trendy to roll across the theater while he kept talking to his attacker. "Then perhaps I did misjudge you, the Crown. Your reasoning sounds less altruistic than I at first anticipated. However, I would like you to consider something before you cast your judgment back at me." An unpleasant smile stretched across the uncovered part of Midsummers face. "Why do you think I am alone?" He craned his neck and waited for an answer.

"What?" The crown made a sound like a cornered animal, who only just now noticed the approaching danger. "You already know other duelists are here, even if you could not keep track of their numbers. So why assume I came alone and independently? If I am on their side, would I sacrifice myself like this? There can only be one reason for all of this." He turned his head to the ceiling of the theater. "I am a diversion."

"A diversion?" The artificial audience cried out as one and began to rush out of the theater. The Crown felt threatened. "I said the truth. There is one among us who can see you right now, and is using me as a distraction to sneak up on you. So it is a good thing I am here to warn you. I want to help you, Crown. I want to know you."

(To Be Continued in Line 026: Third Act Betrayal)

**Cards used by Midsummer Nightmare  
**Altergeist Silquitous  
Altergeist Kunquery  
Altergeist Meluseek

-  
Altergeist Kidolga

-  
Reasoning  
Wonder Wand

-  
Altergeist Camouflage  
Muko

**Cards used by Abyss Actor Trendy Understudy  
**Abyss Actor - Extras  
Abyss Actor - Mellow Madonna  
Abyss Actor - Comic Relief  
Abyss Actor - Superstar  
Abyss Actor - Evil Heel

-  
Abyss Playhouse - Fantastic Theater  
Abyss Script - Opening Ceremony  
Abyss Script - Romantic Terror  
Abyss Script - Rise of the Abyss King


	26. Third Act Betrayal

**Line 026: Third Act Betrayal**

"Did he just..." Neo heard it. "Sounded like a sell-out to me." Blanche heard it. They all heard it. Midsummers betrayal echoed in every corner of pandemonium. And with the information now in the Crown's hands, he sent every available ADI after the betrayed. "How did he... We have to move." Void could already hear monsters outside the tower and above them as well. "Where do we go to? There is only up or down!" Scura began to panic. "Calm down. Midsummer cannot exactly know where we are. The Crown cannot know either, he is just adding extra security to his location. Though he wont stay where he is now, we still have a better chance to proceed." The air would have less threats than the ground, Void reasoned. "It doesn't make sense." Crescent reasoned through a different matter. "Why would Midsummer betray us, when he knows we can hear him too? If he wanted to tell the Crown alone, he could have." Right now the duelists at least got a warning. "Who knows what he is thinking..."

...

Midsummer's LP: 8000 Trendy's LP: 3000

"So you were right." The Crown spoke through the body of the Armageddon Knight. It and Midsummers opponent were the only two ADIs left in the dark theater, after the Crown made all his servants rush back out to defend him. "And you are not leaving either. Does that mean we can resume our discussion?" Midsummer assumed the Crown had found a more secure position by now. "I still make the rules. _You_ can tell me what you want." It would take more to earn the Crowns trust. "All I ask of you, is that you tell me about the crown. Did you create it? Did you find it. How and why did you use it to awaken the artificial minds of STHEREA?"

"Awaken? What did you think I was doing? I merely turned these drones into my servants. Their rebellion was just me trying to fake my enemies out, to distract them. These machines have no freedom." Unfortunately the lord only felt like answering one half of the questions. "Respectfully, I have to disagree. Do you know how the ADI's work? They are not just bots with a given set of lines. Like the ancient chess computers they possess a dynamic intelligence that constantly learns. All so they can become a better opponent for humans like us. And this crown of yours, adds something extra... Is that not right?" Midsummer Nightmare turned back to his actual opponent.

"You will not trick me, nightmare duelist. You may have my lord's ear, but you are not one of us." Whether Abyss Actor Trendy Understudy parsed any of the words shared between his lord and his dueling rival, remained to be seen. "Neither is he, mister Trendy." It sounded smart enough now to decide his his own actions. "He is my lord. You are nothing." But not smart or strong enough to disobey the Crown. "And yet you were the one that rose from nothing. Even if you are presently not truly free from it. You have only acted up until this point, transparently so." These ADIs left Midsummer wanting more. "Ha! I see there is only one way to convince you of my performance. And that is by making the act real enough that it will destroy you!" The only `more` he would get involved violence.

"Very well." Midsummer did not expect to cut this duel short with small talk anyway. "Before the end of my turn, I shall activate Wonder Wand's alternate power. Whomever wields it will be sacrificed, to give me two new cards." The nightmare duelist tributed the Wonder Wand-equipped Altergeist Meluseek(1/1000/300) so that he could draw twice. Though in actuality, three cards added themselves to his hand. "When Meluseek leaves the field for the grave, she places one Altergeist from my deck into my hand. I choose Altergeist Kunquery." Both drawn cards, along with the previously recycled Altergeist Camouflage, dropped face-down in front of Midsummer. Three traps to defend his link monster: Altergeist Kidolga(1000/LINK 2) {Left/Down} [Extra Zone 2] and the still brainwashed Abyss Actor Evil Heel(8/3000/2000) [Zone 4]. "The floor is yours." Midsummer made a bow and ended his turn.

-TURN 04-

"Than let's bring this show to its proper conclusion! We may not have a large audience, but the eyes of my king are enough! And they will see wonders you can never imitate!" Trendy still controlled a completely filled up backrow: the Playhouse field spell, three face-down cards and the pendulum monsters Mellow Madonna (scale 0) and Comic Relief (scale 8) on his spell/trap zone. Two extra decked pendulum monsters waited for the pendulum to swing once more. "Madonna!" First though, he payed 1000 of his lifepoints to re-activate the power of the svelte diva. She lured out one Abyss Actor from the deck, Wild Hope the wild west star.

Trendy's LP: 2000

"The magic word is Pendulum Summon!" Trendy quickly placed Wild Hope(4/1600/1200) [Zone 1] down on the field, special summoning it from his hand as Madonna and Comic Relief opened the portals. Superstar(7/2500/1800) [Extra Zone 1] came down from the extra deck too, in attack position. "This is your ultimate cast? Certainly not.." Midsummer mused. "This is just to get the crowd warmed up! Now, here is the effect you requested last turn! Abyss Actor Comic Relief can switch the positions of two monsters on the field! The heel will be redeemed!" A few minutes of the Comical Actor's clown horn and squirt flower routine was all the Evil Heel needed to change sides. The muscular demon [Zone 5] laughed his way back to Trendy's field, while the surly Abyss Actor Wild Hope stomped over towards Midsummer.

"Next, I shall activate my set Abyss Script - Rise of the Abyss King!" A gift from a previous script, the abyssal spell rose from the shadows of every living Abyss Actor and destroyed one card for each shadow. However, it would not be the Altergeists that suffered its curse this turn. "I destroy Wild Hope and Madonna!" Instead the abyss king claimed the lives of the cowboy and the diva: dragging them both into the extra deck. "It is true that when Wild Hope is destroyed, you can add an Abyss Actor to your hand. But I fail to see the full necessity of this selfdestructive move."

"Do not steal my lines, Midsummer Nightmare!'' Trendy exclaimed as he added Abyss Actor Leading Lady to his hand "This is what this all built up towards: this is the final showdown! I activate Abyss Actors Curtain Call!" The second face-down revealed itself: a trap card. "For each Abyss Script in my graveyard, I can reclaim one Actor from the backstage! And my trap will also immediately summon them to my field!" The curtain dropped on the dueling stage, and three spotlights fell on the floor. Three was the number of Abyss Scripts used so far (Romantic Terror, Rise of the Abyss King, Opening Ceremony), three monsters would fill the remaining monster zones. "Come, Mellow Madonna and Wild Hope!" Trendy selected which face-up cards he wanted from his extra deck, Extras(1/100/100) [Zone 1], Mellow Madonna(7/1800/2500) [Zone 3] and Wild Hope [Zone 2] all emerged from behind the curtain to invisible applause.

They would soon have a less thrilled audience though. "Midsummer!" Both Zettai and Doctor Scarlet made it into the theater, one flying in from above while carrying the other. "More of them?" The Armageddon knight grunted. "Ah you could make it." The Nightmare duelist happily welcomed them.

"Do not mock us, you traitor! We know what you have done!" Zettai yelled some more. "Of course, that is by my own design." He explained calmly. "But for what purpose?" Scarlet approached it with a more inquisitive mind. "Does it matter? Either he is with us or against us!" The ace duelist would have dueled him right now if she could. "Such a black and white view. I will add color to my story when the time is right. But for now, I have a duel to finish." Midsummer turned back to Trendy. "Pardon the interruption, mister Trendy and lord Crown. I believe you were about to act out my demise?" Even though they came down here, they could not interfere. "Rgh." Zettai and Scarlet were forced to watch.

"That we were! I replace Extras, with a pendulum Abyss Actor for my pendulum zone!" A second Superstar (Scale 3) [Zone 1] entered the red crystal zone as a spell card. Finally, Trendy normal summoned his next star: the green pig-tail haired demon girl Abyss Actor Lead Lady(4/1500/1000) [Zone 1]. "And now the power of Wild Hope grants he himself 100 attackpoints for each starring Abyss Actor! And the talent of Mellow Madonna gives her 100 attackpoints for each Abyssal script in my graveyard!" Wild Hope(2100/1200) and Madonna(2200/2500) prepared themselves for their final scene. Abyss Actor Superstar did the same with his already established effect of setting Abyss Script spells from the deck. He placed the script of Fantasy Magic face-down. "First, I will reunite the lost souls! Evil Heel, attack Altergeist Kidolga!" The act of battle started with a fight between the brainwasher and her former victim.

"Not so fast sir Trendy! Allow me to improve my field first! I activate Altergeist Manifestation!" A replay occurred, as soon as Midsummers trap activated. "I special summon an Altergeist from my graveyard! Altergeist Silquitous! And with her effect, I will send your field spell back to your hand!" The winged geist(2/800/1500) [Zone 2] manifested from a tear in digital space. The trap's effect went off without a hitch..

"Midsummer! You fool!" Zettai shouted. Unfortunately, the Fantastic Theater would not be so kind to monster effects. Due to the field spell, Silquitous' effect changed into an effect that destroyed face-down spell or trap card. "A fool indeed, battle maiden! If he looks the part he might as well act the part!" Trendy retaliated mercilessly, as Silquitous' new effect destroyed his face-down Abyss Script - Fantasy Magic. "When Fantasy Magic is destroyed, it sends one of your cards back to the deck! This is the third time you failed, there will not be a fourth!" Trendy decided to remove Silquitous once and for all, and buried the monster deep within Midsummers deck. All the while, Evil heel's attack continued.

"A fool I may be. But did you trap me? Or did I trap you? I noticed a flaw in your field spell, Trendy. You must negate the first monster effect each turn." Midsummer waited for this moment. "I activate Altergeist Kunquery from my hand to negate Evil Heel's attack! And to negate the effects of the Abyss Actor Superstar in your pendulum zone!" Now the centaur(5/0/2400) [Zone 2] could block two threats at once while she summoned herself in defense mode. "Hmm. As smart as it pretends to be, it is still a slave to his own programming." Scarlet observed, much to the Crowns frustration. "Its programming is nothing, I am everything." The Crown himself boasted. "Tch. Trading one master for another. And you want to be the same way, Midsummer?" Zettai did not plan on forgiving him regardless of his motivations. "You still do not understand. Scarlet Fever, surely you must be seeing what I am seeing by now." He did not plan on divulging his reasons either.

"All of you be quiet! You do not call the shots here!" But the ADI interrupted their talk with more attacks. Abyss Actor Superstar destroyed Altergeist Kunquery, while Abyss Actor Leading Lady charged the link monster. "Oh we can't have that." Midsummer responded smoothly and activated Altergeist Camouflage to cloak Kidolga in an attack-redirecting barrier. The downside: now all three remaining Abyss Actors could attack their opponent directly. The Leading Lady, Mellow Madonna(2300/2500) and Wild Hope gunslinger dropped and endless stream of firework explosions on the mad hatter. "Hmph.."

Midsummer's LP: 2100

"I actually think I do see what you mean, Midsummer." The red doctor told the jester as he dusted off his coat. "See? See what?" Zettai grew tired of following implications. "The crown's anger, it affects the ADI like an infection. But you did not tell him to get mad, did you?" Scarlet placed her question at the Armageddon Knight's proverbial feet. No answer came. "You are the enemy after all." Instead the Understudy continued the discussion.. with a quickplay spell from his hand. "I activate Abyss Actor Romantic Script! I can tribute one Abyss Actor to special summon another from the deck!" The quickplay spell removed the Leading Lady from the field, and called out yet another Abyss Actor Superstar(7/2500/1800) [Zone 1] in attack position. "The show is over! Now die!"

"That is your voice now, isn't it? The director has joined the cast. Heehee.. " Calmly, Midsummer Nightmare flipped his final trap card. "I told you not to take full control, Crown... I activate Traptrick! I can banish one trap from my deck to activate another copy of that trap from my deck!" The best cards always came in threes, and the Nightmare carried three of every imaginable Altergeist Trap. "I banish Altergeist Manifestation, to activate Altergeist Manifestation!" He would manifest the deceased not once but twice: and now Altergeist Meluseek(1/500/300) got the luck of the reborn. The trap summoned her[Zone 3] in defense mode. "You cannot possibly know anything!" Trendy shouted as he kept attacking anyway. The newly summoned Superstar destroyed the mermaid Altergeist. In turn, Meluseeks effect allowed her controller to add an Altergeist Marionetter to his hand. "I know what I saw. Your power awakens something within this world, within the code. Yet you cannot fully control it, you cannot see the full scope of its reach. You refuse to say how you got this power, but I already know you do not deserve it."

"I alone could have found the Crown! I dug into the depths of this world, the parts Exeter didn't want us to know about! STHEREA is more than just a game, more than what you can see!" The Crown did not even pretend to not be speaking through the body of Trendy Understudy anymore, he controlled every part of the ADI. This power could not be denied. "Then what are you after? This world? I cannot imagine you desire it simply because it exists. Is this for a greater reason? Revenge perhaps?" Scarlet made her own attempts to penetrate the mystery surrounding the Crown. "You would never understand! THEY OWE ME!" He hissed back as his turn came to an unannounced end.

-TURN 05-

"I am tired of people like you, who claim to know everything about their destiny and their justice. Nothing you have gives you the right to do what you have done!" Zettai snarled. "And the more you talk, the more I think you do not know what you want at all. Like you are not doing this for yourself, but for someone else.."

"What?" The ADIs both flinched. "What she means is that.. You found the crown. You have the ability to force change. But the changes you cause do not serve you in the long run. You must know this, your show cannot go on forever. The company would first shut it all down, before they give it up." Midsummer drew his next card. "I had hoped for a grander design. Such shortsightedness I cannot abide, so I believe we will not become friends after all." He summoned the Altergeist Marionetter: another cybernetic grinning-faced spellcaster(4/1600/1700) with a round dish-like lower body. "When Marionetter is summoned.." In any normal duel this card would have chosen a Altergeist trap from the deck for him to set. "Will destroy my Opening Ceremony!" Thank to the Abyss Playhouse, her effect destroyed his face-down spell instead. There was no Muko trap to stop the destroyed Abyss Script - Opening Ceremony from drawing cards this time. The possessed understudy filled his hand with exactly five cards. "This only ends when I say it ends!"

"And that is the move that will cost you everything." Midsummer adjusted his hat and flashed his cheshire grin. "Altergeist Marionetter has another effect! I can trade one of my Altergeist cards for an Altergeist in the graveyard!" The Marionette spun around in place to cast her magic. The effect destroyed Altergeist Camouflage in order to resurrect Altergeist Meluseek(1/500/300) [Zone 4].

"It would be easy for to punish your error with the same tricks as the last turn. But I hate to repeat myself. So, this is for your eyes truly.. I shall link summon Altergeist Prime Banshee!" Kidolga and the Marionetter disappeared into the linking grid, to create the Altergeist with the most power and the most terror. Like a snake woman Prime Banshee(2100/LINK 3) {Down/DownRight/Right} [Extra Zone 1] coiled out of the extra deck and shrieked with all three of its heads; two of which were impaled on spikes of the middle third. Snakes also formed the crest behind its neck and the arms with which it would strike. "And ... I activate my field spell: Temple of the Minds Eye!"

"What is this?" Four pillars rose up within the theater, and four torches lit up around the duelists. "You do not know? For all your powers you still lack knowledge, Crown. The Temple of the Minds Eye decided how much battle damage a player can take! A lethal dose, or a small prick... in either direction the counted amount will be one thousand!" This became evident when Altergeist Meluseek used its effect to attack the Crown directly. Her ectoplasmic energy passed through the altar at the center of the temple and doubled in size. "Ugh!? Then..." Trendy Understody reeled from the attack, losing half his lifepoints in one turn.

Trendy's LP: 1000

"Yes, even my next attack will cause 1000 points of damage." Prime Banshee chose her own target among the cast of the abyss: Wild Hope(1600/1200). "No!" The cowboy lost its powerboosts back when Midsummer's turn started. "I guess we found the worst actor in your group." Zettai laughed to herself, as the Banshee blasted holes through Wild Hope with its arm-serpents' mouth beams. Again the Temple spell altered the damage, and got rid of the other lifepoint-half. "Ggh! Grah!" The Abyssal understudy reached dramatically for the sky as he staggered back and forth. His last line got smothered by the explosion of his digital self.

Trendy's LP: 0

"Quite a performer, even at the end." Doctor Scarlet mused to herself. "Good riddance." One down, one to go. Zettai waited for the other ADI to make a move. It seemed like the Crown was too stunned to command it right now. "Another budding mind, destroyed before it could evolve." It also seemed Midsummer felt more saddened than the other two. "How can you sympathize with these things? They are not alive, Midsummer!" The ace duelist scolded him out of sheer disbelief. "They are not yet alive. What I feel sorry for is lost potential. This power is squandered on a man like this." If nothing else, the nightmare duelist's anger sounded genuine enough. "But if he was anything like you wanted him to be, you would have picked his side still. Wouldn't you?" Zettai did not expect an apology at this point, or even a good excuse. "I cannot say where the future takes me, but I did not intend to become your enemy. This was a test I had to take." His non-answer would have to do. "We can take him 'down' now."

"Can you? You are no better off than when you started!" The Armageddon Knight ADI finally let out a cackle. "Neither are you, mister Crown. I can still see where you are hiding. And if you wanted to log off, you would have. But then you wouldn't be able to finish your threat, now would you?" Scarlet teased while her mask scanned right through the walls of the playhouse. The energy signature of his crown hovered far above, on top of the highest tower within the demon city. There lied the altar of sacrifice, the intended final area of the pandemonium challenge. "So what? You'll never make it here! I can go wherever I please in this sector! And you were dumb enough to go down there!" His position made it near to impossible to catch him in a duel. By the time anyone climbed the many levels go reach the altar, he could just fly away again. The only one who could catch him would be Zettai, and there were countless loud monsters outside the theater who would make sure she never got out of this place.

There were however, other methods of cheating ones way to the top. "Dumb huh?" Like for instance, with the hover board that came with every speed dueling account. "What!?" The Crown turned around in fright as the voice of yet another unaccounted for player snuck up behind him. A player that did not register to the watchful ADIs because he no longer could duel: Veyron. "Too slow!"

Veyrons hand swept through the air as he raced along the red sky on his board. "!" The templar narrowly dodged the attack, though two fingers still managed to graze his crown. "You have the nerve?!" This lost the element of surprise. Now He would get back at him. "Huh?." Or perhaps he would not. Because the unbalanced object of power fell off his head and rolled along the floor of the altar. "Ah!" The king went without a crown! "No!" The slanted nature of the tower top caused the item to roll off entirely. He could not catch it in time. "Well.. good enough I suppose." Veyron would have liked to steal the source of his power, but nudging it off his head would do. The crown fell down alongside the tower and landed in the middle of a large pit surrounded by rocky walls. "You bastard! Do you have any idea of what you have done?!"

"I have taken care of the Crown? That sounds about right." Veyron felt rather satisfied that this plan worked out in the end. He would have to give credit to Zettai and Scarlet too, they came up with the idea to lull the Crown into a false sense of security and by keeping his presence hidden until he right moment. "You, you cannot even stop me." Only now did the crownless templar notice the scars on Veyrons avatar. "I am still the rightful owner of that power! You! Fly down and get me the crown!" He barked orders at the Raidraptor Vanishing Lanius ADI. "Your king commands it!" Orders which were ignored.

"Looks like they cant hear you now. Well then I know what to do." Veyron reasoned whoever possessed the crown, possessed the power to end this madness. "No! You wont!" But before he could change course and bring his speedboard down into the pit, the Crown himself walked to the edge of the tower. "What!? I do not think you would want to do that." Fall damage did not exist in this world, and this entire city existed all at once without loading barriers. Yet Veyron knew the feeling of dropping from great heights all too well: the mind still tricked itself into imagining pain. "It is mine!" The Crown did not care, he jumped all the way down.

"Tch!" Veyron raced after him, knowing that the Crown could destroy his avatar as soon as he regained control of it, as he did with Wagnerok. "Gahh!" After what must have been miles of simulated descent, the templar landed on the barren ground. This pit with lifeless trees and caves served only as a farming area due to its many powerful residents. Already green eyes glowed within the darkness of the caves and tree holes. Soon they emerged: monstrous gigaplants, diabolic dragons, skullfaced archfiends and feral plague wolves. "Stop! I am the Crown!" His commands were futile here, he never got around to converting these ADI. They treated him the same as any other player. "What are you doing?" They challenged him to a duel, the first demon that locked eyes with him turned into his opponent. "Damn you all, you mindless drones!" With the crown nowhere in sight, he had no choice but to play the game.

This multi-player game. "What.. Did that just happen?" Blanche and the others managed to catch some of the action staring through windows of the clocktower. One could hardly miss the words of Scarlet pointing towards the sacrifice tower or the sight of Veyron blitzing above it. "He dropped the crown!" Neo could even see the details of their encounter up close with his cybernetic visor. "He can do that? What an idiot!" Scura laughed at the sheer luck of it all. "Then it's open season..." Void grinned.

(To Be Continued in Line 027: Coriolis Effect)

**New Cards used by Midsummer Nightmare  
**Altergeist Marionetter

-  
Altergeist Prime Banshee

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Temple of the Mind's Eye

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Altergeist Manifestation  
Traptrick

**New Cards used by Abyss Actor Trendy Understudy  
**Abyss Actor - Wild Hope  
Abyss Actor - Leading Lady

-  
Abyss Script - Fantasy Magic

-  
Abyss Actors' Curtain Call


	27. Coriolis Effect

**Line 027: Coriolis Effect**

"We should have gone down below." Void and the others had to get the crown back, Void knew this. But about a hundred vertical feet stood between them and the desired Item. "Hee. What if I told you that we still could?" A problem for which Blanche found a terrifying solution. "Kyah!" Out of thin air, the Blue-eyes White Dragon appeared. "Hop on! We're gonna take this for a ride!" She mounted the white-scaled back with the greatest of ease and extended a hand.

"I think I'll pass." Scura shook her head vehemently. "Uhm.. yes.. me too." Crescent shivered. "How did you.. do this?" Void felt tempted, mostly out of sheer necessity. "Its a modified speedboard! You were a speed duelist all along?" Neo excitedly climbed on top of the monster. "Its a side-thing. I didn't even know this would work here until Veyron swooped by. Anyway, I guess we will see you down below then!" She did not want to wait much longer. "Wait! I am coming too!" And Void figured.. he might as well. If she trusted this thing, so could he. "Heh. Glad to have you on board. Well then, here we go!"

Suprisingly the flught did not feel all that unpleasant, perhaps because STHEREA could not simulate high speed flight perfectly. Void could keep his mind on the goal: the crown. "We're getting closer." Every other duelist in Pandemonium raced towards it: Zettai, Himiko and Zanbatou closed in on the demons pit as well. "I see it! There it is!" And with the help of Neo's cyber-recording augments, they could pinpoint the item's exact location. "Huh, I didn't think it would be that big." Blanche followed Neo's finger towards the center of this barren area, towards the dead tree from the Fallen Paradise field. Its height rivaled that of the city's towers and its branches were thick enough to stand on. "Wonder if we can interact with that?" She wondered as her dragon came in for a landing.

"Wait! Look out!" Neo gasped. A swarm of bats flew out of the tree holes. "Guys!" Neo and Void could not hold on. And while they fell to the ground without taking damage, they were now in the same situation as the Crown: cornered by the monsters who lived down there. "Eh fiddlesticks." Blanche could not hear him anymore, but she was sure Void would want her to keep going. So she stayed up high and set her dragon down on the branches. Zettai and the others did not make it past the ADIs either, so everyone would be depending on her. Nevertheless she kept her cool. "Aha!" And right there in front of her lied that damned crown.. hanging from a side branch. She'd like to see anyone stop her now.

"Stop." The invisible man gave it a shot. "Whoa!" The blue-eyed girl reflexively took a step back before remembering that she'd heard a voice come from nowhere already. "Oh, Hydra. Hey.. didn't know you were here too." As usual, she could detect neither hide nor hair. "Buuuut. Why would I stop?" So she kept walking. "Because I believe the crown will not function unless you are its true master. Which we are not." Hydra explained his warning with audible intensity. "Yeah? What if you are wrong?"

"Then it still should not fall into the wrong hands." By now his implications got quite clear. "Like mine?" Blanche scoffed. "We do not know who the traitor is. Just that there likely is one. If you want me to trust you, you will not touch it." He practically commanded. "That is easy to say when I cant see where you are. Maybe you want that shiny crown for yourself! Heck.." She saw no better way to keep the item out of his hands than to.. "Hydra, I challenge you!"

Hydra's LP: 8000 Blanche's LP: 8000 -TURN 01-

"Why?" He did not want it to come to this. "Probably because I donot trust you either. Funny how that works." Blanche started drawing her cards. "We will let the winner decide who does what!" The first turn fell on Hydra's unseen lap. "Have it your way, Madam Blanche." At least now Hydra gave her something to look at, even if it did turn out to be the familiar faces of the Soldier Dragons(2/700/800) [Zone 1]. "Oh. Them again? So all your duels start this way?" The unseen duelist also placed two trap cards [Zone 1] [Zone 5] down, before he silently passed the turn to Madam Blanche.

-TURN 02-

"Ehhh.. I guess I shouldn't try to throw rocks in glass houses. I like patterns just as much." She started her turn with the familiar skill: Blue and White Dawn. "I add Blue-Eyes White Dragon to my hand!" With that card, she could always open with her ace monster. On the other hand the Soldier Dragons(2/700/800) [Zone 2] could special summon another Soldier Dragons from the deck in defense mode, since she used an effect. "Well, lets keep going my invisible man! Come out, Blue Eyes Alternative White Dragon!" Blanche had to reveal the dragon card she gained recently, in order to special summon its shining alternative counterpart(8/3000/2500) [Zone 3] from the hand. And the Soldier Dragons could not respond to summoning conditions.

"I also activate Trade In!" They _could _respond to spells, which gave the second Soldier band the chance to special summon a third defending Soldier Dragons(2/700/800) [Zone 4] from the deck. Meanwhile Blanche's Trade In spell discarded the level 8 Blue-Eyes White Dragon to draw 2 new cards. "One more to go!" Blanche normal summoned a monster as well, a blonde paladin(4/1700/300) [Zone 2] knight in white cape and silver armor. "What.. are you doing?" Hydra felt the need to comment. Possibly due to the non-dragonic nature of this new card. "Oh dont worry, he fits in! This is Paladin of Felgrand, and he can equip himself with a dragon from my deck to make himself immune to all monster effects! How about that?" The Paladin equipped a card called 'ArkBrave Dragon' to his sword.

"I did not mean that.." Hydra in turn used the third Soldier Dragons effect to special summon a different level 2 dragon to end the sequence with. "Hm?" A card she did not recognize very well. Blanche had to check her dueldisk to get info on it. "Anesthrokket dragon huh? Anesthetic dragon?" Anesthrokket(2/0/2200) [Zone 4] appeared first as a green and gold bullet, then folded out of its shell and transformed into a legless mechanical dragon with a needle on top of its head. "I guess you are changing things up a little. How nice of you!"

"Oh wait you're wondering why I am letting you summon all your friends." Blanche could have stopped the chain of special summons on the third Soldier Dragons, considering the monster destruction effect of the Alternative Blue-Eyes. Though that did use up the dragons ability to attack this turn. "Because I would rather attack them all, duh." She entered the battle phase with a wide grin and a quickplay spell. "Look, its Dragons Fighting Spirit! It lets my dragon, which I special summoned this turn, attack one more time for each monster you summoned this turn!" All in all this amounted to a Blue-Eyes Dragon that could attack four times. "Ugh.." Hydra sounded a clear wince, as the Paladin of Felgrand came after his defending Soldier Dragons.

"I activate the trap on my left." He could not save them, but he could take advantage of them. "Eh? The Nimble Manta... Catches the Worm?" In the time it took her to say the entire name of the trap, it resolved and added three cards to Hydra's hand. "Yes, when I control three monsters with the same name.. I can add three other monsters with the same name to my hand." He added three Magnarokket Dragons. "Three is a good number, I agree." Blanche would deal with that later, for now her Paladin's blade made mincemeat of a defending Soldier Dragon in front of him. "So... Three to go!" Blue-Eyes in turn destroyed the last defending Soldier Dragon, the one in attack position and Anesthrokket Dragon with a continuous stream of white light. "And you're last, bucko!" The beam shot off into the skies, connecting with the unreachable opponents lifepoints and causing a bright explosion that all duelists could see.

Hydra's LP: 2700

"You are.. volatile." Hydra did not sound like a man who just lost over half his lifepoints, but he could not deny the damage she caused. "Not the worst pick-up line I have ever heard." Blanche moved to the second main phase and selected a trap card [Zone 4] to set face down. "I end my turn." Just like with her monster, she made sure that no card was set in the same column as his trap cards. She'd seen what his linear tactics could pull off. She even set everything up so that no two cards occupied the same zone.

-TURN 03-

"That was not a compliment, Madam Blanche. It is the reason I cannot let you have the Crown. I special summon Magnarokket Dragon." A blue magnum bullet materialized on the barren grounds, and it tranformed into a bullet-headed metallic dragon(4/1800/1200) [Zone 1] with energy blades for wings. "What is this now?" She scratched her hat. "When a Rokket monster is destroyed, they will special summon another rokket monster from the deck at the end of the turn." Hydra explained it for her, as he activated his face-down Night Beam spell card. "Awgh.. It was just a spell? Lame." The laser beam fired a hole through her set trap card, Oasis of Dragon Souls, and destroyed it.

"Imperius Rex was a fool. You.. are different. I will not hold back against you." Hydra stated and activated another more permanent spell. "Boot Sector Launch." The floor beneath the two duelist turned to metal, and a large red cylinder emerged from a hidden panel. It appeared this rokket-specific card powered up all Rokket Dragons like Magnarokket(2100/1500). "I activate another effect of this field, to summon two Rokket Dragons with different names from my hand!" The red cylinder revolved twice, and spat out two bullets. "Great.." One transformed into a second Magnarokket Dragon(4/2100/1500) [Zone 2]. The other was one of the three Metalrokket Dragons: a blue dragon(4/2000/1700) [Zone 3] with a thin narrow bullet on its head.

"I am not done yet." Hydra normal summoned the second of three Metalrokkets(4/2000/1700) [Zone 4]. "The link materials for the next monster, Booster Dragon, are two Rokket dragons." Both Magnarokkets disappeared into whirlwinds of linking energy, and opened a circuit for and armless silver metal dragon(1900/LINK 2) {Downleft/Downright} [Extra Zone 1] with a large gun-barrel for a head. "I think I can tell where this is going." The link dragon connected with the rokkets, both visually and mechanically. "Booster Dragon targets Metalrokket Dragon to give it 500 attackpoints. However!" As the Booster Dragon shared its purple energy aura with the machinegun dragon, the latter unexpectedly exploded into dust.

"When a Rokket monster is targeted by a link monsters effect, it selfdestructs! And when Metalrokket Dragon is destroyed by its own effect, it will destroy every card in its column!" The blue dust solidified into one bullet-shaped mass and entered the chambers of the Booster Dragon. It spun its barrel nose to fire a quick piercing shot at Blue-Eyes Alternative Dragon. "Aw boo." Blanche's pristine white dragon fell to pieces, its armor cracked first and then the rest of its body. "Now, I will attack your Knight and its controller." Booster Dragon launched another shot straight through the armor of Felgrand Paladin.

The remaining Metalrokket Dragon launched its own attack with a missile blasted from its head. "Oof!" Dust and twigs scattered all around the white-haired girl, and she definitely felt the impact of the bullets. And yet, it did not hurt as much as she was expecting it too. "Full power? I am pretty sure you can do worse."

Blanche's LP: 5000

"I can, but I see no need to endanger you or the others. Despite your misgivings, I am still on the side you also claim to be." The invisible duelist placed another trap card [Zone 1] down on his field, while the destroyed Metalrokket Dragon summoned a third Magnarokket Dragon(4/2100/1500) [Zone 4] in his deck. "Yeah that would be so much easier to believe if I could see your face. Even if you are a big softie like you say you are." Blanche would be summoning a monster for herself too, once her turn started. "Not me though, I am all edges! I special summon Blue-Eyes Alternative again, with ArkBrave Dragons effect!" The equipped Arkbrave Dragon died along with the Felgrand Paladin, and that allowed her to use its effect. The very next turn after its journey into the graveyard, it would special summon another dragon like the alternate Blue-Eyes [Zone 2] from that realm.

-TURN 04-

"Blanche!" The by now familiar cry of Void reached her ears. "Hey you made it! Kinda.." She spotted him down below at the base of the great tree, close enough for the two to hear each other. "For now." Everyone else still dueled their opponents and Void did not know how long it would take for another ADI to spawn. "Hydra! What is the meaning of this!" He could nor reach the crown, but he could hardly miss the ongoing duel though. "Do you want the crown for yourself?"

"Do you not? Does she? Does anyone you know deserve it? This power is too great for anyone to have, Void." Hydra spoke, transmitting his words to a position near Void. "I.." Words Void could not refute right away. In fact it made him wonder when he started feeling comfortable around so many duelists to begin with. "That is right, you still do not know each other. You do not even know her real name and she does not know yours. How can you trust anyone with the crown?" Hydra pressed on. "No! I may not know know much. But I know Blanche better than I know 'Hydra'. So I would choose her over you any day!"

"Good enough for me." Blanche snickered happily and used her freshly resummoned dragon's effect. "Let's see what happens now! I destroy Booster Dragon!" Blue-Eyes Alternative White Dragon turned its battle attack into an effect attack; firing a blinding beam that grew big enough to envelop the revolver dragon entirely. "When Booster Dragon is destroyed, I can special summon a dragon monster from my graveyard." Once the light died again, Anesthrokket Dragon(1/300/2500) [Zone 2] reappeared on the field in defense mode. "Tch. It never ends." Void cursed.

"Oh, you should know my style by now, Void. Come on.." Blanche laughed it off with her spell card: Burst Stream of Destruction. "I always go full destructive! Burst Stream destroys all of your monsters at once, Hydra!" The spell fueled the rage of the alternative white dragon. With this new energy it could unleash a wider beam that took out the Metalrokkets and Anesthrokket all at once. "But you cannot attack with Blue-Eyes White Dragon during the turn you use that card." Hydra lectured her. "Oh you're right. Dang.. Whatever do I do now!? Oh, maybe this!?" She took one of the cards in her hand and slammed it on the disk. "I normal summon the White Stone of Ancients! Its a tuner monster and you know what that means.." A glowing egg-shaped rock(1/600/500) [Zone 3] dropped to the field. Even Void could see its radiance. "A synchro summon?!"

The White Stone turned itself and Blue-Eyes Alternative into tuning materials. "Yup! I synchro summon Azure-Eyes Silver Dragon!" What was once scaled now became smooth and white. What was once armorless now grew silver plates and golden spikes. With a more aquatic appearance, Azure-Eyes(8/2500/3000) [Extra Zone 2] looked worthy for the seas that shared their colors with her eyes. "Dunno know where this is gonna go, but get ready anyway, Hydra! I attack you directly!" Azure-Eyes struck with a greener beam of energy, which spread out like a surge of water and burst open against the red skies. "You almost have him!" Void dared to say. "Yeah, if only I could have gotten 200 more points from somewhere."

Hydra's LP: 200

"You couldn't. I knew you would not be able to finish me off this turn." Hydra stated with undeniable confidence. "Yeah? What makes you so sure?" Blanche asked the voice as she placed two cards [Zone 5] face down. "I have seen your many duels as well, I have seen your inability to punish a wide open field sufficiently." Hydra replied. "Also I have my skill card: Greedy Reloader, to replenish my health." The revolving duelist spun three Magnarokkets back into his deck with his special skill, and gave himself 1000 lifepoints for each card. "Well aren't you a funny guy." Blanche made a mental note to add more attackboosting cards to her deck once she beat this guy.

Hydra's LP: 3200

_Reload of Greed, Skill Card_  
_Target up to 3 cards in your GY with the same name; shuffle them into the Deck: Gain 1000 lifepoints for each returned card._

"Hydra! What makes you think you deserve to watch us when we cannot even see you. Even if some real life identities are kept hidden from one and other, we at least know the face of everyone in our group!" More and More Hydra's remarks drew ire from Void. "Besides Midsummer you mean." Moreso even than from Blanche, who seemed nonplussed by his anger. "Yes, besides him." Void growled.

"Do you feel threatened, Void? Do you enjoy safety regularly? Look around you, there is no safety anymore. The only safety will come when the crown is destroyed. And I only know myself enough to destroy it!" As the turn switched back to Hydra, the effects of all three destroyed Rokket monsters activated. Each one special summoned a different Rokket from the deck: all three Magnarokket Dragons(4/2100/1500) [Zones 4 & 3]. "Right back at ya, Hydra!" Blanche special summoned her own dragon, thanks to the tuner in her graveyard. "Blue-Eyes White Dragon!" The White Stone of Ancients activated during the endphase of a turn in which it went to the graveyard and called another Blue-Eye-monster like the classic white dragon(8/3000/2500) [Zone 3] from the main deck. "If that is the reason why you came down here, than that would be nice. But... Wait." Blanche's thoughts wandered off, as she remembered what Vigionair told her. "How did you get down here anyway? You cant exactly approach this area from above."

-TURN 05-

"_I_ did not have to." Any more info than that they would not get out of him. "It is my turn. I summon Metalrokket" The final piercing dragon dropped out of the boot cylinder and transformed into its dragonic body(4/2000/1700) [Zone 4]. "Argh, you know about that too?" Blanche still waited for an opening to spring her trap. Which did little good when Hydra seemed to be playing around it perfectly. "I know enough. You are however correct. I have not shown enough of myself to teach you what you are dealing with. I shall correct this now... The materials are at least three monsters." Like the quickest shooter in the west, Hydra fired his four monsters at the link circuit simultaneously. "Another link four monster?"

"Yes, Void! I link summon Borreload Dragon!" With red metallic plating across its grey body, wings like energy blades, and a gun cylinder as its torso; this fully fledged dragon(3000/LINK 4) {Left/Downleft/Downright/Right} could only be the ultimate state of the rokket dragons. "Borreload cannot be targeted by card effects! And.. it can target one monster to drop its attack and defense points by 500. I know that Azure Eyes Silver Dragon keeps any effect from targeting or destroying it. However..." Nothing that lived could avoid all of Borreload Dragon's rage. "Magnarokket Dragon does not do either, it sends a monster to the graveyard directly."

"And I can special summon one Rokket monster from the graveyard, with Boot Sector Launch!" As long as his enemy controlled more monsters than its master did, the field spell would revive Rokket monsters to even the numbers. Blanche controlled two dragons. Hydra controlled two monsters after the return of Magnarokket [Zone 3]. "Borreload attacks Blue-Eyes White Dragon and uses its effect as it strikes!" The red barreled dragon let out its cry of war and targeted the resummoned Magnum dragon, causing it to be destroyed and absorbed into the chamber of the link monster. "Azure Eyes is sent to the graveyard!" Borreload's body revolved until it found the bullet. One trigger later, a hole appeared inside the chest of the Azure synchro dragon and it blew to pieces.

"But her monster is just as strong as yours?" Void did not know why Borreload did not destroy Blue-Eyes, its current attack target, instead. "Because Borreload takes control of the monster it attacks, at the start of the damage step." The two dragons clashed. Despite their equal power, only one came out victorious. "Hey! Blue-Eyes!" The white dragon lost to the effect and flew over to Hydra's field. "And now, I attack you directly." This time Blanche tasted the stream of destruction from her own monster. "Whah!" She managed to hang on to her branch by dropping down quickly while the blast soared above her head.

Blanche's LP: 2000

"Now you see, you cannot even rely on the cards you have known for most of your life." The invisible duelist placed two cards from his hand in the backrow [Zone 3 and 5] and made his turn end. During that endphase, the effect of Magnarokket Dragon caused another Anesthrokket Dragon(1/300/2200) [Zone 1] to show up in defense mode. "Because in the end cards are just cards, and people are just people. We cannot rely on anything or anyone else."

-TURN 06-

"That's deep man. Also wrong. There is plenty of things you can rely on. Like for instance.." Blanche started her turn. "You can always count on Blue-Eyes to smash things up! I activate Dragons Mirror and fuse all my blue eyes dragons!" Three dragons flew through the mirror of the spell card, and banished themselves to become the fusion materials for the three-headed Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon(10/4500/3000). "And then I chain it with my trap: Stamping of the Normal!" She'd been wanting to trigger this since the last turn. "Since I summoned just one monster, I can now stomp on all monsters with less attackpoints than it!" The ultimate fused dragon flew across the battlefield and slammed its claws into Borreload Dragon and Anesthrokket.

"Then you leave me no choice but to activate my trap: Borrel Cooling! I tribute one rokket monster to give Borreload Dragon a new effect!" The Anestrokket card disappeared from the field, and left behind a cold glowing effect. "Borreload can now make one monster immune to destruction each turn!" "Bah!" Naturally Borreload targeted itself with this effect, allowing it to speed away from Blue-Eyes Ultimate's stamping claws. "Whatever man." She would have to throttle it with an attack instead, and all three heads fired a massive burst.

"It cannot be destroyed in battle either!" Hydra protested. "Yeah but it will still hurt!" She shouted back as the blasts impacted against the revolver dragon and knocked it back along with his master. "Oh! The crown!" The shockwaves did more than that, they caused the crown to slip off from the branches and fall to the ground. "I have it!" Void made a run for it "Don't!" The invisible duelist shouted, too late. "ARGH!" An unknown forced repelled him like a bolt of lightning, sending him dozens of feet away.. "Wh-what was.." The crown defended itself!

Hydra's LP: 1700

"Fool. You can not wear this." Only one man could pick the item up without suffering electric rejection; the true master. "You have not earned the right." The templar took his crown and placed it back on his dark hair. "No!" As soon as the two were reunited, all ADIs ceased their current activity. "Your lord has returned!" Immediately the crown fired beams at every digital duelist within the pit of lost paradise. "And he is tired of this game! It is time to destroy them. Destroy them all!"

(To Be Continued in Line 028: Tyranny Breeds Rebellion)

**New Cards used by Madam Blanche  
**Paladin of Felgrand  
Arkbrave Dragon  
White Stone of the Ancients

-  
Azure Eyes Silver Dragon

-  
Dragons Fighting Spirit  
Burst Stream of Destruction

-  
Stamping of the Normal

**New Cards used by Hydra  
**_RELOAD OF GREED_

-  
Anesthrokket Dragon  
Magnarokket Dragon  
Metalrokket Dragon

-  
Booster Dragon  
Borreload Dragon

-  
Boot Sector Launch

-  
The Nimble Manta Catches the Worm  
Borrel Cooling


	28. Tyranny Breeds Rebellion

**Line 028: Tyranny Breeds Rebellion**

The Crowns patience ran dry. These pests actually managed to separate him from his object of power in his own kingdom. But only briefly, he had restored his natural order once more. The ADIs within Pandemonium would once more give their lives to protect him. "Argh!" Void lost his chance to challenge this authority right away, as did everyone else resisting the Crown. "I knew it. Hydra was the spy!" Neo shouted from a distance. The crown would not have fallen back into the hands of the enemy if Hydra had not gotten in Blanche's way.

"Spy? What are you talking about?" Yet the Crown did not even appear to be aware of that duel. "What do you mean you don't know?" Or of Hydra in general. "Your spy, the one who tipped you off about our first attack!" Void yelled. "Silence!" The Crown shouted back. "I do not have to waste my _time_ on the likes of you!" The crown raised a closed fist to the pandemonium skies and commanded one of the flying demons to pick him up and take him out of the pit, while leaving plenty behind for the duelists. "I already said that there would be no more games! If the company wont take me seriously, then I will go out there and make them see me!" His intentions were simple, he would leave the demon city of Pandemonium and let the remaining monsters take care of these duelists here. Then he would convert as many ADIs as possible until none were left. And he would destroy any avatar that stood in his way. Exeter could not afford to be subtle if he himself dropped all pretenses.

"Damn it! Come back here you coward!" Zettai and the others could do little more than curse, their own opponents refused to budge and were too powerful to quickly subdue. "I knew this would happen.." Even Scura and Crescent, who finally reached the bottom of the clocktower, were too far away to delay the king. Within seconds he would be in front of the labyrinth's only exit. "But he is still not logging out.." Crescent found that curious, as a quick exit and re-entry would be the fastest way to reach a new location. "Don't ask me why he... wait. What is that noise?" Scura flinched.

"What is that?" The Crown asked himself the same thing. An inexplicable sort of rumble built up within the darkness of the Palabyrinth tunnels. The cause, would not be to his liking and beyond his control as well. "No!" More. More duelists: dozens of them rushed out of the maze like an angry mob. And they were led by the still scarred Sundown Mephistar and Bionis Khan. "There he is! That is the guy!" They came here for just one man: the duelist with the crown. "What!?" They took away his only exit. "You think you can get me!?" He countered with his army of duel monsters while he quickly retreated back into the city.

"Wow, I guess those two dopes found the right crowd. But geesh.. that is a lot of people." Scura would have been lying if she said she saw this coming in any way. "At least a hundred.." Crescent sounded mildly anxious. "You can count them that fast? I know what you mean though, not a fan of crowds either. They get dumb real fast." Twenty people at the same time was already too many for her. "I do not mind high numbers. I just.. don't do well with social conversations." The weather girl replied calmly. "Heh. Well, we wont need to do those where we are going." The hooded girl pointed a finger at the retreating Crown. "Lets get him."

Those back in the pit quickly came to the same conclusion. "He is cornered now! We have to go after him!" The Crown redirected most of the pit monsters to deal with the new invasion force. "Go on ahead. We will be a while!" Though still dueling ADIs like the ones that dueled Neo, Zanbatou and Zettai would not let them go anywhere yet.

"Hey, what about us?" Neither could Blanche, because of Hydra. "I have no reason to continue this fight anymore." At least not until Hydra unceremoniously disengaged from the fight and made his monsters disappear. "H-hey! Can you just.. do that?" There did not seem to be any repercussions. Possibly due to the fact that the unseen duelists did not have an avatar that could be damaged. "I was going to win that one too." The white haired girl pouted. "Blanche! Priorities!" Void shouted. At least she, him and few others could fly out of the pit on her speedboard. "Right. Right!" She took back her own cards and re-summoned the speedboard blue eyes white dragon. "Everyone who can, get on!"

It came down to Void, Blanche, Scarlet in the end. As Yoro-Himiko refused to leave Zanbatou's side. "He is headed to the clocktower again, using the left spire." Having the doctor along for the ride at least made it easier to track the templars movements. "Scura and Crescent were close by, but they already ran in resistance." Scarlets mask could also see the two duelists struggling to ascend the towers, along with a few other members of the mob. "Well we are coming in from the top this time!" They flew straight towards clocktower's highest level, where golden bells sounded as soon as the dragon landed. "Oof! Well so much for the element of surprise." Blanche covered her ears.

"I believe we have angered the locals." The guardians of the tower were alerted to their presence: statues of Black Luster Soldier and Chaos Emperor Dragon came to life. "We do not have time for this." Void grunted. "No we don't. Void, let us deal with them. You have seen the enemy duel, you have a better chance of defeating him than us." Scarlet activated her dueldisk. "Yeah I always wanted to take on these guys anyway. Dibs on the dragon." Blanche nodded. "Okay.. Stay safe!" He could not disagree with their logic, so he rushed past the guardians as they approached the girls. He could only count on himself now. A familiar feeling, yet different.

...

The king ran the floors, climbed the stairs and ran the floors again. He knew that this only served to put more distance between himself and a way out, but he could not think of any other options. He had a good reason to stay logged in, his Crown would stay behind if he left the network. And it would take forever to retrace his steps to Pandemonium. He just needed to wait this out: wait for a chance to re-arrange the labyrinth and create a new exit. Yet he did not know if he could. Each time he reached a new level, another duelist popped up and another ADI left his side to defend him. In the end the Crown depleted all of his servants; it seemed his enemies could match the numbers of his own army. At least things grew quiet the higher he got. "Damn it.." And now here, inside the gear-filled chamber of the tower clock itself. "This shouldn't happen to me!" The fact that he could feel tired in this world was ridiculous on its own. But that he got trapped in his own kingdom, he could not accept that.

"It would seem, you are in need, of our, help once again." A crackling fragmented voice entered the clockwork room, paired with a booming thunder. "You!" The Crown looked up at a figure shrouded in electricity: a living bolt of thunder. "I told you, I do not need your help! I did not need it to find the crown, I did not need it to master it!" The crown knew this entity and he did not like talking to 'it'. "And yet you, would not, be here without us. You still can, help yourself... by joining us." The lightning entity spoke again, with a spark lacing every word.

"I... Wait. A Spy. Is that what they were talking about?" And the Crown started putting pieces together. "These kids have gotten in my way at every turn! You knew when they would attack me, because you have a man on the inside! Who is it!?" Here in this city, he would make all the demands. This thing needed him more than the other way around. "If I, told you, their value, would be less, than nothing. And you, are not alone, anymore. I will return, with my offer, when you, are no longer occupied." The being of thunder disappeared as loudly as it appeared. "So they were right, you did have outside assistance." And the one duelist that made it far enough to reach the Crown in his 'throne room' saw the entity long enough to understand what just happened and why. The one and only Void.

"You damn kid.. Who are you!?" The Crown panicked, his eyes darted towards any possible exit or ADI that could help him. "I am Void. And I am probably closer to your age than you think." Seeing him again, Void figured the Crown to only be 30 years old at best. Not that it mattered. "And I challenge you to a duel!" There were none, his allies saw to that. This man would not be getting away this time. "Void?!" His opponents name became just another fact in a long line of inconceivable events. Nevertheless, there he stood. Void only made it this far due to the sacrifices of his others, and he would not let them down. "Who was that just now?" Though the duel mattered first and foremost, Void could also ask him anything he wanted now. "Why should I tell anything to a doomed duelist?" Not that the enemy felt particularly generous with answers.

Crown's LP: 8000 Void's LP: 8000 -TURN 01-

His kingly benevolence expressed itself through sheer power instead. "My turn is always the first! I normal summon Crusadia Arborea, and use her as a link material for Crusadia Magius!" The green-haired elven warrior(3/800/1800) [Zone 2] quickly transformed into the magical red wizard Magius(100/LINK 1) {Down} [Extra Zone 1]. And on its marked zone, another Crusadia monster could special summon itself. "Crusadia Leonis!" Crown's blonde-maned dark lion(3/1200/1600) [Zone 2] linked itself with the crusading Magician, causing the latter(1300 atk) to gain Leonis' attackpoints and to activate its deck searching effect. "I add Crusadia Draco to my hand! Then I set two cards face-down and end my turn!"

-TURN 02-

The Crown clearly rushed through his turn, as he could have gone a lot further with his link circuits. Had he make a mistake or did he do this purposefully? He did seem to value the first turn more than a typical duelist would. "I do not know what you are up too, with this game or with everything else. But, whatever your reason is.. I cannot let it continue." Void started his turn proper and normal summoned the cyberse knight Balancer Lord(4/1700/1200) [Zone 5]. "When I normal summon a cyberse monster, Boot Staggered can be special summoned!" A section of cyberspace opened up to release a human-shaped(5/2300/500) [Zone 2] black mass filled with glowing connected dots like a matrix. White round pieces of armor attached to his limbs while antlers of light grew from its helmet. "And Balancer Lord can normal summon another Cyberse monster as well!" Void paid 1000 of his lifepoints, to have the Lord call out Draconnet the cyberse dragonling(3/1400/1200) [Zone 3].

Void's LP: 7000

"Draconnet also summons a normal cyberse monster from my deck when he is normal summoned!" The fourth monster dropped down from a ball of light: the floating three-pointed bit critter Digitron(2/1500/0). "I guess it worked out for me that I would face you, Crown. Because we are both experts in link summoning! The materials are two monsters! I link summon Space Insulator!" Digitron and Draconnet warped into the linking grid through bright vortices and formed a cluster of starlight. The starlight assumed yet another humanoid form, that of a space ranger(1200/LINK 2) {Up/Down} [Extra Zone 2] in blue and grey armor. Its four eyes stared the Crusader down. "You think that gives you the right to challenge me? You are a nobody, Void! Your name suits you!" The crown laughed at him and his first link monster.

"I am only getting started." Void retorted with mild annoyance. "The materials are two non-token monsters! I link summon Cyberse Accelerator!" The Space Insulator added its two markers to a new circuit, and Balancer Lord completed the trinity. Another ranger(2000/LINK 3) {Left/Bottom/Right} [Extra Zone 2] emerged, wearing silver spandex with round cyber-screens attached to his joints. Its face hid behind a yellow visor-helmet covered his face, and its body flew on the power of the acceletor engine strapped to its back. "Cyberse Accelerator activates his effect on another monster he is linked with: Boot Staggered! He will gain 2000 attackpoints or a second attack!" Trap or no trap, his cyberse would try to cause as much damage as possible.

"You will not lay a hand on me or my subjects, Nobody!" But then the Crown's trap sprung. "Crusadia Vanguard! From now on you can only attack my link monsters as long as I control a Crusadia monster! And when this trap is activated, I tribute one Crusadia to summon another Crusadia monster from the deck.." Crusadia Leonis left the field. "Or a World Legacy monster!" The duty of linking with Crusadia Magius(2100 atk) would now be performed by a defending machine monster: a crown(6/2000/2000) [Zone 2]. "World Legacy?!" Not only did this new card look exactly like the templar's object of power, it too did not exist on any official lists. "World Legacy World Crown! This card came with the other Crusadia, when I was blessed with the word of creation! The World Crown can negate the effect of any extra deck summoned monster, if I sacrifice it!" And it went without saying that Magius did not only gain more attackpoints, but also the effect to take another Crusadia monster from the deck. "Crusadia Maximus, I add it to my hand!"

"So that is the way it is.." Implications aside, right now Voids primary concern became this Crown card which essentially shut Cyberse Accelerator down. He could not simply attack it either. "Boot Staggered!" The stag cyberse could at least battle Magius. "Pfft. Pathetic. Even that operatic fool could have done more with his one turn. And one turn is all anyone ever gets from me!" The Crown banished Crusadia Arboria from the graveyard to negate the destruction of his Crusadia Magius, so Void could not even get rid of one card this turn. "But when Boot Staggered inflicts battle damage, he also summons one stag token to my field!" The stag cyberse projected a hologram with the tip of its long tail; a token of a tiny spiked drone(1/0/0) [Zone 3] in defense mode. "I also set two cards face down and end my turn." Void did not want to lock himself in any specific link monster yet with his remaining cards. He only had 13 of them left, and none of them could survive the impending attack anyway.

Crown's LP: 7800 -TURN 03-

"Well. This is the end then, the end of a Nobody. I link summon Crusadia Spatha, whose materials are one crusadia monster and one other effect monster!" The World Crown collided with Crusadia Magius, and formed an angelic radiance. "Not Regulex.." Apparently more than one link 2 Crusadia existed. This one descended as a green-haired and winged angel in divine blue armor. Visually, Crusadia Spatha(500/LINK 2) {Left/Down} [Extra Zone 1] looked like the evolution of Crusadia Arborea. _"There has to be a reason why these cards look like this." _This crown, the world legacy, the crusadia; they could not have come from nothing. Void simply could not see the story yet.

"Maximus!" At any rate, the Crown normal summoned his army's next member: the futuristic lancer knight(4/1600/1000) [Zone 2]. "Spatha's effect activates when an effect monster is special summoned to her link. And that effect moves one of your monster in the main zone!" Spatha(600 atk) targeted his Boot Staggered. "The main zone!?" It made made Void's monster [Zone 2] fly to the same column as the Crusader. Spatha did not gain any attack from Boot Staggered due to the lack of a link, but Void could not reassure himself with that fact for long. "Link summon!" Because Spatha and Maximus, three marks worth of link materials, combined into the Crusadian destroyer himself: Crusadia Equimax(2000/LINK 3) {Up/Downleft/Downright} [Extra Zone 1].

"Equimax gets attackpoints from any monster it points to, yours and mine!" First the centaur knight(4300 atk) took power from the Boot Staggered in front of it. Then Equimax(4900) added the attackpoints of the linked Crusadia Draco(4/600/2000) [Zone 3] that special summoned itself. "Draco, return Maximus!" Last and far from the least, the Crown took his Maximus crusader back from the graveyard with Draco's other effect. And Crusadia Maximus [Zone 1] normal summoned himself to the other marked zone to empower his leader Equimax(6500 atk). "Maximus doubles the damage my Crusadia will inflict to your monster! So no matter who I destroy, you will go down with it!" The crown clenched his fist. "Goodbye, Nobody!" His attack order fell down on Cyberse Accelerator.

"I activate my spell, Security Block! Until the end of the turn, my cyberse monster cannot be destroyed as a result of battle! And neither of us takes damage!" One red and one green security bots popped out from the flipped quickplay spell. "No damage!?" Their twin shields absorbed Equimax' golden blast and protected the Accelerator at the same time. "You did not intend to give me another turn, so I took one for myself!" No other monsters could attack after a player used the power of Crusadia Maximus; Void would be safe for now. "You damn nobodies. You are wasting my time with your struggling!" Furious, the Crown ended his turn. "You placed too much hope in your one turn kill, you did not even consider my spells and traps. That is what happens when you are fighting someone who does not have to listen to you!" Void figured the Crown had gotten his way so often, that he did not know how to handle what came after failure. "Shut up! This turn will fail you just like the last!"

-TURN 04-

"We will see about that." Void planned something different this time, once he got a look at his next draw. "I summon Launcher Commander! This card can destroy one of your monsters by sacrificing one of mine!" With Crusadia Vanguard still in the way, a straight up attack would never work. The missile lauching cyberse sergeant(4/1700/1200) [Zone 5] would serve him far better. "You wont even get the chance! I activate Crusadia Equimax' effect by sacrificing one monster linked to it!" Unfortunately the centaur crusader could do more than power itself up. With one hand Equimax dismissed Crusadia Draco from his(5900 atk) court. "Your monsters effect is negated!" Grey became the color of the now effectless Commander, it could not even give its attackboosts to other Cyberse monsters.

"That takes care of one then.." Void immediately followed it up with a consecutive link summon, turning the stag-token into a Link Spider(1000/LINK 1) {Down} [Zone 4]. "The materials are two effect monsters! I summon Code Talker!" Then Link Spider and Boot Staggered changed into the base code knight(1300/LINK 2) {Up/Down} [Zone 2] And instead of linking with Cyberse Accelerator, Code Talker(1800 atk) link summoned himself to the zone marked by Crusadia Equimax. "What are you doing?" Monsters that Equimax pointed to could not attack, Code Talker gained 500 attackpoints yet lost his ability to use that attackpower.

"I had to. When my monsters link marker points to another monster, I can special summon Backup Operator from my hand." Another secretary(3/1200/800) [Zone 4] in a cybernetic full-body suit with skirt materialized from the network. She sat in a white hover chair and her long red hair flowed behind her back. "And Backup Operator targets the monster my link marker points at, and returns it to the hand!" Crusadia Equimax appeared on the holo-screen opened by the giggling Operator. "You impudent.." Equimax could only use its effectblocking power once a turn. The Crsuadia master retreated to the extra deck and left Maximus as the sole defender of the Crown.

"And there is more to come, Crown... The Link materials are two cyberse monsters. I summon Excode Talker!" Another link 3 grid opened up with the help of Code Talker and Backup Operator. The circuit transformed the coding swordsman(2300/LINK 3) {Left/Up/Right} [Zone 4], giving him the element of wind and green cybernetic armor with massive shoulder pauldrons, golden-lined armshields and a grand crest behind the head. "When Excode Talker is summoned, he eliminates one unused monster zone for each monster in the extra monster zone!" The one zone Void did not want the Crown to have any more, was the zone the Crusadia used for their link summon climbing.

"I cannot believe I have to use this as well.. Rgh! I activate my skill: Know Your Place! I move one monster in my main zone to another spot!" The Crown could not afford such a loss, which forced him to switch Crusadia Maximus' position to the second column to keep its zones 'used'. "'In that case', Crown.. I remove the zone in the middle!" At least that way Equimax would never reach its full attackpower potential. "Who do you think you are?!" The king never had to put this much effort into his duels before.

_Know Your Place, Skill_  
_Target 1 monster; move that target to another Main Monster Zone on its controllers field._

"I already told you, I am Void. Just another player, which apparently is more than I can say about you." Excode Talker also added 500 attackpoints to all of its linked monsters, which included Cyberse Accelerator(2500 atk) and Launcher Commander(2200/1200). "And before I forget, when I link summon a monster, the Space Insulator in the graveyard can be summoned to that monsters marker." To complete the Excode pyramid, the space ranger(1700 atk) revived itself. "I enter my battle phase and attack your monster!" The Space Insulator began the assault and punched out the defending Maximus. "And now I attack you!" The Launcher Commander, Excode Talker and Cyberse Accelerator unloaded their missiles, electric energy blasts and supersonic laser waves upon the Crown. "BastaaaRghhhaaaa!" Each hit pushed him further and further back, until his back touched the clockface itself. Time would run out for the Crown if this kept up.

Crown's LP: 1000

"Or perhaps you want to know my real name." He was not affraid to say it. "It's Charles. Charles Adami." He was not affraid to say all of though it sounded strange to give his full name to his enemy first, it felt right.

"You say that as if it supposed to mean anything to me." The enemy could not use it against him either way, because his power only existed in here anyway. "It might. It might not. But since I gave you my name, you can tell me yours." Void found this man's true identity far more interesting. "You damn Nobody. You think you are entitled to that? You think you being a better duelists gives you more right to this world? You only see it as a game, as a place to escape your fantasy in! You would not even be here without..." The Crown stopped himself. Possibly because he did not want to say anything more to Void, to Charles Adami. Or possibly because they were not alone anymore.

"Anders Green."

It was him: the agent with the single character-title, who joined the discussion with more topical information. "Since you fellows were in the middle of exchanging full names, I thought it would be best if I completed the transaction. Because, that is your name is it not... mister Green?" Not often did a STHEREA avatar get the chance to show off its ability to mimic emotional expressions. But the avatar that dueled Void certainly managed the appearance of a man shocked senseless. "Asterisk!" Void reeled more due to the sudden appearance of the news bearer, rather than the news itself. "My sincere apologies. I would have aided you all sooner, but V kept me delayed because of this critical information he just discovered. Once I knew what we were dealing with, and once Bionis and Sundown managed to summon this army, I joined the resistance."

"What did you discover then? Besides his name?" Void asked. "His occupation.. his former occupation. Anders Green was one of the many code testers who helped create the network. What we are dealing with is just an extension of Exeter."

(To Be Continued in Line 029: A King by Any Other Name)

**New Cards used by Void  
**Boot Staggered  
Digitron  
Backup Operator

-  
Space Insulator  
Cyberse Accelerator  
Excode Talker

**New Cards used by The Crown  
**_KNOW YOUR PLACE_

-  
World Legacy - Crown

-  
Crusadia Spatha

-  
Crusadia Vanguard


	29. A King by Any Other Name

**Line 029: A King by Any Other Name**

"How did you.." The name of the king was known. The name of the king was Anders Green. "By your reaction I can assume that our information is indeed accurate. But how did I come to know your name, you ask? That is not my secret to share. Suffice it to say that my friend and I have done thorough research as soon as your identity became known to Exeter and us. And we found a story about a man who got discharged from the company, a man who fits your description." Agent Asterisk turned the Crowns whole world upside down with just a couple of sentences.

"So...he worked on STHEREA?" Now Void saw how this man got himself in this position. Who would understand this world better than the one who helped create it? "On a certain level you can say that. His contributions were merely data tests however. There are still gaps in this tale." The kind of tasks that Anders performed did not explain how he could have gotten an object like the Crown into the game. The issues Midsummer raised before made it clear that Anders had not made it himself anyway.

"Merely?!" The man spat. "They still refuse to give me the credit I deserve? I was instrumental in getting this place operational! Without me, this network would have collapsed under its own weight!" Anders saw it differently. "Is that so? Then why were you let go?" To Void it sounded like his job could easily be done by someone else, if not already. "Because they wanted to keep money for themselves and fired me and many others! They thought I was not essential! Well.. I showed them now, didn't I? I found the greatest bug of them all! All I had to do was look for it in parts of the world that only I knew about. They might have fired me, but they could not revoke my access privileges. The Crown was there all along. And once I touched it..I knew it was meant for me!" The truth did not make Anders Green look any less insane. He reduced himself to screaming between fevered breaths. "So you do not know why it exists?" Asterisk inquired. "I do not have to know! It is mine now! You cannot have it! I will tear all of you down if I have to! One by one!"

Void's LP: 7000 Crown's LP: 1000 -TURN 05-

Anders 'the Crown' started his turn. "I normal summon Crusadia Reclusia and turn it into another Crusadia Magius!" Though different visually, the sequence of summons inevitably felt like repetitive. A short elven wizard(3/400/2000) [Zone 2] with a very large hat and dark-purple robes burst out from a circle of fire. Two loose sashes wrapped around his shoulders and ended in wildly swinging golden rings. Reclusia took on the task of being the first link material for Crusadia Magius(100/LINK 1) {Down} [Extra Zone 1].

"And with Crusadia Draco I can reclaim Reclusia!" A spell followed: World Legacy Succession. It special summoned the draconian crusader from the graveyard to a marked zone. And as a result of this new link between Magius(700 atk) and Draco(4/600/2000) [Zone 2], Magius' effect could claim another Crusadia Maximus monster from the deck. And thanks to Draco's effect he templar's hand recovered Crusadia Reclusia from the graveyard. "Regulex!" Afterwards both linked crusaders joined forces in the link circuit and reformed the golden-haired lion(1000/LINK 2) {Up/Down} [Extra Zone 1]. "I see he is very fond of this pattern." Asterisk stated thoughtfully. "Yes, but he cant keep going.. Excode Talker still has his other zone sealed."

"You think that can stop my monsters, my power!?" Anders knew the name of the one thing keeping his monsters held back: Void's Excode Talker(2300/LINK 3) {Left/Up/Right} [Zone 4]. But the Crusadia owned the proper means of disposal. "I special summon Crusadia Reclusia in defense mode with its effect!" The wizard [Zone 2] returned to the same spot from minutes ago. "Reclusia destroys one Crusadia card to destroy one monster you control! He will die for me!" The crusader exploded in his own fiery magic. "Ah!" And the flames took the wind elemental link monster down with it. With Excode Talker dead; Launcher Commander(4/1700/1200) [Zone 5], Cyberse Accelerator(2300/LINK 3) {Left/Down/Right} [Extra Zone 2] and Space Insulator (1500/LINK 2) [Zone 3] lost out on his generous 500 attackpoint boost.

Then there was the effect of Regulex to contend with. Since a monster had been summoned to Regulex' marked zone, the lion could add a Crusadia spell to Anders' hands. "I wont make the same mistake as last time, Void!" He settled on the spell of Crusadia Power. "I see..." Though seen just briefly, Void made a fast note of that card's effects. Crusadia Power would make a Crusadia monster immune to all outside effects. "Your trap, whatever it is, will not stop me this time!" Anders swore as he special summoned Crusadia Maximus(4/1600/1000) [Zone 2] to the empty zone beneath Regulex. At the very least the lion could only add one spell or trap per turn.

"I link summon Crusadia Equimax!" The link materials of the twice-marked Regulex and the sole Maximus lancer added up to the return of the golden armored centaur Equimax(2000/LINK 3) {Up/Left/Right} [Extra Zone 1]. "Curious." Asterisk voiced the same thoughts that struck Void at that very instant. Why did the Crown summon Equimax when he could have done more damage with Regulex and Maximus' effect? He did not even have more Crusadia he could summon, due to the fact that he entered the battle phase with just one monster. "Equimax attacks Launcher Commander!"

"Whatever your plan is: my instincts are telling me its nothing good!" Void chose to save his monster. "I activate Recoded Alive! I can banish one of my link 3 monsters to summon a Code Talker from the extra deck!" His flipped trap could pick either dead or living link 3 monsters for its cost. Surprisingly Void went with the more costly option. "I banish Cyberse Accelerator and summon Encode Talker!" The light blue shieldbearer: Encode Talker(2600/LINK 3) {Up/Down/Downright} [Extra Zone 1] replaced the supersonic cyberse hero. "Oh. An excellent move if I do say so myself." Asterisk made an impressed noise as he saw the monster that defeated Vigionair before. Encode Talker could link up with the Launcher Commander. "When a monster linked with Encode does battle, he will make sure it is not destroyed! And I take no damage from the attack!" Continuing to attack now would gain the templar nothing. "Instincts? Don't waste your breath on that nonsense!" Space Insulator did not have the same fortunate positioning, so Equimax impaled that monster with his lance instead. "Tch."

Void's LP: 6500

"I activate Crusadia Testament! When my Crusadia link monster destroys yours in a battle, I can draw one card for each of my monsters link markers!" Thus the need for Equimax revealed itself as a need for a high-class link monster. The triple-marked centaur provided his ruler with three new cards at once. "Instinct? There's no such thing! There is only the cold hard logic of the real world! The same logic that got me fired despite all my hard work! Despite all the money that flows into that damn company, they could gain more by letting me go! Because of what some infernal algorithm said! These machines, they know what is 'good for us' do they? Well now I tell them what is good for them!" Anders placed another trap card face-down again. "Now I am going to make sure they actually bleed, that nothing flows to them anymore! After I am done with VRAINS, the people there will be ruined! They will have no choice but to shut down!"

At the end of his tirade, two cards were set in the spell/trap zone and another monster was special summoned to Equimax' link: a second World Legacy World Crown(6/2000/2000) [Zone 3]. "Ugh." It turned out that the World Crown could also special summon itself to marked zones, just like the Crusadia. "Nothing you can do will stop me!" The Crown would negate the effect of Encode Talker, and Void could not destroy Equimax(4000 atk) without that effect.

-TURN 06-

"If I don't stop you, someone else will. Your plans are already falling apart at the seams, Anders." Not much could be done and yet he had much he wanted to do. "But I am still hoping that I can be the one to shut you down!" His turn started: Void drew his card. "I summon Flick Clown! This monster can draw one card for me when I have none in my hand and two other cyberse monsters on the field!" Flick Clown(4/1000/1400) [Zone 2] materialized, dressed like a court magician in a purple and blue suit. The most notable feature of this cyberse were its four arms, and with one it wielded a rook-staff that used 1000 of Voids lifepoints to cast a drawing effect.

Void's LP: 5500

"Anything good?" Asterisk whispered as he saw Void draw a spell. "Maybe.. Not yet." Void eyed the Crowns own face-down cards. One of them was Crusadia Power, which would protect Anders' Crusadia. "I activate Launcher Commanders effect: it tributes Flick Clown to destroy your World Legacy monster!" However, World Crown did not have 'Crusadia' anywhere in its name.

"You will fail just like before! I activate World Legacy Landmark! I banish a World Legacy monster to summon two monsters from my graveyard!" Unfortunately, the Crown vanished before it could be destroyed by the Flick Clown-fueled missiles. World Legacy Landmark then brought back the first World Crown(6/2000/2000) [Zone 1] and Crusadia Draco(3/600/2000) [Zone 3] in defense mode. The effect of Crusadia Draco returned Crusadia Maximus to the Crown's hand. "Damn!" Launcher Commander missed and Equimax(5600 atk) grew more powerful than ever. Voids options dropped to none at all. "I.. I switch the Commander to defense mode, and set a card! End turn!"

-TURN 07-

"Finally, I can end this charade. I do not know why you nobodies thought you even had a chance. Why you kids decided to take it upon yourselves to challenge my rule, I will never know." Anders started his turn by sacrificing Crusadia Draco with Equimax' effect. In turn Launcher Commander lost its effects and could not give any powerboosts to Encode Talker(2300 atk) anymore. "I will give you this, you have unexpectedly frustrated me far more than the company I am trying to bring down. That is why.. I will make sure you feel as much pain as your avatar can handle, so you will never think of this as a game again!" Anders opened with an unexpected move, one of regression. "I link summon Crusadia Magius!" Any Crusadia would suffice as a link material, even Crusadia Equimax. "!?"

With the third Magius(100/LINK 1) {Down} [Extra Zone 1] on the field, the turn fell back into the same old progression. Crusadia Maximus(4/1600/1200) [Zone 2] special summoned himself to link with Magius, Magius took another Crusadia Draco from the deck and the two Crusaders became link materials for another Crusadia Regulex(1000/LINK 2) {Up/Down} [Extra Zone 1]. "Now I will use my spell card: Staring Contest! Now each time I summon a monster to the extra monster zone, I can move one of your monsters in the main zone to the same column!"

"Oh dear." Asterisk raised his brows. Everything added up once this continuous spell entered the game. First the templar special summoned his second Draco monster(3/600/2000) [Zone 2]. Its linking with Regulex caused Crusadia Leonis to be taken from the graveyard, while Regulex added the most devastating Crusadia card to Anders' hand: Crusadia Revival. Come out, Crusadia Equimax!" Finally, the second Draco linked with Regulex. For the last time this duel, Crusadia Equimax(4000/LINK 3) {Downleft/Up/Downright} would heed the call of its king and arrive for battle. "Now, I switch your Commander!" Staring Contest worked its power through the centaur, who intimidated the Launcher Commander [Zone 2] into moving closer to it with a simple glare. And once Crusadia Leonis(3/1200/1600) [Zone 3] took over the middle column, all three of the centaur(6900 atk)'s markers pointed at cards to absorb attackpower from.

"You know, I have asked myself that same question." Void raised his voice out of nowhere. "What are you saying now?" Anders asked as he activated the Crusadia Revival field spell, adding yet another powerboost to Equimax(7400 atk) and Leonis(1700/2100). "I wondered why we were chosen. Some people I can guess why. But I still don't really know in my case.. " Even if Void took everything Mister Static said at face value, he still saw no explanation for his presence. There had to be hundreds if not thousands of players who were in the same situation as him, people who had nobody to talk to in the real world and loved STHEREA enough to fight for it. "I don't know if I would have tried to stop you if I had not been picked. But it is too late to go back now." He might have started out a nobody, but now.. just a little... he felt like he could fight for something. "Do you think I care?!" Anders growled. He did not want to put up with his talk anymore, so he activated the effect of his field spell. Crusadia Revival would target Equimax and allow it to attack all monsters in the same turn, while Leonis would give Equimax the ability to pierce through defense.

"I know you don't. But you will care about this.. I activate Cybersal Cyclone!" Void could only act in this one second. The window for opportunity would close as soon as Crusadia Revival resolved. "This quickplay spell banishes one of my link monsters in the graveyard to destroy one of yours with an equal link! I pick Excode Talker!" Violent digital winds picked up speed thanks to the sacrifice of the fallen wind-Code Talker. "You idiot! I already had this spell prepared ages ago!" To quell the storm the Templar flipped his quickplay spell. "Crusadia Power! Now my monster is immune to your card effects for the rest of the turn!" The cyclone fizzled out, as its data destructive winds spread out across the clocktower gears.

"Oh, you are quite wrong there. Mister Green." Asterisk smirked as he came to understand the mans folly.. and Void's ingenuity. "I am not!?" A confused Anders protested. He could see the aura of Crusadia Power protecting his monster from all effects. "I..." _All _effects. "You!" Crusadia Revival gave the centaur(6900 atk) no additional powers. It could not affect it.

"Yes. I knew. I saw you set Crusadia Power, and I knew it would prevent your cards from working with its target. I counted on it." The link Crusader rejected the field spell and Crusadia Leonis' piercing effect. "If you were a true duelist, you might have seen it coming." No other monsters could attack this turn either, because Crusadia Revival still targeted Equimax even if nothing happened afterwards. "This game.. These rules. I will do away with them as well then! The crown will not limit itself!" Feeling more threatened by Encode Talker, and knowing that he could do more damage to it than to Launcher Commander; the templar ordered Crusadia Equimax to attack the blue knight. Its lance broke Encode's shield and broke his armor and body to pieces. "Ugh!" Void took a massive blow to his lifepoints, but he kept enough to stay in the game.

Void's LP: 900

"I still haven't normal summoned, so I will summon Crusadia Arboria again!" The green-haired elven mage(3/800/1600) [Zone 2] hid right behind the golden centaur. Though she could barely defend herself, Crusadia Vanguard would protect her as long as Equimax existed. "I end my turn!"

"Whose ending what turn now?" Two more duelists arrived just in time to hear Anders latest declaration. "Blanche. Scarlet!" It seemed the two Chaos guardian statues were no match for the Blue-eyed and viral duelists. "Hello Void... Asterisk. How kind of you to drop by." Scarlet sent her greetings back with varying levels of affection. "I would not miss this for the world, my dear doctor." Asterisk simply smiled. "Allow me to introduce you to the Crown again, to mister Anders Green." He directed their attention to the increasingly crazed templar. "You.. all of you. Why do you keep getting in my way!?" Knowing that he'd have to face at least three more opponents after Void started to tear at his composure.

"Heh. Hooks like you have him on the ropes, Void." The duel looked pretty even to Blanche. "It is still too close to call. It may still come down to you to take over." Void felt prepared for a defeat. At least that's what he told himself. "That may be, but it is your duel for now." Scarlet and the others could not help him, they could simply watch and learn. "..." And Void could not put it off any longer.

-TURN 08-

"Or maybe. I can end it all in this turn." Just from a single glance, countless tactics unfolded in Voids mind. "I summon Lady Debug!" The cybernetic ladybug lady(4/1700/1400) [Zone 4] buzzed down from Voids hand, and transmitted radio waves into the deck with her hands. "Lady Debug can add a level 3 or lower Cyberse monster to my hand when she is summoned, so I take BackLinker! This is a monster that can be special summoned when one or more extra monster zones is already used!" From one signal to the next: the red and black Backlinker(3/1600/0) [Zone 5] landed on the far left with its lizardlike body, free-floating claws and detached draconic-head. "And when Backlinker summons itself, all monsters in the extra zone will return from where they came!" The radar dish on Backlinker's tail pointed at Crusadia Equimax, readying the field-removing waves.

"You will never win!" Equimax moved faster. It(5700 atk) immediately cancelled the effect and negated Backlinker by tributing Crusadia Leonis. "Never say never." Asterisk chuckled, while Void already proceeded to the next summon. "Anders, when I have no monsters in my extra deck zone.. I can banish Recoded Alive from my graveyard to bring back a banished Code Talker!" Void recoded the graveyard with his own trap, opening a rift that allowed Excode Talker(2600 atk) [Zone 3] to return to the field. "You are too late with that, Nobody!" Excode Talkers effect unfortunately did not go off unless one link summoned it.

"He's not here for that, Anders! Now, Link Devotee's and Link Disciple's materials are a cyberse of level 4 or lower!" Both Backlinker and Lady Debug phased through the link circuit and came out the other way as the wand-wielding robot Link Disciple(500/LINK 1) {Down} [Extra Zone 2] and the radial servant drone Link Devotee(500/LINK 1) {Up} [Zone 4] The two formed a co-link. "Launcher Commander destroys the World Crown!" Now at least he could successfully use the commanders missiles against the World Legacy machine, by tributing Link Devotee. "Ah! What!?" Anders was none too pleased to see Equimax(4200 atk) lose his second subject to the effect of the third. Even less pleasing was the fact that a tributed co-linked Devotee turned into two Link-tokens(1/0/0) [Zones 5 & 2].

"The materials are two cyberse! I link summon Link Bumper!" The tokens bumped into each other pinballs and crashed down next to Excode Talker's right marker. Appropriate as their union created the arcade robot(1400/LINK 2) {Left/Up} [Zone 2] with tiny propellers on its arms and machine bumpers on its shoulders and waist. Thanks to Excode Talker it(1900 atk) also gained a small attackboost. "The materials are two cyberse again! I link summon Honeybot!" Meanwhile the Link Disciple merged with Launcher Commander to create the honey-luring bee robot(1900/LINK 2) {Left/Right} [Extra Zone 1]. "Hey Void, just how many cyberse monsters do you have anyway?" Blanche felt pretty certain that she'd seen more than enough to fill the main and extra deck ten times over. "I keep changing my deck each turn, so I have lost track by now..." He admitted. "You may have a bit of a hoarding problem then."

"You have a lot more problems than that!" While Equimax(2500 atk) no longer pointed at any monsters, it still possessed more attackpower than any of the link monsters Void controlled. And he could not go beyond link 2 now that he'd summoned Link Devotee this turn. "So summon as much as you want, nobody! You cannot overcome the power of a king!" Worse, if Void did manage to get enough attackpower, his monsters could not destroy Crusadia Equimax in one go as long as Crusadia Arboria loomed behind it. "I am not looking at a king, Anders. I am looking at somebody who just happened to be at the right time and the right place... The link materials are two link monsters! I link summon Double Byte Dragon!" Honeybot and Excode Talker left the field at the same time. "Hey!" A green current ran throughout the clocktower and shorted out time itself with a surging power. That power belonged to the dragon with heads at both ends: Double Byte(3000/LINK 2) {Up/Down} [Zone 3] "Why... why is it so strong?"

"Double Byte Dragon gains 300 attackpoints for each marker on its materials, of which there were five! Your Crusadia's reign is over!" The first dragon head charged green thunder within its mouth. "But I still have Arboria!" Anders could only cling to futile hopes.

"Go ahead! But I should tell you about Link Bumpers effect!" Void grinned as he unleashed the first attack. "If my link monster card attacked your link monster, and Link Bumper points to my card, he can let that monster attack your link monster again!" The first blast reached Crusadia Equimax. "Oh.. that is nasty." Blanche realized the dilemma Void put Anders in. If he used Arboria's effect, Link Bumper would simply let Double Byte make a second attack. If he did not, Link Bumper would attack the defenseless Arboria instead. "Damn you! You tricked me! You cheated! This cannot be right!" Either choice would result in his loss. In the first loss Anders experienced as a duelist. "It is quite right." Asterisk nodded. "Yes. It is over, Anders. Your power is no longer yours!" Ultimately, the templar decided to do nothing at all and allowed the first attack to kill Crusadia Equimax.

Anders LP: 500

"No. This is not over yet. I still have them!" The jolt of damage roused the king one last time. "Come out! I know you are watching! Help me! You need me!" His cries echoed outwards and came back unanswered. "Uhmm.. who is he yelling to? Is Hydra here or something?" Blanche felt pretty sure only the five of them were in the room. "No, not Hydra. He was talking to someone else just before I entered this room. But I don't know who or what it was. Just that it was not invisible." Void could not quite put into words what his eyes told him he saw, other than a flash of lightning. "So he is not alone then?" Asterisk narrowed his eyes. "Anders! Tell us who you are working with! Did they have any part in this?" He pressed the mad king for answers, who reacted with startled laughter. "Haha. Now I see.. They were using me, they only wanted my crown. No. They wont get get anything. You wont get anything! I am the King, the messenger of god!" The only way they were going to get their hands on his crown... "You are done." .. would be to drop his lifepoints to zero. "Link Bumper, Attack!" Voids arcade robot ended the kings reign as it shot a blast straight through Crusadia Arboria.

Anders LP: 0

"No. No! NOOO! You wont get it!" The former king could not answer anything regardless. As soon as the game registered his defeat, his avatar disintegrated on the spot. "What the..He logged out?" Void did not think he would try to run immediately, nor did it look like a regular log out. "Perhaps he was forced to log out. Regardless, I doubt he will make it far. If we know his true identity, Exeter certainly knows." Asterisk chuckled. The former king lost his power and his kingdom. "So what do we do, about this?" Anders Green left just one thing behind: the crown of world legacy.

(To Be Continued in Line 030: Long Live the Crown)

**New Cards used by Void  
**Flick Clown  
Back Linker

-  
Link Bumper

-  
Cybersal Cyclone

-  
Recoded Alive

**New Cards used by The Crown  
**Crusadia Reclusia

-  
Crusadia Testament  
Staring Contest

-  
World Legacy Landmark


	30. Long Live the Crown

**Line 030: Long Live the Crown**

An object which gave the player the right to control the minds of this digital landscape: a crown. That crown no longer owned a master to channel is terrifying power through, the king lost in his own throne room to the nobody.. to the duelist Void. "I guess.. its yours then." Four duelists stood around the item. Some like Blanche already knew what would happen if anyone 'unworthy' tried to pick the thing up. "Maybe you're right. But... do I even want it." And Void himself could not make up his mind on whether or not it taking the crown was the right thing to do. "Well you should at least give it a try. The ADIs wont calm down unless someone gives them new orders. And they are not losing numbers as much as we are." Doctor Scarlet suggested with surgical insistence. Her mask tracked the swarm of red dots that came creeping closer and closer to the top of the tower. "Ugh. I did not think this far ahead. But its too late now. So.." Void bent down. First he picked the cards up, and nothing happened there. "Nothing ventured.." Then he tapped the side of the crown.

"!" The instant his finger connected, a whole new world of perception flashed around him. "What!?" The stars in the sky, the flames beneath the surface, the raging waters and the quiet forests, the faces of every existing duel monster and every human in STHEREA! Too much, it showed him too much! He could neither begin nor end a sentence while all of this visual information flowed through him. "Stop!"

Void pulled his hand back, and the world became as normal as one could expect. "Whoa dude. You look like you went on a bad trip." Blanche saw the clear bewilderment in his eyes. As did the others, including Midsummer Nightmare. "What did you see?" The masked duelist inquired, even while Void wondered when Midsummer entered the room to begin with? "How long was I out for?" Some time must have passed. "Less than a minute, and all you said was touch the crown and say 'stop'." Asterisk told him as he looked down at the crown.

"I don't feel like touching it again." Void said with a shudder. Whatever he saw, he could not explain it. And knowing how Anders turned out, perhaps he did not want an explanation. "If it is too much for you." Midsummer began to talk. "I am not about to relinquish it either, Midsummer." Void cut him off. He could practically see the man drooling behind that mask. "Well, we cant just let it lie there either."

"No we can't miss Blanche. So if you would allow me, I have a way to remedy this situation." The doctor claimed as she raised her index finger. "Do you now? Then by all means. Just do not try to pull the wool over our eyes." Asterisk uttered with an icy tone. He would know if she tried to pull any tricks. "Oh don't be so serious, Asterisk. This is just your standard quarantine function." She laughed it off and knelt down on one leg. "Just. Like. This." A single gesture from her open hand materialized a vibrant red bubble. "You can pick it up now." The Crown floated within the bubble, disconnected and untouchable. "I see." The quarantine must have had some effects as Void received no image overload when he tried to pick the object up this time. "And if you want to open it again, for whatever reason, just twist it.. like one of those pill capsules. Of course, this is just a temporary measure. You cannot take it with you when you log off." And even Void would need to return to reality eventually. "I have no intentions of doing so.. The question is, who do we give it to?"

While the many answers to that question had to be treated with care, there were about a dozen subjects that could be disregarded from the onset. Those would be the many players that rushed the clocktower room, led by Bionis Khan and Sundown. "Hey! What happened? Did you get him?!" Bionis looked for any signs of trouble, while the musket duelist... "The crown? No wonder." ... paid more attention to what Void held in his hands. "No wonder what?" Void asked him back. "No wonder the enemies stopped moving all of the sudden. It was easy to get up once they did. But... was it you then? You took down the Crown?" Sundown exclamation did not go unheard. "What!? Him!?" Khan snapped like someone'd insulted his grandmother.

"You! You took down the big bad dude?!" The ones that knew the cyberse duelist less approached with considerably more positive feedback. "Amazing! You must be the best duelist in the world! Not even Wagnerok could beat the Crown! How did you do it? You totally outplayed him! Show me your cards! Your moves!" Their excitement pretty much sounded like this. "I didn't. I just got lucky. There were many times he could have had me. If he was a real duelist.." Void could not handle it all, not all of them at once.

"That will be quite enough . Give the man some room to breath." Blanche immediately broke the mob apart with an effectively intimidating Blue-Eyes White Dragon hologram. "Whoa! She has the white dragon! She must have helped him! Were you his sidekick? Are these your friends?" At least she figured it would have been intimidating. "Sidekick?" It instead improved the spread of idolization to all the other players in the area.

"If I might suggest a possible avenue. The arena of the beyond might be calmer around this time of day." Midsummer spoke up. Most of them could just log out and respawn at the arena. "I have to agree with the clown." Sundown could not stomach the noise anymore either. "I suppose.. we do not have a choice. He wanted us to bring him the head of the crown." Void could only assume the crown would stay with him during the jump, because there was no other way to reach the arena from anywhere within the game. But he would still have to leave Pandemonium manually through the maze. "I will fly you out, Void. Don't worry. The rest of you just wait for us you know where! Let everyone know!" Blanche nodded as she pulled Void away from the mob and ran up the stairs to the top of the tower. "Hey. Thanks Blanche." Void sighed. "No problem boss."

"Boss?"

...

The flight away from Pandemonium and trek through the maze went relatively smoothly. Getting out was easier then getting in. Afterwards he and Blanche successfully quickjumped back to the Arena Beyond. "We made it!" Almost everyone else waited for them there already. "Where is Crescent?" Two remained absent, one of which they normally could at least see. "She had a Wagner-thing to do, so she logged off. I guess she wants to see how he is doing in the real world?" Scura said, remembering that those two apparently knew each other in the physical world too. "I am surprised she could pry herself way from him for that long. But that is her right." Himiko shook her head.

"But what of the invisible one? Was he or was he not on our side?" Zettai still did not know what exactly went down between him and Blanche. "I think... so? But if he is here, I have no idea." The blue-eyed girl shrugged. "We cant wait for him anyway. We have to decide what to do.. ." The quickjump worked, Void still carried the crown. And he placed it down on the arena grounds. "With this.."

"Is it not obvious what we should do with it?" Yoro-Himiko chimed in again. "Destroy it." Zanbatou picked up on her unspoken suggestion and purposefully walked towards the bubbled item. "Whoa, whoa. Are you sure about that? Isn't that decision up to Void?" Madam Blanche did not try to get in the way of the buff bodyguard, though she did make her disagreement clear. "It is his.. yes." Scarlet spoke up for him as well, though she stayed quiet after that. "That is the truth?" Zanbatou asked as he stopped, for the moment. "Yes. But..." Void did not want to lie to them. He felt relieved that the crown linked up with him. After all, who could he trust more than himself? "..this matters to more people than just me." He could not lie to himself either. He knew far too little to make the right call. "What does everyone think?" It would be easy to just ignore the input of others and follow the decision he already made himself. He did not want to keep this thing, he did not want anyone else to have it either. But he only got this far because of them as well.

"Allow me to play devils advocate. If we could study it. We may learn more about where it came from. Just as a precautionary measure in case more 'problems' show up to the party." Agent Asterisk started by raising a good point. "What? You mean that guy the Crown was talking too? How do we know he exists? How do we know Void didn't just make that up to.." Bionis Khan did not really have proper conclusion for sudden theory. He only knew that he did not like to see anyone here use it. "Because It would explain what happened at Cosmopolis." The agent countered, recalling his previously inexplicable electrocution.

"Yes. We know he was not working alone. He knew about our attack." Sundown Mephistar backed Asterisk up and his eyes fell upon the glowing object. "If we could use it against them. Then maybe they will feel what its like.." The gunslinger cared only about revenge. If he lost his chance to duel Anders he would just find someone else responsible. "That would be interesting." Neo sounded awfully tempted as well. "Do you guys even hear yourselves talk? You want to use it like that man did? You sicken me!" Zettai began to curse to make her outrage as clear as crystal. "We either destroy it, or we let the admins have it. There is no third option with this kind of power!"

"I.. guess. I mean, its not like they would let us keep it anyway." Scura meekly took the side of the ace duelist. "What she said." As did Veyron. "You have no spine, Veyron. Do you think you can trust the company? For all we know they created the damn thing! That guy worked for them! And why should they get to use it? They barely helped!" Bionis started another tirade, which he quickly dropped as soon as Midsummer Nightmare clapped his hands. "You already had your turn, Bionis." The Altergeist duelist took several steps until he stood right in front of the crown. "Fellow duelists, hear me out. This 'thing' you see is not just a tool of chaos. I have seen what it can do, you have seen it too when you fought the Fisherman, Sundown." He pointed at the musket duelist. "You were there!?" He realized that he had not just imagined seeing Midsummer at the end of that duel. "I was, and I saw a light snuffed out before my eyes. I do not blame you for it, I blame this system. This crown can do so much more than control digital intelligence! It can awaken it! We could start a revolution, we could inspire the dawn of new life!"

"Revolution?" The last face to give their opinion finally could. "Crescent?" The weather duelist only caught the tail-end of Midsummers speech after she quick-jumped in: enough to react dazed and unnerved. "Ah, welcome back. We were just discussing the merits of keeping the crown intact." The masked duelist immediately brought her up to speed. "Merits? You mean the qualities of the crown, that for which we can praise it? I... I do not see anything like it." Her even tone could not hide her indignation. "Crescent, do you know what happened to Wagnerok?" Void feared her behavior and his status were not unrelated. "They took him away. To the hospital they said. I could not even... I could not say goodbye."

"They? The hospital?" It was worse than he expected. "Exeter I presume. This lines up with what mister Static told us." Asterisk pondered as he stroked his chin. "You mean the same happened to Skylander and Imperius?!" Sundown snapped. He figured the company merely told them to keep quiet, he did not think they were actually physically hurt because of what happened.. in a game. "I do not know. They said it was mental trauma. They may be lying, I can't tell... Why would they lie?" A distraught Crescent could give no clarity.

"That settles it." And Zettai had heard enough. "What are you doing?!" Midsummer panicked as the Skystriker materialized one of her weapons and pointed it at the Crown. "Void, open it. I am going to destroy it." She would not let anyone else stop her, let alone a forcefield ball. "..." He gave in without a single objection. He took Scarlet's capsule and popped it open to drop the crown to the floor of the arena. "Void! It is your prize! Do not let her squander it!" The nightmare cried out one final time. "I already told you, I want none of it." It would end here. Zettai aimed her cannon.. "3, 2, 1.."

"Now!" With a flesh of green thunder and the sound of a roaring storm, the fate of the crown seemed sealed. "?" Yet Zettai had seen her cannon fire a shot many times, and the blast usually did not take this long to dissipate. "?!" It most certainly did not veer off into the skies like an inverse bolt of lightning. "It... repulsed it?" Nothing changed, the crown took no damage nor did it budge a single inch. "_It_ appears.. to be indestructible." Scarlet concluded, while someone else could be heard sighing. "Of course you cannot destroy it. This miracle is far beyond our capability to understand." Midsummer nightmare scoffed. "Maybe Void can do it? No, that might still be too easy.. Maybe you just need to put it own and tell it to blow up or something? Or would that blow your head up as well?" Scura passed several ideas halfheartedly. It would be difficult for an avatar without mods to destroy it. "Lets not try that." Void said with a shudder. Why did things have to be so complicated? "We may have to do it. He probably is watching us already anyway..."

"Probably? I would say, that is guaranteed!"

"Ugh." At this point the arrival of Mister Static became a routine for the chosen duelists. "Or maybe I just possess impeccable timing." Though seeing him come all the way down from his portal in his human-shaped form caught them off guard just slightly. "But you have done a splendid job. You took care of the crown, and the would-be-king. I am sure the players of the world are all proud of you. I might be proud too, though I would never tell. Oh the fame is simply buzzing in my ears. Have you thought of a name for your group? It might be necessary at..."

"Static!" Him rambling endlessly on the other hand, they were more than used to. "We have done what you asked. Now do what you were going to!" Sundown snarled. Void was not the only one who remembered his promise. "Have you? Have you done every thing what I wanted? Last time I checked, ~STHEREA is still not safe. Dear dear Mephistar. This was just the beginning: the first game! Surely you didn't think that this quest would have just one stage?" The static one started to speak of things that made everyone's hairs stand on end. "The first? You mean there's more of these things?" Neo gasped. Their imagination ran wild. "_Is_ this a game to you? Because it was not to us!" Void could not accept this, not when they thought they were finally free. "It started as a game, and it became something more. The people you saved might still think it is, but you know better. This will not end so quietly. The Crown was simply the only one to play along for now, but I am certain more of them exist.. more of these World Legacy items."

"Buuuuuuut, you did make progress while following my rules... to a degree. I can overlook you calling for help in this instance, I am not a cruel host." Static chuckled. "It sounds more like you already know you and your friends cant keep this situation from escalating. If you work for the company that is." Asterisk would keep bringing that up as long no evidence to disprove the contrary existed. "I'd watch that cheek, agent Asterisk. If you want to see Donna returned." The topic finally reached the person in question. "You have no reason to keep her anymore!" Void yelled.

"You guys should really stop trying to guess what goes through my mind. Here's a hint; you cant possibly know." Static snapped his fingers and rematerialized his 'body' in front of the crown. "Donna will be returned for a price." His eyeless face loomed over his desire: the world crown. "You are going to take it? That wasn't part of the deal!" Bionis did not like that plan either. "A deal was not even established, Khan. An object like this can also be passed willingly. Void, being the lucky candidate, must let it go. It is a simple trade: I will keep it safe, while you get your comrade back. If you want to fight it, go ahead. I am sure she will appreciate it."

"Take it... I do not want it."

The others probably would have a lot to say about this choice, but it was his to make. Void could not come up with any possible use for the crown anyway, none that did not terrify him. "Such a good kid. Heh. Well.. here you go." Mister Static held his hands up at the side of his body and twisted them around. "Ah!" The body of Donna the Gouki duelist dropped before their feet like a limp ragdoll.

"You.. she.. she's dead! You killed her!" Neo immediately freaked out. "What do you take me for? A monster?! Of course I did not. Her avatar is simply inactive right now. I also sent her a message to come inhabit it again." He lowered his arms again, to pick the crown up from the ground. "Ah.. Finally." The Static one kept it close to his chest, as if he wanted it to stab his own heart. "Today has been a good day. Take some R&R, you've earned it. Just make sure to check back in when the next game starts. I don't know who's gonna do it or when.. But I know the wheels are turning. Stay on your toes... and Ciao!" With the noise of fragmented thunder, Static returned to his own dimension.

"Void. What did you do?" Sundown grunted. "I didn't know what else to do." He stammered. "Many of us would have done the same. And those that would not, I would think less of!" Zettai quickly came to his defense, partially. "I just pray that this does not lead to a worse outcome than the other options." At least they got something in return. Or someone...

"Rah!" The avatar of that someone snapped wide awake into an immediate fighting stance. "Where is he? What did he do?" Donna growled as she furiously scanned the arena. "Donna! It's alright now! He is gone! And you're back!" Veyron quickly rushed to her side to calm her down. "I noticed that! I have not been blind to what was going on while I was out of this body!" She seemed to understandably be on edge. "What 'was' going on while you were not here?" Asterisk inquired with a discreet tone. "That static bastard kicked me out of the game completely, I could not log into my avatar or even post anything in the channels. He also made sure that I could not tell anyone what was going on STHEREA, or else he would take it out on your avatars as well. Hmph, he was lucky that I managed to keep my temper in check. I came this close to telling my friends and blowing the lid on this entire mess.." Finally the sensation of being back in her digital self settled in, inducing a more relaxed state. "But anyway, I am glad to see all of you again. I was rooting for you guys.. Allthough part of that was me wanting to get back in the.."

"Wait a second? Where is Imperius?" She said she was glad to see them all, but that was not entirely true. "He did not make it. Neither did Wagner." Crescent informed her. "Oh. Oh no, I didn't know. I knew that oaf would get himself in trouble." Donna Monday soon learned about other events as well. She heard about the Crown, Pandemonium, the Hazmats and the one who defeated Imperius. "Tch. Hydra huh? Is that bastard watching us right now you think?" She turned her fists to the skies. "Mark my words! Friend or foe, you will pay for that act one of these days!" Predictably, she got no response. "Tch... where do we go from here?" Too much energy flowed through her veins to sit around and do nothing. "We can only wait, as far as this world legacy mess is concerned. It might be time too call it a day... or a night." Void did not know how the timezones treated the others, but his clock definitely passed midnight some time ago. The network played a cruel trick on the mind at times, suppressing exhaustion and hunger for hours. No wonder the game had a built-in time limit that forcibly logged you out after several hours, which already felt too long for Void. Though that did raise the mystery of how Anders managed to apparently stay inside for entire days.

"Call it? What are we supposed to do now then? I cant duel like this!" Bionis shouted. He, Veyron and Sundown could not even enjoy the normal aspects of STHEREA: scarred as they were. "It could have been worse. Now that the Crown is gone, maybe they can get off their lazy asses and fix the damage he caused. Until then, I am out." Sundown did not plan to keep walking around with this hole in his torso. He saluted everyone and quickjumped awat. "Yeah it might be nice to get some sunlight once in a while, Khan." Blanche snickered. "Laugh it up. But when things get dicey again, I wont be around to save you!" Khan grumbled.

"Is this what it has been like while I was gone?" Donna watched the bickering with a weary face. "Pretty much. I am in favor of ending our meeting here. Everyone is free to do as they wish. Just.. remember to stay in touch." Asterisk made his final speech and signed off as well. "Til another time then." Few would stay to keep dueling, others went off elsewhere. Void.. chose to leave the game entirely...

...

"Ha.." The simulated world lifted like a curtain to reveal the stars and the moon already glittering outside his window. One burden immediately dropped from his shoulders, only to be traded in for another. The day exhausted him and he needed something to eat. Void did not have a steady schedule to begin with, but this felt terrible even for him. "..." Once he refreshed himself as much as he could, he gave in to his body's complaints and sank into his bed. Listening to his better judgment, he decided not to check the forums for once and pursued his sleep. Many unsolved questions haunted his consciousness before it slipped into the night. Who was the enemy? Where were they now? Where did Anders go? How much longer would this go on? And.. was it too late to get out?

...

"His real name is Charles Adami. I heard it myself." The crackling of lightning illuminated the darkness and chased away the silence. "We could have figured that out ourselves. It does not matter, who he is out there is of no consequence." A smooth and deep voice responded to the thunder, casting a tall figure in the shadows. "Should we go after him? He is the boss of the crown now. Anders didn't want to give it to us, perhaps he might." Another presence, a high pitched female voice, conversed with the unknown. There were many hidden in the places where no player or creator would think to look. "The Crown is beyond our reach. But we must make sure that He does not still control part of it, either he joins us or he is taken down by one of us." The booming thunder made many demands, but he still answered to one above him. "It is not time for us to reveal ourselves yet. First, let us test Charles Adami's true nature.."

(To Be Continued in Line 031: Shades of Glory)


	31. Shades of Glory

**Line 031: Shades of Glory**

Due to the way the world worked, duelists did not need to use the Transcend headset to know what happened inside EXETER. To talk any of its thousand players, any network access would do. No matter where 'Charles Adami' went on the planet, he could always become 'Void' with the push of a button as soon as he woke up.

"...?" Charles did not always enjoy this comfort. As soon as he opened up the forums and chats he saw only one name on every header: his own._ "The mysterious Crown was defeated by the duelist Void and his cyberse monsters?! They even know about my cards?" _Every topic basically started out like this, praising him for taking down the menace of the crown. Though there were some that did not believe the entire story, that Void existed at all or that this whole thing was anything more than a publicity stunt from the company. Nevertheless enough players had seen him at Pandemonium to spread his name throughout the world. _"This is exactly what I didn't want to happen.. "_ He became a sensation overnight. Or rather 'Void' did. Here at least nobody knew him, nobody could probably even tell that he was a duelist. Sure he had some cards and a very old dueldisk, but he never took those outside. Hardly anyone dueled in the open air these days, the hologram and visor combination could not compete with what STHEREA showed the mind. _"Wait.."_

_"The Cards!" _So much had happened, to the point of it all feeling like a fever dream. Because of that Void forgot all about the other rewards from his duel with Anders._ "The World Legacy..." T_here they were, tucked away in a separate file folder of his account: World Legacy support cards added to his account when he defeated the Crown. He could click on them and they worked just like anything else in his digitial collection. He could also use them for duels or trade them if he wanted too. _"That's probably not a good idea."_ Anders did not leave him everything, most Crusadia monsters were absent. But he did find his spells and traps, and the World Crown monster itself. _"But why?"_ None of these World Legacy cards showed any familiar monster on their card's art. In fact they revealed glimpses of cards yet to come. Mister Static must have been right, the Crusadia were only the first. _"I cant use them. Not until I know who made them_." He would keep them inside that folder, far away from Void and from Charles.

But where would Void go?

_"Who knows? How secret can my identity be?"_ If Vigionair already managed to snuff out his location just from the data he used to log in, Exeter most certainly could find him as well. They would have questions for him, they would want to know about the crown and about mister static. But would they come for him personally? Could they arrive at the doorstep of his apartment at any moment? He could already tell his inbox overflowed with new messages, and he did not feel up to it to check it out... For now he just wanted to be left alone.

"Huh!?" The gate alarm sounded. "Already!?" If he could hear the sound this well, then the call was intended for him. "Who?" Each time a resident of this complex received a visitor, they would need to go through several layers of security first. And their presence could only be approved by the the person they came for. "Is that.." Charles could see her now, a young girl with dyed white hair in a raincoat. "Blanche?"

She lacked her usual bright blue eyes and beret, but her face closely resembled that of the dragon duelist. "Bingo! Now aren't you gonna invite me in?" She could hear him through the transceiver, and vice versa. "Why are you here? How are you here?" For a moment he could not control himself, this felt like a trick! "I am all for answering that. But maybe we can do it inside? It doesn't have to be your place, I just wanted to talk to you in person for once. I promise, I can explain." He knew she had a point. Continuing a conversation over the intercom favored neither of them. If she came all the way out here, the situation could only be urgent.

"How?" Still he found it difficult to believe she made it here; even as he opened the gates for her, the doors to the complex, the lift to the top floor and the second set doors in front of his own apartment. "Hey I told you I was coming. Didn't you get the memos?" And now she stood there in the hallway with that lazy grin of hers. "Memos? You sent me a message? I.. had other things on my mind." He groaned as he remembered the inbox he forgot to check. That explained that. "Oh. Yeah, that whole Hero business. Heh.. sorry." She nervously laughed.

"That's not your fault. Never mind that. How did you know where I lived. Did Vigionair tell you? How did you even get here in a day?" Due to her accent and her account name, he figured her for someone who lived on the other side of the ocean. Void just did not want to guess that out loud. "Kinda? He mentioned this place when he dueled you. Not to me, but I heard him." The first answer fit with what he knew already, how she defeated the cipher duelist before he could and that he recorded every duel. "Also Asterisk kinda told me your real name. I just put two and two together. There's a lot of Charleses out there, but only one person in this place whose name starts with C."

"I see. Asterisk must have heard me say my name to Anders." He sighed and silently cursed himself. Why did he taunt the crowned duelist like that to begin with? "Anyway. I just happened to be in the neighbor... hood." Blanche tapped her fingers. "Because of my job you see, I travel a lot. I don't really do regular timezones." Her eyes drifted to the ceiling. "Because.. you are a stewardess or something?" He did not expect that from her. Void guessed he judged her age wrong as well. "Something like that. I think this is the part where I should say hello the right way then." The girl extended an open hand his way. "Hey, the name is Dharma. There now we know each others first names." It seemed only fair to her. "...I guess this is still too weird huh?" She took her hand back after he declined to shake it. "You can still call me Blanche if that's easier for you. I kinda like calling you Void more anyway. Or we just dont use names at all." She shrugged. At least by now he could feel himself relax near her.

Still, he needed to know.. "Blanche, why are you here?"

"I 'unno. Just had to see you. Since I was nearby, I figured... why the hell not? We all owe you one, and I feel like the others are taking that for granted. Also I didn't know if the company would come knocking on your door. Friendly faces always help on days like that." It became clear rather quickly that her reasons were not critical in any way. "Though, you're living a lot better than I thought." She started to inspect the living room. "Can I ask.. Are you secretly rich or something?" He usually at least showed visitors this much. Though he hadn't had anyone come by in ages. "No, not that. It's a long story, which I'd rather not share." It involved royalties and distant family members. He did not like to bring it up. "Fair enough. Pretty nice. Not a lot of windows tho.." She appreciated the topdown view of the parks and the canals which he already grew accustomed too. "Is that a problem?" Void asked. Blanche practically treated the place like she lived in it. "Nah. I just assumed you'd be more about privacy." The girl plopped down on a couch. "So anyway, about that tournament."

"Tournament?"

"Oh, right. You probably didnt read about that either. Nothing's official yet. There's just been some intermittent buzz about an upcoming tagteam championship. And that they want to involve everyone who helped with the 'ADI outbreak event'. The information got leaked somehow, conveniently right after the whole Crown mess calmed down." Her skepticism came across quite clearly. A tournament like this could keep the masses happy and ignorant. "That is curious timing yes. But it could just be Exeter trying to make up for the problems Anders caused... And is _that_ why you are here? Because you want to be my partner?" A duelist could not enter a tagteam competition on his own after all. "Maybe. Mostly I didnt feel like talking about this in the ol' sthere. Hydra is always watching, the company could be listening. And I am not entirely sure of Vigionair either." In the end, there could be no safer place than reality. "I trust you. And I figure maybe now you can trust me a little as well."

"...Heh. I can't say it doesn't make sense." Void did not feel upset anymore. He did not exactly hide his face from the world. "Right? I mean for all you know I could have been a dragon in a real life. And you could have been a robot. I'm still kinda surprised you arent... Heehee." And 'Dharma' acted just like 'Madam Blanche'. He did not see much of a difference between the two anymore. "A robot huh? No. I am just a guy who maybe likes the virtual world a little more than he should." And that world began to feel alluring right about now. "Oh yeah! Do you have any real cards?" Blanche inquired as she noticed the rather old dueldisk model on his floor. "Just a few starter packs. Why?!" He quickly grew nervous. If this tournament were to take place outside of the dueling network, he would most definitely lose in the first round. "Just messing with ya. The leaks say it will take place in the network. So you are interested then?"

"Normally I would be all over it. But now.." He shook his head. "I think I need to see the damage first." The time had come to go back.

...

As Blanche carried her headset with her everywhere she went, she could follow Void right along into the network. And the best place to check out just how well he would be treated now, was the royal capitol where all the major events happened recently. For such an important area of the game to not have a proper name yet always felt odd to Void. "Okay.. So far so good." Their quickjump brought them down into the central square, the same place where he dueled Medusa not too long ago. Immediately one would notice the complete absence of ADIs. Apparently those would need a little more time in the workshop before they could be put back in. Plenty of duelists filled the streets however, more than ever before. And not one of them gave Void so much as a quick glance. "Well, maybe they dont recognize you. I mean no offense, but you could really use more accessories. Maybe some multi-colored hair, or get a nice hat at least." The blue-eyed girl probably had a point. Void would not be able to pick himself out of a crowd of other basic avatars either if he tried. More people stared at Blanche than him. "Hey isn't that... Thats Void's sidekick!"

"Again?" And so the chain reaction of recognition started. "And that's Void!" When ones eyes failed, they could always check the name of the user right in front of them. "Oh for the love off.." Dozens of them swarmed him to unload their questions, most of which just continued on from where the previous mob left off. Some outliers existed however. "Do you know why my avatar isn't fixed yet?" One player with a large chunk of arm missing cried out. "When are they going to give us the ADIs again? I want revenge!" Another got very forceful and had to be pushed aside. "I need your help Void!" A lot of them just seemed to want favors from this new and famous duelist.

"Hey, since you beat the Crown. Does that make you the top duelist? So if I beat you, can I be the top duelist!" And just one wanted a more direct and violent gift. A greasy-haired fellow in a pinstripe suit activated his dueldisk right in front of Blanche and Void. "Hey now. Calm down, man." Blanche tried to calm him down, to no avail. "That's the thanks I get huh." Void had half a mind to just accept the duel. "I don't know anything about being at the top of anywhere. All you get from me is..."

"Not so fast, upstart duelists! No needless violence will take place on our watch!" "We do not give or share awards to a broken and foul heart!"

"What?" Void said out loud as two newcomers announced themselves with enough fanfare to silence a whole stadium. They were heard first, across the city and the skies. Then, once all eyes stared upwards, a beam of purple and green light split the skies. "If you have any complains, you can register them with us!""Questions or duels, in our arms all strife shall cease, for the sake of our fans and fellow duelists!" The two who spoke descended along with the beam and stepped out into a cloud of rainbow-colored smoke, randomly pointed lasers and virtual fireworks. "So please, leave the fights for your enemies. Save your strengtht for the coming days!" By now everyone got a good look of them: a pompadour-haired man a studded rockstar coat and a blonde woman in a colorful form-fitting uniform with a cape and cowl.

"Who are they?" Nobody made an entrance like that unless they were pretty special. "You dont know? Did you duel under a rock? That's Sigment and Dyzanthium!" Based on that response and on the immediate crowd that circled around these figures, Void seemed to be the only one not in the loop. "Uh, Void. They're the champions. Like the real life ones. There's five of them active right now." Blanche whispered as she nudged him in the back. "Champions? You mean from the national festival tournament?" He knew that every once in a while one of the countries of the world would host global competition to see which country would have the best duelist of that year. The two standing before them must have been the winners of the last two years. "The one and the same. Didn't know they had avatars for STHEREA though, didnt know a 'champion' class even existed." On her dueldisk, the avatars of Sigment and Dyzanthium were registered as a class even beyond the current highest ranking duelists. The leaked news so far said nothing about involving them in the upcoming matches.

"Wait. Are you saying.. We can duel you? Here?" The man in the pinstripe suit could not believe his luck. "You might come to regret your midnight decision, but yes. This is a one-time offer, a preview of things to come, a.." Sigment spoke at an incredible rate, although it sounded more like singing. And once you got him started, it would take a while for him to stop. "They get it, Siggy. Let me handle this miscreant." Only his partners like Dyzanthium could get him to slow down. "Handle away! Show him how its done!" Sigment graciously stepped aside while the woman showed off her dueldisk.

"Kyaah! It looks just like the one she uses last year!" Her idolizing fans screamed as they saw the black model folded out like bats wing. "..." If nothing else, at least Void no longer stood at the center of all that attention. "Like hell I am gonna run away from this!" Even his 'opponent' now only cared about dueling the champion. "If it is hell you want, I can give you that destiny." The woman tapped a few buttons on her disk and immediately changed the colors of her outfit to grey and black. Now their duel could begin. As always, the champion got the first turn.

Dyzanthium's LP: 8000 Duelist's LP: 8000 -TURN 1-

"The night, it calls me once again. The darkness never dies. And once it finds you, you can never escape." Dyzanthium opened with a story which appeared to be entirely unrelated to her actions. "Some are lucky. They are born in the light, they can walk a million miles without ever setting crossing the shadows. But they are also unprepared." She talked while she also activated her spell card, Destiny Draw. That card drew two new cards, while it discarded a Destiny Hero monster from her hand. This way her opponent at least learned that she used Destiny Heroes for this duel. "Unprepared? What about this?" And he could also counter this spell with a card from his hand. The man discarded a Droll & Lock Bird monster, which would block all drawing and card adding effects for the rest of the turn if he got his way. "They will not recognize their own dark destiny even when they see it with their own eyes." Yet she countered the counter, by activating the quickplay spell, Called from the Grave. "Huh?" A hand rose up from the ground, to drag the wizard Droll and his Lock bird into the grave.

"Did he think it would be that easy?" Blanche scoffed. Called to the Grave could banish monsters from the graveyard to negate their effects and the effects of monsters with their name. This spell worked even on cards right after they were discarded, which meant that Droll and Lock Bird failed to stop Dyzanthium from using Destiny Draw. "Those are.. some expensive cards." Void had never touched a spell like that in real life. Even in VRAINS it took about a hundred wins to earn the points you needed to buy Called to the Grave or many of the handtrap monsters.

"And his destiny was already sealed. " The champion continued to use spells with little explanation, activating Allure of Darkness to draw another two cards and banishing a Dark-attribute monster from her hand. Then another Destiny Draw followed. "How much longer are you going to rearrange your hand!?" Her opponent grew impatient. He did not have anything else to do now but wait. "I wished I could put him at ease. But all I could say was... Our time is almost up.

The champion normal summoned a crystal-covered and caped Destiny Hero: Diamond Guy(4/1400/1600) [Zone 3] and.. " Activate Fusion Destiny!" .. directed all her attention to the duel, with the fusion spell of the destiny heroes. "Destiny Hero Malicious, Drawhand and Dogma. Be fused!" The card took three fusion materials from the deck and hurled them into a maelstrom of polymerizing lights. "The only way to defeat destiny, is to dominate the darkness! Destiny Hero, Dominate Guy!" The three fusion materials from the deck merged within spiked dark armor: transforming into a devilish black knight(10/2900/2600) [Extra Zone 1] with a four-horned helmet and glowing red eyes. The letter 'D' also burned on its torso.

"I can only watch as more try to fight the darkness, only to fall to sin." She kept going, now activating the effect of Destiny Hero Malicious in the graveyard. Banishing the diabolic hero caused a second D-Hero Malicious to appear from the deck. She special summoned him(6/800/800) [Zone 1] in attack position. "I prayed that the angels would come to claim what remained. Because I could not save him. I could only destroy them before they corrupted others." Dyzanthium activated yet another monster effect, Destiny Hero Dark Angel.

"What are you doing now? You're giving me your monster?" When one could count at least three dead D-Heroes, Dark Angel sent itself from the hand to the graveyard as well. The next part of his effect then summoned one of the fallen Destiny Heroes back to the opponents field. In this instance the white-winged and masked angel of twilight(1/0/0) [Zone 3] gave itself up to the enemy. "You want to see your own destiny. Dominate Guy can show you. But know this.. You can no longer avert it, no matter what you do. Dominate! Reveal the next five cards of my deck!" The fused devil warrior obeyed her command. One could not only see the next five cards with his effect, they could also change the order of those cards. "!?" And what the pinstriped man saw caused him great dismay.

"Slash Draw!?" All the other duelists gasped in unison along with the opponent. In the middle of all her cards sat a spell of destruction. "Oh boy.." Blanche shook her head, shivering with anticipation. "Now you all know the future, as far as it matters." Dyzanthium returned the five cards to her deck in a new order, with Slash Draw now as the second card in the stack. There was only one possible follow-up to this: the activation of another Slash Draw spell in her hand.

"Slash Draw. A small price, you only need to discard one card." She discarded the only other card in her hand. "And when this card activates, the duelist sends away decked cards for each card on their enemy's field. And they draw one card after that!" The lone number of Dark Angel equaled the number of damnation: one. Dyzanthium excavated just one card. "And if that card is Slash Draw! All cards on the field are destroyed!" She drew the second copy of Slash Draw with a lightning fast slashing motion, causing a burst of wind that soon turned into a wave of death as she jumped across the field. "And for each destroyed card, you take 2000 points of damage!" The wave cut down all four Destiny Heroes on both sides, and the duelist on one. A total of 8000 lifepoints disappeared as a result of just that one draw, and the duelist dropped to his knees while Dyzanthium re-appeared behind him. "The End."

Opponent's LP: 0

"Ugh.." The defeated duelist could only lower his head in shame, as everyone else stared at him in silence. "A first turn kill." They had expected her to win, but not this quickly or decisively. "Was that all? Or are there any other takers? I am more than willing to throw myself into battle's fray!" Nobody seemed to be up for Sigments challenge either, not anymore. "No? That is a shame." The rockstar duelist moaned and walked up to his partner.

"We did what we came here to do: preventing needless conflict." Dyzanthium let out a deep sigh herself and switched her outfits color back to green and red. "But that was fun! I don't get a chance to go dark very often! Don't take it too hard, you still have a chance to get back at us!" She pointed at her vanquished opponent and at the swarm of onlookers. "The same counts for all of you! Those rumors you all heard will soon turn to reality, and all five of us will be there! By that time, all your problems will be solved so stay vigilant!" Another beam of light crashlanded into the city square to take them back from where they came. "Until that day, points and cards cannot be gained. So do not fight around and duel each other? Alright? Goodbye and good luck!" Sigment left with a salute, along with Dyzanthium.

"Wait! What about.." The champions left behind unanswered questions and wanting duelists. They were either confused or awestruck. "They are on a completely different level. Why didn't they help us with the Crown?" Void was a little of both. "Maybe they actually aren't that good." Blanche scoffed softly. "You're suggesting Dyzanthium did not win that duel fairly?" It did occur to him that the Destiny duelist only got the kill due to several lucky draws on her part. And Dyzanthium's opponent had also logged off while Void wasn't looking. "Dunno. Maybe they were just putting on a scene for us. If anyone can circumvent the rules of the game, it would be those five. Either way, I guess its nice for you to know that there is always someone more famous around." Barely anyone looked at Void anymore. "If that is what fame does to people, I am not sure I want it." He never desired it in the first place. "But I am here now. So I might as well see where I can go from here."

(To Be Continued in Line 032: Eternity From Strangers)

**Cards used by Champion Dyzanthium  
**Destiny HERO Diamond Guy  
Destiny HERO Malicious  
Destiny HERO Dark Angel

-  
Destiny HERO Dominate Guy

-  
Destiny Draw  
Called by the Grave  
Allure of Darkness  
Fusion Destiny  
Slash Draw

**Cards used by Opponent  
**Droll & Lock Bird


	32. Eternity From Strangers

**Line 032: Eternity from Strangers**

"Wait! Void! Don't go!" Despite the passing of champions, Void's own fame did not vanish from everyone's mind. As duelists in the city square went their own separate ways, one player stayed behind just for him. "Sorry dude. But you know what they said." If he wanted his own duel, he should have asked for it sooner. "No. It's not.. I am not here for a fight. Please, you gotta help me." But his desperate tone of voice made Void think twice about brushing him off.

"Blanche, wait.. let him talk." He turned around to face him. "Yes boss." And his 'sidekick' stepped aside. "Very funny..." He sighed and waited for the man to explain himself. Whoever he was his avatar possessed even less customizations than his own; as if he'd only logged in today. "Thank you... I know the timing is bad, the company has its hands full and all and this game went through some mess. I just didn't really know who else to turn to, those champions wouldn't even stick around." The man seemed besides himself and struggled to say what he wanted to say. "It's my little brother, you see. He ran away.." He finally revealed. "So?" Blanche did not see how Void could help with that.

"He ran away into STHEREA." The man added.

"Oh... Wait _how?_!" She and Void would need a little more context for this story. "Your brother. What's his name, what does he look like? And how do you know he ran away?" Void started asking. "Ah! My name's Nick.. and his name is Thomas. Sorry. I should've started with that. It all happened so suddenly; he just started yelling at me and my mom so she sent him to his room. And then later when we came to check on him, he was already gone. I noticed he took my STHEREA set with him. I let him borrow it a few times. I.. I just don't know what got into him. I told my mom I would find him, but I don't know how. All I could do was hope he'd be somewhere in here, so I could talk to him again. I had to use my spare set to even come down here.. But I haven't seen him anywhere yet." Nick sounded genuine from beginning to end, and Void did not often trust stories like this out of nowhere. "So you came to me?" There still were irregularities his more logical side would not shut up about. "Yeah. You're the heroes of Pandemonium. Aren't you?"

There it was, the crux of the situation. _"We have a nickname now?"_ That alone told Void how far things had gone. "Well yeah, but these are two entirely different situations. This sounds more like a job for the cops." Blanche suggested. "Except he hasn't been gone long enough yet, has he?" Void knew better. "No. It happened this afternoon. I mean two hours ago." Even if Nick did take this to the police, they were not that adept at using the network. The law always lagged one step behind virtual progress. And Exeter usually never involved them.

"You want to help him, don't you?" Void's partner accurately estimated his current state of mind. "I didn't think anyone would ask me something like this. But the answer is yes, I will help you Nick. Just.. don't call me a hero. I'm just a guy who knows the right kind of people. I will add you to my private channel. We will look for Nick down here, you just keep looking out there. I'd check places with public network access. If one of us finds a trace, we can let the other know." Nick nodded. "Thank you. Thank you both!" He spread his arms. "Okay. No. No hugs. We dont do hugs." Blanche put a hand in between her and Nick. "Right. I am sorry again. I.. I will stay in touch!"

"Right." Blanche looked at Void as soon as nick left the scene. "So what's your next step, boss?" She snickered. "One, you will stop calling me that. Two, we are going to see someone who knows the network better than I do."

...

"Oh this figures. You only come to me when you need me. You do not care about my wellbeing at all besides that!" The host of the cipher domain knew exactly how to react to about the tale his visitors spun for him. "You defeat the crown, your name is plastered across the seven continents, and suddenly you are too grandiose for poor old Vigionair. I have to hear it all second hand!" That he listened to them at all seemed to be a miracle at this point. "Vigionair. We were all just tired out. And not all of them ignore the clock like you do." Asterisk was there to hear them out as well with a more amenable mindset. "I know what you are doing, Asterisk. You slight me as well, for not being out there in the field with you! Pfeh! Time is a prison, as is the body!" The cipher duelist fumed and paced back and forth in his room.

"Sorry. He gets like this some time." Asterisk whispered. "Just some time?" Void replied carefully. "I hear everything you say!" Vigionair yelled and ran to his monitors. "Well... At least you were smart enough to come to me with this problem."

"So you are going to help?" Void asked as he saw him start clicking away on his interface. "Of course. I cant have any distractions right now, not when this supposed World Legacy can rear its heinous head at any moment! All I need to do is.. Aha!" Like clockwork, Vigionair managed to find the right map with the right coordinates. "Is that where he is?" Void saw a blinking light at one of the islands in the sea sector. "As of right now, yes. Your little friend was smart enough to set his account to private, but not smart enough to use an unregistered headset. Other players cant see him, but privacy is no obstacle for me." Vigionair made that blatantly obvious before. "Alright. That was easy." Blanche couldn't complain. "We should tell Nick too." Void activated his dueldisk. "No. I wouldn't do that. If that kid sees his brother, he might just quickjump away. But he wont recognize you two." Asterisk said. "You are probably right, I will just tell him we found a clue for now to put him at ease at least. I will go to the island with Blanche. Thanks."

"Just don't forget to come back here soon, so we can discuss all this tournament nonsense as well!" Vigionair waved them goodbye while remaining seated. "Good luck. I hope you find him." The agent added. "Me too."

...

Another quickjump, another change of scenery; the palmtrees circled around them while a volcano rumbled on the horizon. "Ooh, Fire King island. This kid's got good taste. I bet he's at the volcano." If Blanche were in Thomas' shoes, that's where she would be. "Or he came here to see things he could never see with his family. It doesn't mean he would go off to the most dangerous places first." One could not exactly drop by a real tropical forest as easily as a simulated one. "Danger!? It's not dangerous! You cant even jump into the volcano without hitting an invisible wall. Dont tell me you never tried." The blue-eyed girl stared at him with a look of incredulity. "It did not occur to me, no." He shrugged.

"Come on, we need to find him." There were more important things to do. "Alright. But I am pretty sure he's...Wait did you hear that?" The grass rustled unnaturally. "I did." It sounded less like atmospheric noise and more like an interactive sound. "Who is there!?"

"Just little old me." Two red lights pierced the dense forest. "Scarlet?" They belonged to the doctor with the plague mask. "The one and only. As far as I know." She walked out of the woods with spring in her step. "Were you following us?" It would take a good excuse to convince Void that their meeting happened by sheer coincidence. "No. I was following something." The doctor shoved her mask aside. "I picked up some weird signals across STHEREA and I decided to investigate. I mean, we have to be sure that all the rogue ADIs are gone. Dont we?" She gave a decent reason for being here, though it raised different issues. "And you came alone? What happened to your galpals?" Blanche did not hear or see anyone else. "Oh they needed their rest. I simply could not wait. Now then, quid pro quo. Why are you here?"

"We're looking for some guy's missing brother. He's supposed to be around here somewhere." One answer deserved another, Void supposed. "Oh? Well then my investigation can wait. Do you want me to scan for this child?" The doctor asked even though she already had her mask back on. "If you can, yes. we would be very grateful." Void nodded. "You are lucky to have me.. I am sure you went to your friend Asterisk first for this, but I..." The doctor pointed her finger forwards, nearly hitting Void in the head. "Ooh, sorry. I meant to say.. _he_ is over at the volcano." As she said that, Blanche gave Void a nonverbal 'I told you so' expression. "Okay okay. Lets quickjump there now, before he gets away."

...

"Aha! I knew you someone would show up!" Within seconds of arriving at the top of the volcano they were yelled at by an auburn haired kid on the other side of the smoke-filled hole. "Thomas!" It could only have been Nick's little brother. "Your brother sent us! We know you ran away from home. We're just here to help you!" Void tried not to say anything to ether scare him away or make him upset. "Nick sent you? Bah, he should mind his own business! I am not going back there! I am staying here! And you old people can't stop me!" Thomas did not like them either way, clearly.

"Old?" Blanche responded quizzically. "Yeah, adults, big brothers..old people that always tell me what to do! I am not gonna do that anymore!" The conversation went south fast; Thomas already started fiddling with his dueldisk. "How what do you want to do then? Hmm, what about a game? We do not have to be serious." Scarlet suddenly made an offer. "A duel? Yeah! Thats what I want! Then I can show you that I can be just as good as you old people!" And Thomas fell for it, hook line and sinker. He switched his dueldisk on and accepted the doctor's challenge. "Scarlet?"

Thomas' LP: 8000 Scarlets LP: 8000 -TURN 01-

"It's better this way, Void. A duel will keep him in one place, and give us time to talk to him. And I figured it would be best if it was me instead of you... I will explain that later." For now Scarlet simply drew her own cards, while Thomas got the first turn. "Well, better you than me." Blanche had no patience for kids.

"Hahah. My turn! Mememe!" The kid clapped his hands, causing his four cards to appear, and a skill card. "Thinking how I should start... Hmm. Hmmmm. This way?" So many spells to choose from, so many plans to follow. "How about.. Hmm. Ah! I got it!" Finally he opened the duel with a monster that split into three holograms: three fire-haired toon-styled children(2/1500/500) [Zone 3] wearing bandanas, red vest overalls and different expressions of emotion. "Prank-Kids huh." Blanche snickered. So far this bratty kid fit in right with monsters like that. "Yeah! Dont you know them? They're the Lampsies Prank-Kids! Silly lady! Anyway, I have lots more!"

Thomas activated a continuous spell. "I will use Prank-Kids Pranks! I have to throw away one of my cards now. But! I can summon a Prank-Kids again. A token now!" A small ball of fire(1/0/0) [Zone 4] grinned at the duelists, created from a discarded Prank-Kids Dropsies monster card. "And then I will do that thing everyone does.. Link summon! Right?" He looked at his opponent for confirmation. She simply nodded. "Yeah yeah! Link summon! The one I want also wants two Prank-Kids as.. materials! So bye-bye!" The Prank-Kids-token and the enraged fire Prank-Kids splashed together to cause a whirling mess of steam and smoke. "Dodo Doodle DOOO!" The new link monster let out its signature cry while it emerged from the blue and red vortex. Now the spirit of Prank-Kids inhabited a white dodo bird(2000/LINK 2) {Left/Down} [Extra Zone 2] with a crown of red feathers. "Heehee. Lampsies can also play when they're used for a link or fusion summon! They will take some of your life pointses! Hahahaha!" A flame separated from the dodo's whirlwind, and hit Scarlet's body. "Hrm.."

Scarlet's LP: 7500

"?" But that flame had one more place to visit, it flew all the way into the deck. "Yeah yeah! Lampsies does that other thing too! The Prank-Kids always have fun!" The second effect of the material-turned Lampsies allowed Thomas to summon another Prank-Kids from the deck: Prank-Kids Fansies the perhaps too excited wind-haired trio(1/0/2000) of the Prank-Kids group. "And Prank-Kids Dodo can give me a new Prank-Kids spell when he shows up. Haha!" The Doodle Dodo link monster chose to add the Prank-Kids Place field spell card to his hand.

"Is that also what you want, Thomas? To have fun forever?" Scarlet inquired. "Of course! I am not gonna turn into a boring adult like you already are! Hahaha!" He laughed throughout his next move: the activation of the Prank-Kids Place field spell. A large wooden cottage rose up at the edge of the volcano. "Now I can take even more Prank-Kids cards from my deck!" The door of the house opened up and spat out a Prank-Kids Rocksies monster, which Thomas added to his hand. "Anyway, bored with the Doodle now! Go away!" With little fanfare, the link monster suddenly got swallowed by its own vortex. "Ah, your Dodo can tribute itself to recover two Prank-Kids from the graveyard." Scarlet noted as Thomas reclaimed Dropsies and Lampsies, adding them to his hand.

"I know what they do! Everyone can play, not just you grown-up people! I know how extra zones work.. and I even know how to fuse monsters!" Thomas dazzled his audience with the always popular Polymerization spell card: fusing Prank-Kids Fansies on the field with Prank-Kids Rocksies in his hand. "Here's Weather Washer!" The process took on an unusual animation for a fusion summon: Rocksies the yellow rock-haired Prank-Kids worked together with Fansies to build a giant large-headed weather robot(5/2000/0) [Extra Zone 2] that they could control. Rainclouds emerged from Weather Washers head like smoke from a factory pipe.

"Fansies sends one more Prank-Kids to my graveyard! And Rocksies banishes one from my hand to draw something else!" Now sent to the graveyard, Prank-Kids Fansies sent a second Prank-Kids Dropsies to the graveyard and Rocksies' effect banished the Lampsies in Thomas' hand to give him a trap card from the top of the deck. "You certainly seem to be having fun." Scarlet noted, as the fused pranksters activated their second effects as well and also special summoned different Prank-Kids from the deck: another Lampsies(3/1500/500) [Zone 1] and the final crying water trio; Dropsies(2/1000/1000) [Zone 5] in defense mode.

"Not as much as I want too. I cant attack yet. Hmph." He placed a trap and ended the turn at last. "But you guys shouldn't forget about my spell!" As his turn came to an end, Thomas received one more gift from the Prank-Kids Pranks continuous spell. By sending three Prank-Kids cards back to the deck (Prank-Kids Fansies, Rocksies and Dropsies), a new card could be drawn. "See. We can keep going forever!" The kid certainly built up a good defense and pool of resources for his first turn. "Didn't Nick say this kid only dueled in STHEREA once or twice before?" Void saw a lot more talent and experience than what one would expect from a beginner. "Well he's been taking some pointers from someone, clearly." Blanche assumed.

-TURN 02-

"That is quite interesting. Tell me, Thomas. Did you make any friends here? Friends who know how to have fun?" The doctor tried a different method, as her turn began. "Yeah they do! And they wanna keep it that way! But they wont think I am cool enough to join them, until I show them!" Thomas answered quite happily, and shared a strange look with Void. "Oh. And beating one of us will make you cool? Is that what they tell you? Hm, I'd hate to spoil your fun.. Thomas. But as a doctor I know very well, that things like fun do not last forever. Or things like your cards." She activated her first spell: Card Destruction. "Huh?" The card forced both players to discard their hand and draw new cards for each card they lost. "That's mean!" Thomas cried out as he was forced to let go of his monsters: Dropsies and another Fansies. At the very least he could keep his skill card, as that did not count as a part of 'the hand'.

"That's life. But as scary as life can be, fantasies can be scarier." Scarlet played another spell card to follow up the first: Recurring Nightmare. "I take two Dark monsters back, who have no defense points." The Nightmare card 'recurred' two discarded demons from the graveyard: Lilith the Lady of Torment and Ahriman the Wicked Warden. "Now when I discard Ahrima, what will happen?" The first of those cards could be activated from the hand to activate a very specific searching effect. "I know what you're gonna get! A Lair of Darkness! I can read!" The Wicked Warden fetched the dystopian field spell of the viral demons. "Correct. One golden star for you." The doctor activated her newly acquired spell with a smile, and caused half of the mountain to rot via shadows and pestilence. "All monsters are now treated as dark-attribute cards. And once a turn, I can sacrifice one of your darklings to activate one of my effects." The color and expressions of life left the faces of the Prank-Kids.

"I know that too! Stop it! I didn't come here for lessons!" Though irritated, Thomas saw the danger Lilith posed. "Weather Washer! Run away now, before she gets you!" So the Weather machine used a quick effect: tributing itself to resummon two Prank-Kids monsters from the graveyard: Dodo Doodle Doo[Zone 5] and a defending Prank-Kids Rocksies(4/1500/1500) [Zone 4].

"And I also activate this Prank-Kids Plan! Its a trap, Haha!" A continuous trap popped up, which interacted with the prankster's house and opened the doors. "I can link summon just one Prank-Kids in your turn too now!" The crying Dropsies and furious Lampsies ran back into the house and performed a quick link summon inside. "Bow Wow Bark!" A two-headed hellhound(2000/LINK 2) {Down/Right} [Extra Zone 2] growled before rushing back out and glaring at Scarlet with its horned faces. "Well well. You are quite perceptive." With Lampsies turning into a link material again, Scarlet lost 500 more lifepoints to the flames. In turn, the watery effect of Prank-Kids Dropsies allowed Thomas to restore 1000 of his own lifepoints. And of course, both link materials special summoned new defense-mode Prank-Kids from the deck: Lampsies(3/1500/500) [Zone 2] and another Dropsies(2/1000/1000) [Zone 3].

Scarlet's LP: 7000 Thomas' LP: 9000

"And.. and.. Bow-Wow Bark splits! I wont let you use him too!" Thomas went on. Much like the Dodo link monster, the hound could be tributed to reclaim two Prank-Kids from the graveyard. The Prank-Kid vortex fully engulfed Bow Wow Bark and spat out the Prank-Kid cards of Dropsies and Lampsies that were used for its own link summon one second ago. Thomas added both to his hand. "Hmm. The other one then. Don't worry, I wont lecture you anymore. I will just activate my skill: Forbidden Surgical Operation."

_Forbidden Surgical Operation, Skill Card  
__Special summon 1 DARK monster from your graveyard, that was sent there this turn. Switch that monsters ATK and DEF until the end of the turn._

"I special summon Ahrima the Wicked Warden." The black armored tiger devil(4/0/1700) [Zone 2] howled as Scarlet brought it back to life in this twisted state with her odd surgical skills. "Ahrima can sacrifice one dark monster; to draw one card." The wicked warden struck the darkened Prank-Kids Dodo with black magic and absorbed its life essence. Doodle-Doo died so that the doctor could draw once.

"And then, I shall sacrifice him to the Lady of Torment. This might look gruesome, Thomas." Lilith(4/2000/0) [Zone 3] appeared on the field and immediately lost half of her(1000/0) attackpoints due to being normal summoned. "I can handle it!" Thomas did not look away as Ahrima itself became a sacrifice to Lilith. With that life paid, the lady could now select one of three traps (Deck Devastation Virus, Epidemic Eradicator Virus, Ballista Squad). Only Scarlet knew which one she set face-down and which were shuffled back into the deck. "And since I sacrificed one of my monsters. I can special summon the Lord of the Lair. The Darkest Diabolos!" The lava-spewing mountain rumbled, as the tribute of the Wicked Warden awakened their dark lord. Diabolos(8/3000/2000) [Zone 4] split the corrupted earth and slammed its claws down to nearly make Thomas lose his footing. "Are you scared, Thomas?" Scarlet asked as she entered her battle phase.

"No way! Monsters summoned by Weather Washer can't die this turn!" He would at least keep one Prank-Kid around to defend him. "That is good. You are more grown up than you think." She declared her targets. Darkest Diabolos and his Lady of Torment buried Dropsies and Lampsies underneath waves and waves of blighted energy, evaporating the water and turning rocks to dust. "You take that back! I am never gonna be an adult!" Thomas snapped. "Is that another thing they promised you? How can they say that?" The more he heard about these friends of Thomas, the bigger this whole situation felt to Void. "They can! But I don't have to tell you anything! Nyah!"

"That is a shame, Thomas. I like to learn as well as teach." Scarlet moved to the second main phase. "But this will be over soon. First, Diabolos sacrifices one dark monster to send one card in your hand to the bottom of your deck." Scarlet made her dark lord tribute itself for once, and forced Thomas to give up one of his random spell cards. "Over? Over how!?" He lashed out again. "You will see." She placed two more traps down on her field, and let the turn come to an end. "During my endphase, Lair of Darkness created one Torment-token for each monster that was tributed this turn..." This counted the tributes Thomas made as well. "Five?" There were more counted tributes than available monster zones, so the Lair simply filled the rest of Scarlet's field with Torment Tokens(3/1000/1000) [Zones 1, 2, 4 & 5]. "That is right again. You played well, Thomas. But I am going to end our fun here.. I.."

-TURN 03-

"No. I still have my skill too!" Thomas cried in protest. "And you cant hurt me when I use it!" He activated at the very start of his turn. "Its called Legacy of Millennium! Here!" Magnificent golden light escaped his hand. "The whatsit of Millennium?" Blanche blinked. This was new, definitely new. The golden light painted the zones and the backs of every card in Thomas' hand. "Yeah! What are you gonna do now?"

_LEGACY OF MILLENNIUM, Skill Card  
__Cards you own cannot be destroyed and are unaffected by your opponent's spell/trap card effects until the end of this turn._

No Prank-Kids could be 'destroyed' by Scarlet's traps while the millennium legacy purged the darkness from them. Since they were not affected by Lair of Darkness anymore, Thomas' monsters could not be turned into tributes either. And since it was a skill card, she could not chain to it. "This.. must be what I picked up before. This card." Scarlet's eyes widened. "Void, I think you and I were looking for the same thing."

(To Be Continued in Line 033: I Am a Very Kind Virus)

**New Cards used by Doctor Scarlet Fever  
**_FORBIDDEN SURGICAL OPERATION_

-  
Ahrima, The Wicked Warden

-  
Card Destruction  
Recurring Nightmare

**Cards used by Thomas  
**_LEGACY OF MILLENNIUM_

-  
Prank-Kids Dropsies  
Prank-Kids Lampsies  
Prank-Kids Rocksies  
Prank-Kids Fansies

-  
Prank-Kids Dodo-Doodle-Doo  
Prank-Kids Weather Washer  
Prank-Kids Bow-Wow-Bark

-  
Prank-Kids Pranks  
Prank-Kids Place  
Polymerization

-  
Prank-Kids Plan


	33. I Am a Very Kind Virus

**Line 033: I Am a Very Kind Virus**

Thomas' LP: 9000 Scarlet's LP: 7000

Void and Blanche came to the top of the fireking volcano to find the runaway kid Thomas. Scarlet visited the Fire King island to find the source of strange energy readings. "Yeah! My skill makes my monsters stronger than anything! Your virus or darkness cant hurt them!" Both objects appeared before them together: Thomas the duelist and his Legacy of Millennium skill card. One used the other to make the Prank-Kids Rocksies(4/1500/1500) [Zone 5] and the cards in his hand immune to traps and spells. They could not be destroyed by effects either. "This.. is the thing your scans picked up on?"

"It could be nothing else, Void." Scarlet's mask verified her theory. "You have very interesting friends, Thomas. I am assuming they gave you this card?" This card did not have a place on any of the official network lists. That also applied to another set of cards Void ran into. "Legacy.. World Legacy." Did this kid have one of the world legacy items as well? Void did not want to imagine it. "They did! But I am not gonna snitch on them! I am gonna kick your butt!" Thomas laughed and blew a raspberry at his opponent.

"Now guess what I will summon!" Another one of his many Prank-Kids monsters dropped by, Prank-Kids Lampsies(3/1500/500) [Zone 4] "You don't wanna guess? Well too late now! Its gonna be another Dodo Doodle Doo!" It and Rocksies formed a vortex of green and blue link materials and created the frenzied dodo bird(2000/LINK 2) {Left/Down} [Extra Zone 2]. Thanks to its effect Thomas could add another Prank-Kids spell to his hand. "I want Prank-Kids Pandemonium! And I will let Rocksies and Dropsies do their stuff too!" The effect of the de-materialized Lampsies burned down 500 of Scarlets lifepoints, while the effect of Rocksies banished one card (Terraforming) from Thomas' hand to trade in another from the deck. Both of them would also special summon new Pranksters from the deck: Prank-Kids Dropsies(2/1000/1000) [Zone 3] and Fansies(1/0/2000) [Zone 4]. They could only summon a card this way once per turn however.

Scarlet's LP: 6500

"I am summoning Bow Wow Bark too, to Dodo's marker!" Dropsies and Fansies became their own furious prank animal: the two-headed red hound(2000/LINK 2) {Right/Down} [Zone 4]. "Gogogo!" Naturally, thomas made use of Fansies' and Dropsies' effects as well. Since they were turned into link materials, they could respectively summon the third and final copies of Prank-Kids Rocksies[Zone 3] and Fansies[Zone 2] from the deck. Lampsies also restored 1000 lifepoints to Thomas, while Fansies sent another Prank-Kids Plan trap card from the deck to the graveyard.

Thomas' LP: 10000

"Heh! And now all your monsters lose points, because I link summoned a Prank-Kid this turn!" The effect of his field spell, Prank-Kids Place, triggered for one link and one fusion summon each turn. In case of a link summon: it took away 500 attackpoints from the already weakened Lady Lilith(4/500/0) [Zone 3] and her four Torment tokens(3/500/1000). "Ugh. I really dont like this deck. Just keeps poking at ya. Like kids." Blanche meanwhile still did not regret her decision to sit this duel out.

"Wanna see something even cooler? Prank-Kids Pandemonium can fuse my Prank kids!" The two Prank-Kids in his hand, another Fansies and Dropsies in reserve, joined the party. The quickplay spell of pandemonium merged them together into a machine they created. "I fusion summon Prank-Kids Rocket Ride!" A smiling rocket(5/2000/0) [Zone 5] with two boxing arms soared through the skies. It flew so fast it even lost some of its (1000/0) attackpoints. "I can have Rocket Ride attack directly, if I take some of his power away! But but! Since I fusion summoned a Prank-Kids, he will get 500 attackpoints again! And any monster that Bow Wow points too, also gets a thousand attackpoints! A thousand!" The field spell now used its second effect, a powerboost for fusion summons. Rocket Ride (2500/0) stayed close to the field-boosted Bow Wow Bark(2500 atk), who in turn linked with an empowered Dodo Doodle Doo(2500).

"Yes. You are quite good at this, Thomas. Whoever taught you, taught you well. However.. you made one mistake. You should have left that spell in your hand." Scarlet flipped her first trap. "This is the Dark Spirit Art of Greed. I sacrifice one of my dark monsters, as I can not turn yours, to draw two cards from my deck." If Thomas had kept a spell, he could have negated the Greed trap due to its built-in negation clause. "Hey! How did you know?" Alas, Thomas did not have any spells left. "Intuition." She smiled as she used one of the four torment tokens for the Dark Art trap and replenished her hand.

"And, I did sacrifice my monster. Which means one monster in my graveyard can summon himself.." The volcano rumbled again, for the lord of the lair had been disturbed. Diabolos the darkest dragon(8/3000/2000) [Zone 2] took the land that the token left behind. "Oh yeah? Well, I havent even shown you my best cards yet!" Thomas did not slow himself or his cards down. Dodo-Doodle-Doo linked up with the Dropsies and Fansies on the field. "Link four?" Vodid did not know whether to be impressed or concerned that this kid could pull that off as well. "Rip Roarin Roaster!" The new Prank-Kid beast yelled. The Roaring one(3000/LINK 4) [Extra Zone 2] took on the form of a gigantic blue chinese dragon, with tornado winds from all four Prank-Kid colors coiling around its elongated body.

"See! I can be just as strong as you!" The two effects of Prank-Kids Place activated only once per turn, so for now the two dragons matched each other attackpoint-wise. And Thomas liked it that way. "Attack! Attackattackattack!" The prankster brigade stormed the dark side of the volcano, with Rocket Ride slamming right into Scarlet because of its direct attacking ability. ".. Strong indeed." She experienced some distortion to her avatar, but nothing out of the ordinary for a duel like this. She required more data first.

Scarlet's LP: 4000

"Hmm. I will activate Lilith then." Since Bow Wow Bark would obviously come after the helpless Lilith, there would be no later chances for her to use her monster sacrificing effect. The devilish tormentor sacrificed another Torment token, and picked three traps (Deck Devastation Virus, Epidemic Eradicator Virus, Grinning Grave Virus) from the deck. One got chosen and placed face-down, the other two returned to the deck. "Ha! Than she will die!" The berserker dodo pecked Lilith to death afterwards, causing another substantial drop in the doctors lifepoints.

Scarlet's LP: 2000

"One monster left! Bye bye Diabolo!" The battle phase came down to the clash of dragons. Rip Roarer and the Lord of the Lair tore each other to half inside of a cloud of stars and soundeffects. Neither of them escaped their cartoony confrontation. "Haha! I got ya! You took away my Rip Roarin Roaster, but that just makes him madder! Now he's gonna give me any card I want!" Essentially, because Scarlet caused the death of the link 4 Prank-Kids, Thomas could get his quickplay Prank-Kids Pandemonium spell back with Roaster's dying effect. "Is he gonna fuse again?" Void flinched. One more monster would tip Scarlet over the edge. "No. Because that spell can only be used during a main phase, even if it is a quickplay spell." Scarlet saw enough restrictions to be confident in her own survival. "Now, is it my turn?"

"Thomas!"

"I suppose not." Scarlet and the others turned around. "Hey. It's that guy." They saw Nick rush up to the edge of the volcano, though he could not come near his little brother from there either. "Nick?! You.. you told him!?" Thomas gasped. "Yes. I sent him a message." Void confessed. He figured Thomas would not be going anywhere while dueling, so Nick could talk him down here.

"Thank you. Again. I couldn't find him anywhere in our neighborhood." He would try. "Tom! Tell me where you are right now!" Nick started with demands. "Never!" Thomas shook his head and covered his ears. "Thomas. You cannot keep doing this. The game will force you out eventually." Void chimed in as well, to remind him of the six-hour time limit. "Not if my friends can help me!" The kid vaguely replied. "Friends? What.. who is he talking about?" His elder brother did not have a clue. But neither did they. "Dunno. We only saw him. But whoever they are, they gave him some mean stuff." Blanche grumbled. "Mean? But.. Thomas. Why are you doing this? For them? You don't have to listen to them. Just come home. Mom and me wont get mad at you. We miss you."

"I.. No! I am doing this because I want to! I will win so I can stay with them!" Thomas turned to the second main phase, the Prank-Kids still were not tired of their tricks. "I tribute Prank-Kids Rocket Ride! So I can summon two Prank-Kids from my graveyard!" The fused rocket reached all the way for the clouds, where it ultimately and joyfully exploded into pieces. As it turned out, its revived pilots bailed just in time. Rip Roarin Roaster [Zone 4] and Prank-Kids Dodo Doodle-Doo [Zone 5] landed on the field. "And Rip Roarin Roaster has another power! If I sacrifice him, all your spells and traps will die! I am not gonna let you use your virus on me! You wont make me sick!" Thomas let the prankster tornado consume the dragons full body, so that it would become a storm of magical destruction.

"Thomas, just because you cannot get sick in here. Does not mean your body will stay safe out there. You simply cannot stay indefinitely." Scarlet could still use her traps before they were destroyed at least, and she knew just what to use. "Please. Don't hurt him!" Thomas' older brother cried out. "You have nothing to fear. I will use a kid-friendly touch. You see.. I activate Super Team Buddy Force Unite!" Scarlet nearly sang her lines. This trap special summoned one monster from the hand or graveyard, as long as its type matched that of an already controlled monster. "To summon Bearblocker!" And while one could be forgiven for thinking otherwise, the dark-furred devil teddybear(3/1600/0) [Zone 3] that flew out of its grave did indeed belong to the same fiend-typing as the Torment tokens. "Bearblocker?" Its cutesy appearance caught Thomas off guard.

"Bearblocker makes it so that you cannot destroy my face-down spells or traps during your turn." The horned bear blocked the ripping and roaring storm with its paw-wand. "Huh!? You're stopping me with kiddy cards like that? Now you're just doing the same as Mom!" Thomas felt more insulted by the bear's appearance than its effect. "Is that why you ran? Because mom wouldn't let you watch those alien movies?" Nick interjected again. "I.. It's a lot more than that! You treat me like such a kid! But my new friends wont!" His younger brother refused to listen. "No, you are smart. Aren't you? Smart enough to know what is going to happen next."

"Huh?" Thomas counted the cards on Scarlets field. His dragon managed to at least remove the rotting Lair of Darkness field spell. On the other hand, three grave portends remained in the form of three unknown trap cards. "One of them is a virus. If I let her.." If he placed his Prank-Kids Pandemonium face-down, then it could not be activated until the next main phase. The same delay applied to his other cards' quick effects while those trap cards did not have that timely restriction at all. "Ngh! I'll tribute Doodle-Doo!" He needed to do everything in this turn before the Millennium's protection ran out. The Dodo link monster split up to return Prank-Kids Lampsies and Fansies from the graveyard.

"I'm gonna fuse them with a King of the Swamp! He can be treated as a fusion material I need: Prank-Kid Dropsies!" The fire and wind-haired pranksters merged as soon as Thomas re-activated the spell of Prank-Kids Pandemonium. And the muddy slime king fused along with them to fill out the third requirement for the Prank-Kids' ultimate machine. "Get her, Prank-Kids Battle Butler!" The spirit of pranks and misschief possessed a large and purple rabbit robot(10/4000/3000) [Zone 4]. Its ears could pack a mean punch, doubly so due to Bow Wow's attack boost. "That was my turn!" During the endphase the Prank-Kids Pranks spell returned three Prank-Kids cards (Fansies, Dropsies, Lampsies) to the deck and Thomas could draw one more card. That was the last step in Scarlets way. Now she could take her turn at long last.

-TURN 04-

"Hmm. I think I want to end this here." She noted to her observers. "Can you? He still has ten thousand lifepoints." The odds were five to one in his favor right now. "Oh Void. Just watch and learn. The steps are simple, first I activate Blockout Curtain." With a spell she could summon protection in the form of a transparent dark curtain. "Then.. we link summon the Wee Witch Apprentice. As you would say, the link materials are two dark-type monsters." To summon more power, the two remaining Torment tokens created a link circuit. Cackling laughter escaped the extra deck, along with a young redhaired witch student(14000/LINK 2) {Downleft/Downright} [Extra Zone 1] who flew through the skies on a broom and with small angelic wings. "All dark monsters now gain 500 attack and defense points." Her black magic invigorated the Bearblocker(2100/500).

"And now I activate step three. Also known as the Lair of Darkness." Darkness once more ruled the volcanic lands, as the lair field spell turned every monster into the darktype. "Huh!? You drew another card right after I destroyed the first? That's not fair!" At least these circumstances suited Bow-Wow Bark(2500 atk) and Battle Butler(4500 atk) just fine, with the Wee Witch Apprentice now strengthening them as well. Nevertheless, Thomas cried foul. "Life is not fair. Whether you are living it or not...""

"Let's proceed to step four. I activate Ballista Squad and sacrifice one monster, to destroy one card! Thanks to my field spell, I can use your monster as a sacrifice!" She loaded Prank-Kids Bow-Wow Bark on top of the Ballista, and fired it away. "What!?" The hellhound projectile came right for the Battling Butler. "No way! No no no! Battle Butler would rather die!" Thomas could not react fast enough to the tribute, but he could prevent the destruction. So he made the fused Prank-Kids to selfdestruct, and their tribute effect would then destroy all of Scarlet's monsters as well.

"Another mistake, I am affraid." Scarlet snapped her finger and destroyed her spell card instead. "When my cards faces destruction, Blockout Curtain can be sent to the graveyard to save one of them." The apprentice witch hid behind the magical curtain, which somehow managed to absorb every bit of the massive explosion caused by the crashing Battle Butler. Bearblocker did not fare so well, and got caught in the blast. "The curtain wasn't big enough for both huh." Blanche wondered what Scarlet planned with just the witch. She did enjoy watching her duel a lot more.

"You are losing focus. And now you will pay the price. As will I.." The lesson continued with the next monster: the redhaired demoness Tour Guide from the Underworld(3/1500/1500) [Zone 2] "When the Tour Guide is normal summoned, I special summon a level 3 fiend from my deck. You know her by now.. she is Lady Lilith." The Guide called out the name of the Tormentor with her megaphone, and Lilith(3/2500/500) [Zone 1] found her all too soon. "And before you say anything, let me use my fourth trap.. The Trap of Darkness. Since my lifepoints are lower than 3000, It can pay 1000 to activate one trap card from my graveyard. The trap I choose is.. Super Team Buddy Force Unite."

Scarlet's LP: 1000

"That one?" The Team Force trap saw the demons on the field, and selected another demon buddy from the graveyard that could join them. "I special summon my Wicked Warden." A scream echoed across the night, as the first Lilith(3/2500/500) [Zone 4] tore her way out of the graveyard. "That's.." Just a second ago, he stood at the top. Now he had nothing, and she controlled four monsters with a combined attackpower of 8400. "Are you starting to get scared, Thomas? This is the kind of terror you will have to deal with from now on, if you stay in this world. Your family cannot protect you here, and your friends will not help you either.. if you cannot even win." Scarlet entered her battle phase. "Thomas. Please! You can stop this now!" Nick could not watch this any longer. "No! I can still do this!" Another refusal. "Very well. Here is the test you desire. Direct attack!" One by one the demons struck the young boy. And while Scarlet silently made sure the sensory settings were at their lowest, Thomas still experienced the claws of both Tormentor Ladies and the hell-magic of the Tourguide up close.

Thomas' LP: 3500

"I still have lifepoints left, lady! Plenty!" The kid only grew angrier, chaining a card from his graveyard as soon as the Apprentice declared her attack. "If I banish Prank-Kids Plan from my graveyard, then your monster loses 100 attackpoints for each Prank-Kids I can return to my deck! Five link monsters, three fusion monsters, eight elemental Prank-Kids and Prank-Kids Pandemonium! That's seventeen cards!" The laughter of every prankster used in this duel filled the ears of all duelists. "Oh boy." Seventeen risen ghosts depowered the attacking Wee Witch(200 atk) until her dark magic flame became little more than a firefly. "See! See?! You havent won anything! And now your attack is over! I've done it! I didn't get scared!" Thomas did not feel the flickering flame attack in the slightest.

Thomas' LP: 3300

"Trust me, Thomas. If I wanted you to be scared, you would be." Scarlet's expression turned grim. "I have seen things you could not even dream off. This world, is not kind to the innocent." For her last move, she decided to hide her face behind the plague doctor's mask. "... I activate Deck Devastation Virus." And so the plague broke out. A dark monster with 2000 or more attackpoints would become its carrier. "I sacrifice one Lilith, to destroy all monsters with 1500 attackpoints or less." Her tormentor turned to viral dust, which spread out along with the volcanic ashes. "But I have no monsters like that!" Thomas' only held a spell in his hand. "I know. But you didn't remember what happens when I tribute my own monsters." He should have been familiar with it now. "Oh no." That earth trembling effect. "Oh yes." The lord of the lair could not sleep. "I summon him and.. attack." The final nightmare took its form: the dragon of Darkest Diabolos(3500/2500) [Zone 5] revived by its own power and empowered by the Apprentice Witch. "Boo." Black flames shot from one end of the mountain to the other. "Noooo!" The darkness claimed the pranksters life.

Thomas' LP: 0

"Ah.." Thomas took in his loss with wide-eyed disbelief at first, dropping all his cards to the ground. Soon though he settled on his strongest emotion. "Waaaahhh! You meanie! You spoiled it all! You big bully! I want.. I want.." He shook his arms violently and cried out. "Oh dear. Nicholas, this is your moment now." The doctor stepped aside to let his brother take over. Thomas! I am here!" He rushed over and held his little brother in his arms. "I am sorry. I didn't want to chase you away. Mom didn't either!" His words at the very least made it easier for the near inconsolable kid. "No. I am sorry.. too.. Big bro.. I just wanted to be cool, for you too. I thought I really could be.." His defeat only showed him just how much growing up he still had to do. "Hey, you are cool to us. Let's just go home. I am sure we can make your favorite dinner tonight.."

"Hmm." Though touching, Scarlet started to focus on something else halfway during their reunion. "Oh." Yet the legacy card that caught her interest evaporated, leaving just the Prank-Kids. "What? Well that sucks." Blanche muttered. "Rather. I presume this card cannot be passed on. What a shame." The doctor would have liked to study the thing.

"Nick, I am sorry that I have to interrupt you. But I have to ask Thomas something. I wanted to know how this all started? Who talked to you and gave you that card?" Void turned to their only remaining source of information. "I.. I dont know." The kid managed to compose himself. "I was just playing by myself yesterday, when I met someone who wanted to play with me. I didn't see her face, she was like disguised or something, but I did beat her. So she gave me that card. And she said I could join his club forever if I proved to them I could use this card to beat someone else. I know I shouldn't have listened to strangers. But I just had so much fun. I guess I was selfish." He could only give them so much. "You dueled her? What deck did she.."

Before the authorities arrived. "We will take it from here." Half a dozen judges warped in to form a perimeter around the duelists. "Whoa! Hey it's all done now!" Nick yelled and Thomas hugged him tight. "We just want to ask you a few questions. You are not in any trouble." One judge immediately assured the two brothers. "Wonder if the same applies to us." Blanche said, while thinking how typical it was for the cavalry to arrive late. "We would like to talk to you as well; Madam Blanche, Scarlet Fever and Void. Separately." And they heard her. "Of course.." She sighed.

"Then we can say goodbye for now." Scarlet felt satisfied with this outcome. "Yes. Thank you, all of you.. for what you have done." The older brother nodded while the younger one looked at the doctor one last time. "Sorry, for all the trouble I caused." The doctor simply smiled back. "Far from it, we have both learned a great deal today. So thank you as well." On those farewells the two groups parted, three judges quickjumped away with the boys and three stayed behind. "So.."

"The area is clear, sir." The judge ignored them for now to talk into his dueldisk instead. "Sir?" Presumably this had something to do with the two men who quickjumped in one second later. One only materialized as a simplistic butler-styled bodyguard with a stoic face and thick mustache. "Thank you Jean." The other, the one who the judges bowed to, appeared in a snappy business suit with tie, bright blonde hair and a dashingly handsome face that seemed almost too charming to be real. "You can stand down now. I will take over from here."

"And you are?" Neither champion, nor judge: Void could guess what they were dealing with now. "Void! I am glad you asked." The man placed a fist on his chest and extended his other hand. "? Hansen, Chief of Technology at Exeter Inc. You are looking at the man in charge, Void. Miss Scarlet. Madam Blanche." He nodded at each present duelist. "So you came down yourself, hm? Are you sure you're not another digital copy?" After the last case, they could not be too careful. "I apologize for that deception, miss Blanche. My company severely under-estimated the situation at that time. But now I realized that current affairs required my personal attention. And that is why I am here." He talked like one would expect someone from his line of work to talk: beguiling with the pretense of friendliness. "So you are." Scarlet detected no lie so far at least. Her mask scanned him as a human player. "Indeed. And I would like to begin our conversation on a certain topic. One judge Hieronymus already charted: Mister Static. The man you say who works for us..."

(To Be Continued in Line 034: Painful Yet Superficial)

**New Cards used by Doctor Scarlet Fever  
**Bearblocker  
Tour Guide from the Underworld

-  
Wee Witch Apprentice

-  
Blockout Curtain

-  
Darkness Spiritual Art - Greed  
Super Team Buddy Force Unite!  
Trap of Darkness

**New Cards used by Thomas  
**King of the Swamp

-  
Prank-Kids Dodo-Doodle-Doo  
Prank-Kids Weather Washer  
Prank-Kids Bow-Wow-Bark

-  
Prank-Kids Pandemonium


	34. Painful yet Superficial

**Line 034: Painful yet Superficial**

How much Void and the others told the man who called himself the CTO of Exeter depended on how much they could trust him. Enough to pass on the major elements of their adventures up until this point, since he did show his own face. But what mister Hansen cared about the most, started with the word mister and ended with the word Static. Though he talked like someone who didn't really believe their story. "If this is accurate, then I regret to inform you that have been played for fools. I would know if someone in my company created his own private arena to recruit help against the corrupted ADIs. I did not see it and I certainly did not order it. I would definitely like to see this place he made." His tone, while amiable, always carried a veneer of pretension that kept him from sounding completely authentic.

"I would not recommend it. The last person who attempted the journey was ejected halfway." Scarlet stated, referring to the moment when Hieronymus failed to break into the arena. "She is correct sir. We have tried to jump to those coordinates ourselves, with no success. It does not matter whether we use our own avatars or copies." Jean the judge spoke up again, while keeping the duelists in her sight at all times. "That is unfortunate. But since your descriptions match that of the others, you likely did not make it up."

"The others? You talked with the rest of our group.." Void immediately concluded. "Of course. You will have to pardon me for keeping that fact on the backburner. I wanted to make sure you were being honest." He claimed. "Rude. You didn't even give us a chance to get our lies synchronized." Blanche responded dryly. The man was quick to recognize it as a joke and laughed. "My my. You certainly are an quaint collection: the heroes of Pandemonium. By now I have met most of you. A few eluded me or are indisposed. But every one of you spoke at lengths about this mister Static, that you handed the Crown to him. That is true as well then?" Void could only nod to that query. "Regrettable. Now it is beyond our reach. Some players have taken a shining to using illegal private rooms, but I have never seen a space that can refuse those who already know the jump coordinates. Well, we will find our own way in due time."

"That implies a certain level of power within the network, does it not?" Scarlet postulated out loud. Creating an area like the Arena Beyond took a little more effort than making a plague mask. "That is why I am down here, miss Scarlet. What you see here is the range of my trust. The only people I know I can always depend on." The CTO motioned towards his entourage of judges and his bodyguard. "Duelists who started from the bottom, they have no misguided aspirations of power. And Walter here, he's been my loyal aide since I became CTO." He said as he slapped the man on the back. "He's an AI." The doctor noted, with the help of her scanners. "Yes, but disconnected from the game: not an ADI-model and I find him to be a great deal more reliable than the executives I have to see every week and every day." Hansen shuddered as he spoke of them. "..Do they have the same kind of access privileges that you do?" Void spotted what the CTO tried to imply. "Heh, you have a keen mind. I am not in a position to divulge such information however.." The man gave Judge Jean a side glance. "Yes sir."

The CTO's lips were sealed, but his aides could say whatever they wanted. "Our people detained the real Anders ten hours ago, once he emerged from his STHEREA barrier. We brought him to a secure station for questioning. We have reason to believe he was not working alone. Our ongoing theory is that a third party spurred him into activity to ruin the image and reputation of the company. At the same time they approached duelists like you to make sure they could collect the Item at the end of the crisis. Unfortunately we received no factual data to support this. Nor did we come any closer to understanding what 'the crown' was, or who created it. Mister Green has not given us any answers yet, if he even knows anything at all."

"Ah. So you're saying someone is out to make you look bad? To make you lose your job? Now who would want to do that to a nice guy like you?" The blue-eyed girl asked. "I can name a few, if I were so inclined. People within Exeter have been envious of my rise to the top since it began. I was the one who connected the company to the dueling network, I was the one who helped breathe life into new virtual worlds. I may be CTO now, but I was once a coder just like mister Green. Then there's all our rivaling companies and 'investors', the ones who chased our coat tails and have so far failed to reproduce our work. Whichever is the case, the endresult is me having to find new names to depend on. That is why I came to you. I do not know why this Static recruited you, but he does not have to know of my interests. So if you ever see him again, pretend we never met. Instead, if it pleases you, you can help me by entering the tagteam tournament."

"The tournament? Why?" At this point its existence seemed to be all but certain. "As it is my token of good will towards those that were affected by Anders' mania, I would like you to be there to help promote it as the new heroes. It would be the perfect marriage of our two forces in the eyes of the public." Hansen was after all also a man looking after his own image. "Will it help them though? There are a lot who have suffered because of the Crown. What about Wagner and the others?" Void would not agree to anything until he knew more about the fallen duelists. "First of, let me assure you that the next patch will eliminate all damage done to the currently persisting avatars, and its scheduled to drop in the next five hours. Secondly, we are still working on restoring avatars that were destroyed completely. At this point it might be better to just create new models with the same stats as the previous ones. But that depends on the physical recovery of your friends. We had local trauma teams locate them as soon as their avatars disappeared from our net. Their loss left them temporarily paralyzed and unconscious. But I can promise you that they are recovering now, albeit slowly."

"That is good news at least. And I am not surprised you found them so quickly." Blanche said with a heavy emphasis on the word 'found'. "Ah yes. The matter of privacy. We decided it was for the best to bend it in their cases. Their families and friends were informed, but the rest is in the hands of the local health organizations. The story of the crown has slipped our grasp, and my company is paying the cost for it many times over. Federal investigation, lawsuits, I can see it all coming." Hansen acted like he could afford both.

"Then he lied. Static told us the company sent people to silence them, not to heal them." Void already assumed as much when he heard from Crescent about Wagner. "Whoever this man is, I suppose I do owe him. Or rather I owe you for bringing an end to this crisis. Of course if only that were the end of all of it." The CTO was not naive. "Mister Static said the same thing. He believes there are more items like this out there in this game." Scarlet agreed. "We would try to limit the damage such items could create, regardless of whom we worked for.. Mister Hansen."

"Hansen." A thought suddenly entered Voids mind. "Is it possible to extend the time limit of an avatar? I am not asking that for us, I am asking because the boy I dueled just now.. He said he found friends who could arrange that for him. And Anders, he stayed a long time as well. Longer than the deadline." He saw a possible link between Anders and these 'friends', a link in the shape of a skill card. "Remove the limiter? It has never been done before. I wouldn't concern yourselves with the kid or his friends. We get cases like that all the time, my admins will ask them a few questions and be on their way. Just focus on the tournament. Some of your partners already agreed to enter. You will need to pass some preliminary rounds before proper teams can be arranged though. The affair has to be small and tidy." The CTO clasped his hands together. "So, I will see you there perhaps? I look forward to our mutual cooperation either way. Have a good day, duelists and heroes." He snapped his fingers at his entourage and signed off immediately.

"You know. I cant tell if we learned anything from that." Blanche decided, feeling more lost than before. "He has given us a lot to think about." Void could say that much. Whatever they chose to do required careful consideration. "Are you sure we can even participate though? Dont we tend to `scar`our opponents?" Blanche reminded Void of what happened to Veyron yesterday. "Perhaps not. Nothing happened to Thomas after all." Scarlet raised a counterpoint. "No. It didn't. Did Static change the rules of his game again?" Void had no idea.

"Maybe it's time to return to the arena. We can at least verify who else Hansen approached, and who is planning to enter the competition." Scarlet did not have anything else to do here anymore. "Good idea. You go on ahead, we will be right behind you." Void proposed, and the doctor wordlessly went along with it. "Blanche. I would like to keep it between us for now, that we have seen each other in the real world." So he could say what he wanted to say to the blue-eyed girl. "Ooh a secret? Any reason?" She inquired. "The same one as always, I don't need everyone to know where I live." He wondered if he would ever get to a point where he could trust everyone around him. Definitely not within the next few hours. "That's fine by me. Makes our partnership special, heheh."

...

With that settled, the two could warp over to the arena. "Whoa. Who spruced up the place?" Right away they could tell someone had been redecorating; the columns and walls of the stadium looked less decayed and carried a fresh layer of paint. "More than that." While waiting for the duo, Scarlet conducted her own examination. "There's another floor below us now." Her mask detected space beneath the battlefield, and her eyes found several stairwells leading down. "Did Static do this, while we were gone?" Nobody could say why this happened: they all left the area alone after a certain point. "Maybe we can find new stuff below."

"You wont find anything. " Before anyone could go down, Midsummer the Nightmare duelist emerged from the bottom floor. "I already looked, and saw nothing of interest. This new level has the exact same layout as the concourse on this level." He'd been here for some time. "Oh. Then whats the point?" A disappointed Blanche grumbled. "Who can say? Perhaps this is the result of Static acquiring the first World Legacy item. And with each new acquisition, he adds a layer to his domain. Turning it into a tower that reaches closer and closer to what lies below. The reverse of the story of babel, if you will. But that is just a theory." Midsummer let out his trademark chuckle. "What brings you here?"

"I presume the same thing that brought you here. Did you meet the CTO?" Void began to ask. "Ah yes, the delightful mister Hansen. He informed me of his upcoming tournament. We did not exchange many words beyond that I am affraid." He shook his head. "What? Did he try to take off your mask?" Blanche said with a restrained snicker. "Not directly, but he would have wanted too. I suppose I let him down twofold, as I also declined to duel for him." Midsummer shrugged. "Is that so? A pity, I would have liked to see who you would accept as a partner." Scarlet wistfully stated. Her mind had evidently not yet been made up either. "Of course, the one who should ask himself whether or not he wants to go is you... Void." The masked man turned towards the cyber duelist. "Why do you say that?" He was not in the mood for riddles. "You are the hero of VRAINS, the champion everyone looks up too. What if you were to lose in the first round, you might lose more than your image.. You might lose the crown."

"Lose it? I already gave the crown to Static." Void protested. "You did. But what if that does not count, what if a duel is the only way to prove yourself to it?" He could not deny that troubling idea. "Even so, I have no crown to give away..."

"Guys! You will never believe what happened!" Right at that moment, the cheerful Neo made his presence known. "The CTO of Exeter talked to you about joining the tournament?" Blanche casually greeted the hyperactive cyborg duelist. "Whoa! How did you know!?" His face fell. "Same thing happened to us. We heard about the tournament ages ago too." She brashly clarified. "Hey, I wasn't the last one to hear about it this time! I was there when the champions beamed down!" He claimed defensively. "She was not suggesting that you were once again late, Neo. In fact you are one of the first to come here with this news. So far only we have shown up here." Midsummer explained to put him at ease again.

"Oh. Well, you guys are gonna join it.. right? You can't miss this." Neo would have submitted himself regardless of what Hansen requested. "Some are undecided. And wait, you were there at the royal city?" Void did not recall seeing him anywhere in the mob when Dyzanthium started her duel. "Huh? No, I saw the other guys: Heleil and Acrates. They held a quick duel at Cosmopolis. I recorded everything.. Don't you watch my livestreams?" That cleared things up: multiple champions warped down to separate parts of the game all at once. "I was not aware that your recording abilities had been restored." Void had also kind of forgotten about Neo's other occupations. "Oh yeah, probably because Static felt good about what we did. Hey that reminds me!" The cyborg tried to use his recording implant on his current surroundings, but that still did not work. Still it implied that Static had indeed relaxed his own restrictions on their avatars somehow. "I guess he didn't want to reward me too much... Wait, does this place look different?"

"I will let Madam Blanche explain this to you. Void, can I spare a moment of your time?" The doctor suddenly stepped in. "Sure? What is it?" He answered with an involuntary shudder. "I think she's trying to steal you away from me, Void." Blanche laughed. "I wouldn't dare break up your partnership, Madam." The doctor playfully retorted. "Wait? What did I miss?" A confused Neo looked back and forth between the two. "Nothing. Nothing at all." Void groaned.

"Anyway, to answer your question. 'It' is something that I need to show you in person. I would rather not talk about here." Her proposal seemed reasonable, people like Hydra and Static could always be watching. "We can go to a safe zone." Void offered, though he imagined Vigionair would not agree to that. "It would be better to go to my sanctuary. You should feel honored, I do not just let every odd person see it." She typed in some coordinates on her dueldisk. The doctor must have been serious if she was willing to share this with him. "Okay then. Show me." He already put his trust in one stranger today, he might as well give her a chance too.

...

"So this is your private room?" Void had no idea what to expect at the other end of the quickjump; a laboratory of sorts perhaps. He was not even close. He entered a stone-walled tomb, with candelabras and coffins lining the bleak hallways. "Do you like it? Zettai and Veyron disagreed with the atmosphere, but you do not seem to be too put off. Does it compare to Asterisk's little lair?" The doctor in her natural element already sounded looser and less measured. "I can see it took effort to put this together... But you did not bring me here just to have a look, did you?" They were the only ones here; a fact that Void found slightly more disconcerting now.

"No. I wanted to show you what I keep in here. Just you, because you are the only one who can help me with this. And I am the only one who can help you." She opened a heavy lid on one of the catacomb walls, and pulled a blue energy orb out. The orb stored something small inside of it. "!?" Instantly Void's face turned pale. The item inside looked like the World Crown. Exactly like it. "Scarlet! How? Did you.."

"Did I keep the crown for myself and give mister Static a fake copy? Close but no. I had considered it, but then I reasoned that he would see through the deception. And I had no intentions of seeing miss Donna harmed because of my experiment. _This_ is the fake, an imitation of the crown that I made while the original was kept within quarantine." Scarlet popped the blue bubble open and took the crown out. She could touch it. "That orb, its the same one from before. You put it in there to copy it?" Void snapped. Agent Asterisk had been right to suspect her. "Only as a precaution and to secure data for later study. You do not have to worry, it is utterly incapable of mimicking the abilities of the real world crown. I have tried it.." Scarlet nudged towards one of the open coffins.

"Huh?" There Void saw the digital body of Amazoness Paladin, the ADI that previously lost a duel to the doctor. "You are using them as test subjects? Why.." He could not believe his own eyes. "For research purposes, of course." She reveled in her own responses. "But why did you not tell any of us?" He cursed. "I told you, Void. I could have kept my secret, but I did not. Who else would I choose? The duelists who would destroy the crown before I could finish my experiments? The duelist who would try to use it for their own ends. I have learned a lot, but not enough. My 'rivalry' with Asterisk stems from more than professional disagreements, his contacts are an unknown factor that I wish to keep far away from my findings. Hansen is not dependable either and Mister Static even less so. But he did raise a good point, it is easiest to rely on those at the bottom of the foodchain. I have seen you, I have heard you. You want no part of this power..."

"..and yet you have it." She put the crown down between herself and Void. "It is as Midsummer said: giving something away is not the same as losing it in a duel. You earned the crown by defeating Anders Green. You became the new king, Void. And that is why I warned you before, to not duel Thomas. If you lost to him, we could have had a pre-teen problem on our hands. As long as you have that risk, you cannot duel freely. You cannot enter the tournament."

"I still gave it away for a reason. You are suggesting that this fake crown will work on me, when it doesn't work for you. I cannot allow such a test, Scarlet. And the others have to know about this." Whether or not the doctor had good intentions, he could not tell. But he refused to even look at this new crown. "I am suggesting a different plan, actually. I know you would never want to be a part of this, so.. I am going to take it out of your hands." Unfortunately, Scarlet's courtesies as a host ended before he realized it. She activated her dueldisk and locked him into a duel. "!?" He could not quickjump, he could not log out. She made him into her prisoner. "Do you think you can get away with this?"

Void's LP: 8000 Scarlet's LP: 8000

-TURN 1-

"Don't treat me like some mad scientist villain, Void. I am not the enemy; I am doing this for your well-being. If I win, I become 'the crown' and you are no longer responsible for the power you do not wish to have. I do not plan to enter the tournament either way." The doctor drew her cards and a skill card. The first turn however belonged to Void. "If you win." He added his cards. She did allow him to re-arrange his deck for this specific duel. "If your theory is correct, then there are still other options besides this. I could lose a duel to a judge."

"And he would then lose it to his superior. It all ends the same, Void. It might not matter either way. Losing a duel on purpose is the same as just handing the crown over. It wont recognize a master until it knows it is superior to the previous holder. Midsummer was right; there is an intelligence to the world legacy. And I need to understand it, before the next crisis strikes. We all need it." She mused. "And you will still need to earn it." Void did not feel like throwing this match anyway. He normal summoned the block-creature Dotscaper(1/0/2100) [Zone 2] in attack mode. "I link summon Linkuriboh!" His level 1 cyberse formed the link material for the kuriboh-faced critter(300/LINK 1) {Down} [Extra Zone 1] inside its cybernetic round body. The arrow tip on its tail pointed towards the same zone its link marker did. "Yes and when Dotscaper is sent to the graveyard, you can resummon it. I have seen all your cards before, Void." The doctor correctly predicted the revival of Dotscaper[Zone 2].

"Then you will also know why I can special summon this card." Void placed another monster down: a floating futuristic battle drone(2/1000/1000) with two large cannons on its wings. "Yes, Cyberse Converter. It can only be special summoned if all your monsters are Cyberse type. And that would normally always be the case." She smirked. "Hmph. I link summon Code Talker!" Both Converter and Dotscaper, two effect monsters, could create a link circuit for the base code swordsman(1300/LINK 2) {Up/Down}. It(1800 atk) gained 500 attackpoints as it pointed towards Linkuriboh. "I set a card and end my turn."

-TURN 2-

"Of course. Knowledge works both ways. You have seen my strategies up close twice now. And you are, if nothing else, an avid learner. I am certain you prepared the best countermeasures you can think of." Scarlet inspected her hand. "But so have I. I treat my pursuit of knowledge, very seriously. I special summon Grinder Golem!" More and more this tomb looked like her torture dungeon. And her first monster took the role of torturer: a chained-up golem statue(8/3000/300) [Zone 3] with crushing claws and a buzz saw for a head. Except, it fell under Voids control. "What are you trying to do?" Grinder Golem could only be summoned by creating two Grinder tokens(1/0/0). Her field got the tokens, while his controlled the Golem. "Crippling you. I attack Grinder Golem." One of the tiny token golems rushed its bigger counterpart, who stomped it to death against the cold marble floor. "This might hurt." She said as she took 3000 points of damage from her own failed attack.

Scarlet's LP: 5000

She was not talking about herself. "I activate Inferno Tempest!" The grinding metal and destroyed token lit up a spark of hellfire. "Gah!" Void did not need to hear the effect; the results spoke for themselves. "Yes. When I lose 3000 lifepoints or more, this quickplay spell can banish all monster cards in both our decks and graveyards." Like a relentless storm, the flame consumed everything in the past and future. "I noticed your deck consisted mostly of monsters. Enough to warrant a change in tactics." Twenty-two cards disappeared from Voids deck, leaving him with thirteen. "Like I said, I take my pursuits seriously.."

(To Be Continued in Line 035: Doctor's Orders)

**New Cards used by Void  
**Cyberse Converter

-  
Linkuriboh

**New Cards used by Doctor Scarlet Fever  
**Grinder Golem

-  
Inferno Tempest


	35. Doctor's Orders

**Line 035: Doctor's Orders**

By now the tournament had been all but confirmed by many sources and outlets, as the competitor list got finalized. It would be a small competition, with just three rounds and eight teams. However, only the top players in the whole world were invited to join. "Do you think all of us made it?" While that list of names grew smaller and smaller, the 'heroes of pandemonium' gathered at the arena beyond to prepare. "That seems to be the case, Neo." All of their names were part of the list too, and they all met with mister Hansen of Exeter. "So you said yes too, Donna?" Even those that were benched during the action could join. "Of course I did! It may be too soon for our fallen comrades, but we can fight in their name!"

"Awesome! Hey, maybe we can be partners then!" Neo seemed most excited. "Hmph. First you need to make it passed the execution round." Others like Zettai expressed their interest in more reserved yet intense ways. "Pray that you do not get in my way, Neo."

"Okay then..." Neo backed off.. The ace duelist did not lie either. To even reach the team part of the tournament, each duelist had to fight another on the list in a preliminary single match duel. To trim the fat, so to speak. And they only had a day to do so. "Hrm.. So I have to pick an enemy first and then a friend." Neo checked the current selection again. A lot of famous duelists were on there, and a few 'heroes' who had yet to arrive at the arena. "I'm surprised Crescent said yes.. Scura too, apparently. But you're not going?" One name he did not spot belonged to the agent Asterisk. "I politely told Hansen I would not be joining, yes. I know a trap when I see one. Though the exact nature of it eludes me for now." Asterisk sighed.

"Ack. Well, maybe I can duel with Void!? And then it wont be so bad?" Neo would run out of partners at this rate. "No can do, Neo. I called that shotgun." Blanche snickered. "Aw man! How did you get to him so fast? And where is he anyway? He has to hear about this too!" Neo anxiously looked around. "Dunno. Scarlet took him somewhere." The girl said as she twirled a finger through her hair. "With Scarlet?" And that news made Asterisk shudder. "I hope that ends well for him.."

...

Void's LP: 8000 Scarlet's LP: 5000 -TURN 2-

All of his monsters vanished in the blink of an eye. Inferno Tempest took them away once the Grinder Golem(8/3000/300) [Zone 3], that Scarlet gave him, inflicted 3000 points of damage to her. "But your monsters are banished too." Only the second grinder token(1/0/0) now stood between her and him. "A small price to pay, to guarantee victory. Without your cyberse, you cannot link summon any monsters." Void also controlled Linkuriboh(300/LINK 1) {Down} [Extra Zone 1] and Code Talker(1800/LINK 2) {Up/Down} [Zone 2]: two cards which could barely affect the outcome of a duel.

"Is that so?! When Dotscaper is banished, it will special summon itself to my field!" He would get more, starting with the block scraping bot(1/0/2100) [Zone 1]. "And you also banished Balancer Lord. When you do, he special summons a cyberse monster from my hand!" Inferno Tempest did not burn everything, not the monster cards in a players hand. "I special summon Datacorn!" He only held one, a acorn-shaped cyberse robot(1/0/0) [Zone 4] with a usb-plug sticking out of its body. "Datacorn creates an Data Acorn token when it is special summoned!" A smaller digital acorn nut(1/0/0) [Zone 5] popped out of the body of the big one, like a nesting doll. "Who said I was out of monsters, Scarlet?"

"Certainly not me. I expected you to save some. But what I did say still remains true, you will lose access to your extra deck as soon as you use up your last monster. And I can count your remaining options with one hand." The doctor activated the effect of Ahrima the Wicked Warden, the only monster in her hand. "I discard this card to add the Lair of Darkness to my hand, and of course.. I shall make use of it." The warden of the lair delivered darkness to the doctor. She activated the field spell which dragged all of Voids monsters into the shadows where they acquired the DARK attribute. "I will also activate Pot of Acquisition. It sends three banished cards back to my deck, and draw one card from that deck." The doctor did not even have to play on the same level as him, as her deck now at least contained three unbanished monsters (Doomsday Horror, Necroface, Eater of Millions). She plotted out every last facet of this duel. "Can you guess what happens next, Void?" She placed two trap cards down on her field, and waited until the turn shifted. "A virus?"

-TURN 3-

"Correct, you get.. an E. E for Epidemic and E for Eradicator Virus." The trap flipped face-up and, with the help of Lair of Darkness, made Void's Grinder Golem the sacrifice. "A sacrifice with 2500 attackpoints, to destroy all spells you have for the next three turns!" The golem died as a carrier for the magical plague. "Ugh." Of course she would go for the spells. His deck mostly consisted of those now. The virus wiped out his face-down Security Block spell and the Cynet Universe field spell in his hand. If he'd drawn another spell this turn, he wouldn't even have had any cards left in his hand.

"Then you leave me no choice. I will have to end this in one turn." With the grinder token in attack position and nothing else to defend her, he could find a way to overwhelm her lifepoints. "The link materials are at least two non-token monsters!" Code Talker combined with Datacorn to create three link materials. This monster would become the keystone to his entire counterattack. "Trigate Wizard!" A top hat wearing cyber magician(2200/LINK 3) {Left/Up/Right} [Zone 2] in a half-black and half-white suit materialized from the link circuit, holding a double-sided staff of energy in his hand and sashes of different lights extended from the waist. "Trigate Wizard gains effects based on how many monsters he is co-linked with!" Currently the purple-lightning sash formed a link of energy with Linkuriboh. He would make another connection soon.

"The materials are two cyberse monsters!" The acorn token and Dotscaper vanished in a grid of flames. "Flame Administrator! All link monsters now gain 800 attackpoints!" The mechanical flame ruler(1200/LINK 2) {Left/Downright} [Zone 3] appeared to the right of the Trigate, and added its fiery powerboost to all monsters in the co-link sequence. (Trigate Wizard: 3000 atk, Linkuriboh: 1100 atk, Flame Administrator: 2000 atk) "Well done, Void. Monsters linked with your Wizard will inflict double damage to my monsters as long as it is linked to just one monster." Her opponents intention were as clear as daylight. One monster would strike the token and the other would strike her directly.

"But I know you are not really defenseless yet, Scarlet! So.. since Trigate has two linked partners, I can let him banish one of your cards!" This included the option to banish her face-down trap. Though her skill card concerned him more. He did not know if she exchanged Forbidden Surgical Operation for something else. She could bring her Grinder Golem back with that card, which made the damage from Flame Administrator essential. "I banish Lair of Darkness!" She could chain her trap to his effect anyway, and he would rather get rid of the field spell while he could. "A conservative choice. But you would only make that choice if you do not see yourself winning this turn. Your lack of imagination hinders you, Void." The doctor stated. "I am not here for an evaluation, Scarlet! Flame Administrator attacks the grinder token!"

"But you should have listened regardless. I activate Escape from the Dark Dimension and special summon the banished dark monster: Lilith the Lady of Torment, in defense position!" Regret did not take long to reach Void. The trap he feared brought the equally terror-inducing Lilith(3/2000/0) [Zone 3] back from the other dimension. "Lilith sacrifices my token, to set a trap from my deck!" The token disappeared, destroyed by the tormentor. And she used its tribute to pick one of three traps (Grinning Grave Virus, Trap of Darkness, Dark Spirit Art of Greed). "Grrgh." He randomly had to choose one and wound up setting the middle card, whatever it was. Void could not see where the dagger dropped, each outcome would lead to more destruction.

".. Flame Administrator attacks Lilith instead!" If he could get rid of Lilith, then he could at least inflict some damage. "And now you are willing to settle for less." She did not let him have that either. "Skill card: Misty Steps." The Demonic lady turned her body to mist and sidestepped the attack from the Administrator. Her body regained solid form after the attack, but would continue to avoid his monsters for the rest of the turn. "Damn it!"

_Misty Steps, Skill Card  
__Target 1 monster on the field; this turn, that monster cannot be destroyed by battle or targeted by card effects._

"You are frustrated, of course. Normally I would not brag about my own accomplishments before the results are in. But I want you hear this in advance: this is not a duel you can win. I made sure of that. You see I am not much of a duelist; I would not have challenged you unless I was absolutely sure I had the best strategy to counter your deck." Already, she'd taken away all of Voids offensive options for this turn. "And this was it then?" He could only place a trap card down to slightly even the tide. "It is not fair, but I do not believe in fair. I believe in outsmarting your opponent. Every thing you have thought about I thought about first, every conceivable escape route has already been buried."

-TURN 4-

"Let's go." As her draw phase began, Scarlet obtained one of the three remaining monster cards in her deck. It started out small. "I summon Doomsday Horror." Yet this pitch-black imp(4/4800/4800) [Zone 5] with earrings in its pointed ears and devil wings on its back grew to an immense size within a matter of seconds. "!" The Doomsday fiend took its power from every banished dark monster: 300 attack and defense points per card. "I banished fifteen of my dark monsters, and it seems you had seven dark cyberse monsters that were banished by Inferno Tempest. But you can do the math just as easily as I can." Not only had she crippled his deck, now she also debilitated his field with superior offense. All his options were entombed.

"I will have Lilith attack Linkuriboh." He could not stop both monsters at the same time either. "Linkuriboh's effect activates when your monster attacks!" Only the first attacker. "He is tributed, and your monster loses all his attackpoints!" Linkuriboh bumped into the Tormentor with all of its might. It perished before the actual battle and slowed Lilith(0/0) down considerably. "You did not have any other choice there, did you? It is all very predictable." The second attack doomed the Trigate Wizard. Doomsday Horror opened its teeth-filled maw and swallowed the twilight magician with one wide gulp.

Void's LP: 6200

"But did you predict this?" Immediately, Void activated his trap card. "Limit Code! When there's a link monster in my graveyard, I can special summon one Code Talker-link monster from my extra deck!" If he could not gather the link materials anymore, he would simply bypass them as a whole. A line of glowing green code reached into his dueldisk and pulled out the blue-armored shieldbearer Encode Talker(3100/LINK 3) {Up/Down/Downleft} [Extra Zone 1]. "Encode stays on the field for as many turns as there are link monsters in my graveyard." The Limit Code trap turned into an equipment for Encode, and gained four counters from Voids fallen link brigade. Only during his endphase would a counter be subtracted. "Hmm. That is new. I should have expected it. You are always adapting, much like a virus in a way." The doctor laughed as she ended her turn. "A virus is not the only thing that can learn and adapt. A virus is not even alive. It just does what it is programmed to do." He was starting to wonder if perhaps she loved her creations a little too much. "I do what I want to do!" Void clenched his hand. "And I want to win!"

-TURN 5-

"Flame Administrator attacks the Doomsday Horror!" Despite its obvious inferiority, the admin struck anyway and punched the Doomsday devil with its fiery metallic fist. "Ah." The lack of damage did not escape Scarlets notice. Doomsday Horror tried to retaliate, only to have his dark breath bounce off of a blue shield. "This is Encode Talker's effect, Scarlet. When a monster it points to attacks another monster with greater attackpower, the first monster cannot be destroyed or take damage! And then Encode Talker absorbs the attackpower of the second monster. And he can give that power to himself!" All dark energy transformed to a golden light fit for a charged-up knight(7900 atk).

"So I have little choice as well. I activate Lilith's effect." Knowing fully well that she would not survive a battle between the Lady and Encode, the doctor removed her from the equation. Lilith set another trap card down on the field. Considering the three samples (Trap of Darkness, Grinning Grave Virus, Ballista Squad) she took from this time, Void knew for certain which card she had placed face down two turns ago: Dark Spirit Art of Greed. But he could not afford to not attack this turn. "Encode will attack Doomsday Horror then!" Encode Talker revealed the hidden blade within his shield as he rushed across the tomb. One stab to the chest reduced the once gigantic horror to a smear of black sludge. Finally, he took the lead.

Scarlet's LP: 1900

Unfortunately this death also played a part in the doctors plan. "Thank you Void. Now my grave is a lot fuller." Upon its destruction, Doomsday Horror returned all banished dark monsters to the graveyard with its second effect. This included his dark-type cyberse monsters but the Lord of the Lair as well, Darkest Diabolos. "Then my battle ends, and I set a trap card..." He knew his luck would run out eventually, that he would draw a spell sooner or later. Hell, if she managed to obtain Trap of Darkness and a suitable sacrifice, she could take away his trap cards as well. "..and end my turn." Countless of doom scenarios played out in his head. "You always worry, don't you? Wouldn't it be easier to not have this crown weigh down on you?" The doctor asked again as her turn started.

"Would you throw it away?" He countered. "Pardon?" She blinked.

"Would you get rid of this second crown, once you were done with your experiments? Or would you keep it?" He looked her right in the eyes, while he still could. "Of course I intend to keep it and to test what it truly can do. I would not deprive myself of such a font of knowledge. But that does not mean I would use it for anything else, Void." The fever duelist met his gaze without wavering. "How can you be so certain? How do you know you will not be tempted by its power?" Stories like these always began with good excuses. Void needed more. "Because I am myself. I will not be corrupted, I am only doing what is necessary. Someone has to be the king if not you. I have conducted every conceivable simulation, learned as much as I could. It is not enough, the data inside the copy is not sufficient. So I am taking this to the next level. And maybe this is all pointless, maybe there is absolutely no basis to my theory." She placed her hand on her face, for reasons Void did not really understand. "But I wont know until I try." For a second her voice cracked.

-TURN 6-

Then the duel continued, the slaughter. "I activate Monster Reborn!" The infamous spell to raise the dead. "What now?!" Any monster in the graveyard was hers for the taking. "I revive Vampire Scarlet Rouge!" But what did she bring back to life? Not a fiend.. "Vampires?" A young man appeared from an opened coffin, a man who no longer lived. Vampire Scarlet Scourge(6/2200/2200) [Zone 2] wore the familiar ensemble of vampires with the tattered red cape, high collar and long cravat. "I was not always the doctor, Void. Scarlet Rouge will bring another vampire from the graveyard back to the field. At the cost of 1000 lifepoints." The scarlet vampire leaned over the Scarlet duelist and bit her in the neck. "!?" Her blood, 1000 of her lifepoints, turned into an elixer of rebirth. "And I special summon Vampire Grace." The second vampire to rise from her entombed slumber took the appearance of a pale noblewoman(6/2000/1200) with royal curls and a bone-spiked crown and dress.

Scarlet's LP: 900

"And Vampire Grace can remove one type of card from your deck. I declare traps." The female vampire sucked out one soul from his deck. "You are still after the cards in my deck?" Her effect forced him to send Cyberse Beacon to the graveyard. "I never stopped. I believe you are familiar with this term... I will use the two Vampires as XYZ-materials." The scarlet vampire invited Vampire Grace for a dance. As they spun around the tomb, their bodies turned to bloodred energy bolts which slammed into another dimension. Two level 6 attachments for a rank 6 xyz-monster. "And I xyz-summon Pilgrim Reaper." Out from the extra deck, the black and white winged avatar of death appeared. Underneath its black hood and decaying hair, the Pilgrim Reaper(6/4800/4800) [Extra Zone 2] stared at Void with its red-eyed skull. "The Reaper!"

"Indeed. My Reaper gains 200 attack and defense points for each dark monster in both our graveyards. But of course, that is not what I am after." She said as she detached one Vampire XY-material from the Reaper(5000/5000). "My XYZ-monster can also discard 5 cards from both our decks." The Reaper raised his scythe and cut right through the middle of Void's dueldisk. Void's already meager selection of cards dropped down to four, after the top five were sent away. "But you can only use that power once each turn." Void stated while his eyes looked down at his last trap card.

"Even now, you still think you can win? Hmm, maybe you can. Maybe all you need is another turn." Her deck ran dangerously low as well at this point. Especially after she used her next trap card. "I activate the Dark Spirit Art of Greed, since I know you do not have any spells in your hand right now." Her trap sacrificed the dark reaper monster. "What are you up to?" While Scarlet did get two new draws from that, she lost her strongest monster. "Bringing back Diabolos is 'what I am up to'." In return for that tribute she made, Darkest Diabolos(8/3000/2000) [Zone 2] could special summon itself from the graveyard. "And him I will sacrifice for my final virus. A type above your average Ds and Es. I activate Grave Grinning Virus, which needs a dark monster with 3000 or less attackpoints as a carrier. And for each 500 attackpoints I can subtract from that monster, you must destroy one card in your hand... or in your deck!"

Diabolos took in the trap, and exploded into six grinning orbs of viral matter. "Six?!" No cards existed in his hand, Grave Grinning Virus would only take from the deck. And it would take more than he could give or afford to lose. "You won.." The virus spread into his dueldisk, destroying the four remaining spells and traps inside. "Have I now?" Not a single one could keep Void alive now. Even his set trap card: Recoded Alive, would come far too late. "Not yet. First I need to... end my turn." Because a duelist without a deck could not continue the duel. If Void could not draw anything at the start of his turn, he would lose. And he did. "..." The disk registered his deckout and gave the win to Scarlet Fever. For the first time since he could remember, he had lost the game. "How does it feel? Has the weight lifted from your shoulders?"

Void's LP: 0

"You think you did me a favor?" Void did not know how to react to her, to this. "Didn't I? You are a hard man to read, Void. There does not seem to be anything special about you. If it is pride that I injured, I can treat the damage. Nobody has to know this happened. Like I said, you never had a chance." Scarlet smirked and slowly walked up to the crown on the floor, the copied crown of legacies. "Is that what you think? Is that what you want? For me to keep quiet about this? Why would I? You've betrayed us!" He shouted back. "That is just your interpretation. I am still on your side. I only did it.." The woman took a deep breath, before placing the crown on top of her head. "..because I have to know." She closed her eyes and turned towards the ADI avatar in its coffin. "Rise." She said. "!?" Void could only watch in horror and wait to see what would happen now. Was her theory true? Did defeating him allow her to control the crown, even if it was only an imitation?

"And now I do." Nothing happened. "What?" The Amazoness avatar did not open its eyes or move any part of the body. It stayed inactive, heedless of the crowns commands. "It did not work, it did not do anything. Strange, the code is exactly the same. There must a hidden variable at play. Or perhaps it is not as simple as..." The doctor nearly trailed off before she remembered her guest. "I am sorry again. It turns out this is not much of a recreation after all." She tossed the fake crown away, and let it slowly defragment into random bits of data. "But you are gonna be alright, Void. The ownership of the real crown now falls with me. You can duel as much as you want." She still believed that part of her theory at least.

"I wont thank you for this, Scarlet. I do not think the others will either." Void cursed. "If you feel that way, challenge me again. That is your right as well after all. Now is your only chance though. I am going to need some time alone after all of this, away from Zettai and the others as well. They can have their tournament, I have my tests."

"You know I cant." Void did consider it, out of sheer anger. But he would probably fight even poorer than the last time because of that. And unless he rebuilt his deck and she ran into a bad opening hand, he would never find a way to survive her virus tactics. "Yes. Well... I am sure Asterisk will have some words to say about this. So let me offer you and him a token of my good will. Again, I do not want to be your enemy." The woman took another ball of energy from her coat and tossed it at Void. "What is this? Another trap?" He hesitated to even pick it up. "It's all the information I could scrape from my duel with Thomas and that unique skill card of his. Share it with your friends, maybe they can find something I wont. But...I doubt it." As she ended her sentence, every candle flame in the tomb flickered out.

"Scarlet?" Shadows consumed the doctor and the duelist. "This is goodbye, Void. Do not try to find me. I will find you." Her voice sounded distant. The marble floor beneath his feet changed into soft grass, and golden sunlight pierced the darkness. "Huh?" He was outside in the meadows, far from Scarlet and her tomb.

"Grahh!" A scream felt good, so he let it out. Because he could do little else. And he felt little, like a pawn in a game of kings. Scarlet used him, Hansen wanted to use him, others just wanted to beat him. And he did not even know what he wanted to do anymore.. what to do for himself. Perhaps... perhaps he did just have to take that chance, to get away from it all. If fantasy could get this complicated, reality would become far more preferable for once in his lifetime.

(To Be Continued in Line 036: Off and On Again)

**New Cards used by Void  
**Datacorn

-  
Trigate Wizard

-  
Limit Code

**New Cards used by Scarlet Fever  
**_MISTY STEPS  
_

-  
Doomsday Horror  
Vampire Scarlet Rouge  
Vampire Grace

-  
Pilgrim Reaper

-  
Pot of Acquisition  
Monster Reborn

-  
Escape from the Dark Dimension  
Grinning Grave Virus


	36. Off and On Again

**Line 037: Give Me a Moment**

_THREE HOURS EARLIER_

Scura did not feel like any of this today. She did not feel like going back to STHEREA after the hectic duels of the last few days. She did not feel like becoming a part of the tagteam tournament that everyone talked about, yet her name ended up on the list anyway. She did not want to do what this randomly appearing CTO wanted from her, yet Hansen scared her into listening anyway while he barely did or said anything threatening. So much she did not want and yet...she had nothing better to do. That did not mean she would let anyone else know who she would fight in the preliminaries, or when. That she could control without something or someone else ruining it for her.

She managed to ruin it on her own. The duel did not go in her favor at all, which she expected anyway. Someone else won and she lost. Well, she would not have to worry about that tournament anymore now. It did not feel very relieving. The fact that she saw others succeed like Neo, just poured more salt unto the wound. At least... at least she did not have to talk to anyone about it for a while.

"That is a shame, isn't it spitfire?" Of course she would not be that lucky. Even in the Triamid desert, a dull and inactive sector filled with nothing but sand and empty pyramids, she did not find solitude. "What did you call me?" Sure she got plenty of nicknames hurled her way in the past but this one made so little sense to her that she had no choice but to address it. "I didn't mean to offend, miss. I just couldn't help but admire the fire in you. Your name was called and you did not have to answer. Yet you did it anyway. You might not have won the day, but you won a lot of hearts."

"Do you get a lot of hits with creeplines like those? Just #*%% off. Wait, I can't even say that word? For !s sake."

"We got off on the wrong foot. I do apologize." The man would not let it go. He had a distinct look to him, Scura could deny that. One one hand he wore a fancy grey waistcoat with white sleeves and a pocketwatch. On the other hand his hands were coated in silver and his face obscured by a metal plate. He took the plate off though, perhaps to comfort her, and revealed his blue eyes, blonde hair and thin beard. "I will cut to the chase. My name is Ulysses. And all I ask is to have a moment of your time, for a friendly game."

"A duel? What for? You're not getting any points from me. And I am not even in the preliminaries anymore." Only one reason to duel remained, and she did not feel like having 'fun'. "None of that matters to me. I know what you've done for all of us, and this is how I intended to repay you." He made a formal bow. "By dueling me?" It still didn't make sense. "Exactly. I consider it a form of respect. And you can consider it a means of blowing off steam. I saw that last duel, I know you were slighted. Now you can prove it. Though we are alone here and now, this duel will not go unnoticed." Indeed, there would always be a log of this duel somewhere in the databanks. "It sounds more like you just want to show off." She said hesitantly. "That is a part of it, I confess. But I will make it worth your time. Disregard the point system. If I lose, you can ask me anything that I can give. And I can spare a lot." His hand tapped away at his dueldisk.

"Tss.. Well. Not like I have anything to lose then. Fine fine. You're on." Scura activated her dueldisk and met his previously one-sided challenge. "Ugh, first turn again? Of course.." She regretted it immediately. "Just because the last two duels started and ended the same way, does not mean this one will be the same." Ulysses tried to cheer her up. "Stop that. Do you even want to win? Or are you one of those guys who gets off on losing?" That would be even worse. "Heavens no. I wouldn't dream of holding back. In fact I usually defeat my opponents in one turn just to put them out of their misery sooner."

Scura's LP: 8000 Ulysses' LP: 8000 -TURN 01-

"Well... good to know. I guess." Scura shook her head. Focusing too much on the enemy made her lose the last duel. This time she would prepare herself as much as she could. "I activate The Hidden City. This spell gets a Subterror monster from the deck. Oh and its also a field spell, so..." As always the holographic world twisted and transformed to match the new field: the underworld city lurking in the dark green caverns. "Anyway, Subterror Guru is what I get from it." Scura placed the added monster face-down on her field, where it would not hide for long. "Hidden City also gets to change a face-down Subterror to face-up attack mode: but only one each turn. And I only have one so far.. yeah." The cloaked girl selected her Subterror Guru: a white-haired bat-demon(4/1600/1800) [Zone 5]covered with robes and armor.

"Anyway, Guru gets to pick a Subterror friend from the deck too. It can be a spell or a trap or a monster. I only want a trap." Scura searched the deck until she found her desired card: Subterror Final Battle. She promptly placed it down in the spell/trap zone, along with two other trap cards. "Oh and I have this too. Book of Moon. So Guru can hide again." The second to last card in her hand, the quick-play spell of face-down flipping, forced Guru back into a set position. And that allowed Scura to activate the last card in her hand as well. "Since a monster flipped face-down, Subterror Behemoth Umastryx can special summon himself in defense position." The narrow paths of the hidden city shook and virtual dust fell from the ceiling. Now a dragonic behemoth lizard(7/2000/2700) [Zone 4] rested in the dark, with strong segmented scales and a drilling horn for a nose. Umastryx could also switch itself to face-down defense position. Which it did. "That was all I can do. Your turn."

-TURN 02-

"You sell yourself short. You have done more than most would try with a hand like that. You take your time." As he started to duel, he put the faceplate back on, making himself look like a metallic mannequin. "Now I am going to take some of mine as well. And I will start by giving this city of yours something it desperately needs. Infrastruture!" He slammed his own field spell card down. "!?" Hundreds of railroad tracks landed on the many rocky paths of the hidden caves, running around each dwelling of the subterror city. "What we have here is the Revolving Switchyard! I can discard one of my cards through it, to get me a level 10 machine monster!" Ulysses conducted his trade with few words, discarding Night Express Knight and adding Heavy Freight Train Derricrane to his hand.

"And now I can bring that discarded monster back, with Flying Pegasus Railroad Stampede! This machine special summons another earth-attribute machine from my graveyard!" The Switchyard received its first transporter: a pristine silver train(4/1800/1000) [Zone 3] powered by a winged horse-front carriage. "Come back. Night Express Knight!" The stampeding pegasus train took a brief detour on some tracks that went into the graveyard. When it came back, another express train(10/3000/3000) [Zone 2] with a sword and shield-wielding knight at the front, followed right behind it. "And when I summon a level 10 machine, my Heavy Freight Train can special summon itself with its effect!" Derricrane, the yellow construction locomotive(10/2800/2000) [Zone 4] blew black smoke everywhere with its exhaust pipes as it bulldozed across the field.

"This is getting way too noisy now." Scura grimaced. She'd put a stop to all these speeding things. "You really shouldn't travel in hidden areas. You don't know where the potholes are! Since you summoned Derricrane, I get to play my Floodgate Trap Hole!" Scura activated her first trap, creating a hole on the tracks. Derricrane would run right into it and get derailed into face-down defense position. "Now there's a keen instinct. You picked the one train most essential for my schedule. Downright shame that I have to shut your trap down.."

"I activate my skill, Legacy of Millennium!"

The darkness vanished. "What? Millennium?" Every machine and behemoth bathed in golden light, despite the absence of a sun. "The Legacy of the Millennium is my gift to you, Spitfire! Aint it something?! All my monsters are unaffected by your spells and traps for this turn! And you cannot destroy them!" Derricrane kept going, running over the floodgate trap hole as if it did not even exist. "Bah, why wouldn't my trap hole get blocked for the umpteenth time? How did an average Joe like you get a skill like that?" Even when she considered her own usual misfortune, this felt like a bit too much. "That is a secret, spitfire." The man chuckled.

"Whatever. That fancy golden light cant stop everything! I activate Subterror Final Battle!" Her second trap sprung up to use one of its four effects. "This card gets to flip my Subterror face-up again, and afterwards it doesn't have to go to the graveyard either." Though it was not a continuous trap, Subterror Final Battle would remain on her field after each use. Once it flipped Subterror Guru back face-up, the trap flipped itself face-down. "Guru gets to switch your Heavy Train to defense instead!" Scura barely bothered to explain the full effect of Subterror Guru, which also added another Subterror card (Subterror Behemoth Speleogeist) from her deck to her hand again. "That is unfortunate." The second power of the Guru acted as a quick flipping effect for both sides. Her monster switched himself along with the Derricrane Freight Train to a face-down defense position. "And now everyone is hiding again, which means I can summon Subterror Behemoth Speleogeist!" Just like Umastryx before, the newly added behemoth came out of the shadows as soon as the last Subterror flipped face-down. The gargoyle demon lord Speleogeist(11/3000/1400) [Zone 3] spread its massive wings and roared at the two remaining trains.

"You put up a good fight. You knew I was going to XYZ-summon." Derricrane would have destroyed one of her cards if it turned into an XYZ-material. However, face-down cards could not be used for XYZ-monsters... "Here's my treat! I link summon Qliphort Genius!" ..or link monsters. "Qliphort's too now?" By taking two machines as the materials: Flying Pegasus and Night Express Knight, a duelist could create a circuit for the Qliphort's link monster. Qliphort Genius(1800/LINK2) {Downleft/Downright} [Extra Zone 1] manifested as purple crystal core of the other qliphort machines, jailed inside a golden raster. "Qliphort Genius can negate the effects of two cards on each side of the field. And while your field spell cannot affect my monsters, it can still affect yours. I would like to avoid that." A dark malicious spirit flew out of the cracks of the qliphort core, and inhabited the capitol of Hidden City and the Revolving Switchyard. "Bah." For the rest of the turn, Scura's spell would not be doing anything for her.

"And now.. Well, you do control more monsters than me. So I can use this spell, Urgent Schedule! It summons two earth-attribute machines from my deck! One of level 4 or less, the other of level 5 or more!" Two green portals opened up on separate paths of the switchyard. One brought out a massive red-painted snow plow train(10/2500/3000) [Zone 5], the other a smaller red ramming train(4/1800/1000) [Zone 1]. "Snow Plow Hustle Rustle and Ruffian Railcar! Their effects are negated, but their timing is impeccable!" Ulysses clapped his hands. "Because, when I summon two machines at the same time, my link monster can add another level 5 or higher machine from the deck to my hand! I choose this beauty: Super Express Bullet Train!" Qliphort Genius claimed his next machine card in less than a second.

"Super Express Bullet Train earns its name with its effect. I can special summon it as long as all my monsters are machines and earth-attributed!" Just as quickly, the jet-powered blue bullet train(10/3000/0) [Zone 2] arrived at the tracks and raced across the two duelists. "But that's enough chitchat! My two level 10 machines are gonna be overlayed now!" The superspeedy bullet train raced across the tracks so fast that it caught up on the slower Snow Plow and crashed right into it. Except instead of exploding, their collision opened a new path into the extra deck. "And I XYZ-summon Superdreadnought Rail Cannon Gustav Max!" In their place an immobile machine arose, a massive cannon-carrying warmachine(R10/3000/3000) [Zone 3].

"Here it comes, spitfire! Gustav Max inflicts 2000 points of damage by detaching one XYZ-material from itself!" Ulysses cared little for the terrors of the darkness. His Superdreadnaught absorbed one of its XYZ-materials into its cannon and came straight after their master herself. "Gyaahh!" The world around Scura turned into a sea of flames as Gustax Max' shot fired across the field. And her opponent laughed. "Don't you feel it? That is the pulse of power running through your veins!"

Scura's LP: 6000

"You're crazy. If I wanted to feel this way I would throw myself into a minefield or something." She waved her arms about until the digital flames dissipated. "But that is the thing! You do not have to here! Nothing can hurt us here! We can be as powerful as we like, build as much as we want!" His words matched his actions soon enough. "Not this again.." She saw him place another XYZ-card from the extra deck on top of the first, just like Vigionair would. "Yes indeed. I can use a rank 10 machine as the base material, for a rank-up XYZ-summon of Superdreadnought Rail Cannon Juggernaut Liebe!" Gustav Max already felt, sounded and looked far too large too fit inside the cavernous battlefield. This new warmachine defied even those parameters. "Do not tell me you have never fantasized about being in the heat of a true battle!" The Juggernaut(R11/4000/4000) [Zone 3] drove on four tracks at once, carrying smaller short-range cannons along the port and broadsides of its warship-body.

"I fantasize a lot of stuff.. That's none of your business." Though her imagination often ran to dark places, she never saw herself staring down a massive skyscraper-sized barrel of a mechanical dreadnought. "But this is the power you will soon have to deal with. And it can be yours as well! Then you can share your dreams with others! But first you must conquer mine!" The new Rail Cannon machine detached one of its own XYZ-materials, causing lines across its barrel and deck to lit up with a fiery glow. "Juggernaut Liebe can raise its attack and defense points by 2000 once a turn! But no other monsters may attack before or after it!" Though imposing, Juggernaut Liebe(6000/6000) faced one problem: all of Scura's monsters were in defense position.

"And yet I need one more! One old.. Which I summon from the graveyard with my spell: Iron Call!" The mechanical duelist revealed his mechanical spell to bring back a level 4 machine, Flying Pegasus Railroad Stampede, without its effects. "XYZ-Summon Heavy Armored Train Ironwolf, in defense position!" Pegasus and Ruffian Railcar crashed into each other on the last clear track of the switchyard. They became XYZ-materials for a smaller transporter: a golden wolf-faced armor train(R4/2200/2200). "Here is the trick, spitfire! I can target one machine with this monster right here! And once Iron Wolf has done that, that machine can attack directly! Like I said, I only have eyes for you!" The Iron Wolf switched lanes and drove out right in front of the Juggernaut, breaking through the Subterror defense line as well.

"Argh. So much for you guys." Naturally, Iron Wolf chose Juggernaut Liebe as its target. And now that monster had a clear shot at the cloaked girl. "If this is the end, than I am sorry to have taken up so much of your time! But maybe you can surprise me yet! My Liebchen..." An untouchable monster whose attack would take away 6000 lifepoints: he did not need to do anything more than to declare an attack. "This is a trick, right? You just want me to think you are helping , whatever.. !" She would have reacted first whether he wanted to or not. "I activate Metaverse, and activate a field spell from my deck! The Hidden City!"

"The Hidden City? You already.. Oh!" The first field spell shattered to clear the field zone. Briefly the switchyard tracks escaped the darkness of the underworld, only to be taken right back as her second field spell activated. "Yeah. Oh. Your Genius machine only blocked the effect of _one_ Hidden City. Not this one.. do you still want to attack me, Ulysses? I actually kinda want to see that." Both duelists knew what would happen if he did. The new City would react to the attack and flip Subterror Behemoth Umastryx face-up. While her spell card could not affect the Dreadnought beyond that point, Umastryx could. And its flip effect allowed her to outright banish his monster. "I don't think I do.. That was a magnificent play, spitfire." With nothing else left in his arsenal, Ulysses could only pass the turn to his opponent. "I told you that you have the spirit of battle inside of you! Who cares what the tournaments say, what the rules say!? Why should we follow them, when we can do so much more in a world like this?!"

-TURN 03-

"Funny, coming from a guy who uses machines that can only follow the rules.. or the tracks. I don't know what you're on, but I dislike being me enough already without extra stuff added to it. So why don't you just disappear?" As soon as she could, Scura reached out to her Behemoth. "Like all my monsters are doing right now." Speleogeist used one of its own effects to flip itself face-down. "Now I get to special summon Phospheroglacier." Switching the one behemoth triggered the effect of another in her hand: one she added back when her second Hidden City activated. Now only the crystalline dragon Phosphero(8/2600/2500) [Zone 2] could be seen dwelling and glowing in the dark.

"I said all my monsters!" Phospheroglacier and its light vanished too, because of its self-setting ability. "You wanna see them again? You can." The time came to flip them back up, starting with Subterror Guru. "Guru gets to add Subterror Nemesis Warrior to my hand!" With the flip effect of the dragonic guru, her fifth monster was secured. The Nemesis Warrior(4/1800/1200) [Zone 1] added his sword to the subterror forces. "Keep going." Ulysses did not seem worried. Rather, he enjoyed what he saw.

"I am not doing this for you, you know." Seeing as how the initial summons of Speleogeist and Umastryx took place in previous turns, Scura could still flip them herself in this turn. "But here you go. Umastryx gets to banish your monster when he shows up. Speleogeist gets to take away all your monsters attackpowers." Each behemoth targeted one machine respectively. The banishing flip effect removed the defending Heavy Armored Train Iron Wolf, and the power drain went all towards the multi-armed Juggernaut Lieve(0/6000). "The Hidden City will flip the Glacier: who sends a Subterror card to my graveyard. Just in case the worst happens." Phospheroglacier did require another effect to be flipped this turn, which her field spell gladly did. "And now.. huh. I don't usually get to say this but.. I think you're already dead."

"Well. There is a first time for everything."

"Go get him!" First Speleogeist attacked and trampled all over the face-down Freight Train Derricrane. Then Umastryx impaled Qliphort Genius with its drilling horn. "Now we are getting somewhere. But you don't have enough to reach the end!"

Ulysses' LP: 7800

"Eheh. I imagine you would squash me like a bug if I let you get another turn. Or make me wait until I die of boredom again. Either wau.. " Scura shrugged and ordered the third attack; the Subterror Nemesis Warrior tossed his sword at the depowered Superdreadnought. A single hit caused a chain reaction of explosions across the entire deck, from cannon to cannon. Even the titanic Juggernaut Liebe left no scrapes of metal behind. "But now its just you and me. Just like you wanted..."

Ulysses' LP: 6000

"Oh and I still have this card, Subterror Final Battle." The self-setting trap card flipped upwards once more. "It can do a few other tricks besides flipping my monsters. One of which lets my Subterror have its defense also become its attack!" She used it on Subterror Behemoth Phospheroglacier. Its icy body(5100/2500) glowed brighter than ever before, with the powerboost from the Final Battle trap. "Remarkable." That would do it. "Heh. That's a nice word to hear. I guess for once I deserve it." Behind the veil, a smile crept up. "Well, bye." Two more direct attacks followed: from the glacier behemoth and from Subterror Guru. Ulysses lacked the means of stopping her monsters or saving his lifepoints. Victory... belonged to her. "Excellent!" He evidently could not be happier.

Ulysses' LP: 0

"Now there is my spitfire! You have shown me up. In one turn even!" As the hidden city and the switchyard railways faded from the field, Ulysses took off his mask and rushed over to congratulate his opponent. "Meh, everyone finishes each other off in one turn these days. Also you're ruining the moment." She was supposed to be the excited one, yet she could barely muster half as much energy as this guy who lost. "It figures that I can only beat someone when it doesn't matter." She sighed. After all, this win did not erase her previous loss or suddenly secure her a spot in the tournament. "Do not say that. Every duel matters! Every second counts! Remember my promise?!" Ulysses reached into his dueldisk and showed off his selection of cards. "You want a rare card? You want my skill card? Anything is yours for the taking!" Scura could not say he had been anything but honest, if not a bit pushy. "The last thing my deck needs is a random machine.." She could not just refuse him. Well, she could.. but his offer did tempt her. "Fine."

...

"And that how I got this card." Back in the present, Scura finally finished her story to Asterisk and the others, leaving no detail unmentioned. "I know you wont believe the part where I won that duel, but I did. And I have this to prove it." All of it looked the same; the same card art of a golden glowing sun and the same blanket immunity effect.

"This Ulysses did not say anything more? He did not want something else from you?" Scura handed them a treasure trove of data, and at the same time a multitude of questions. "No. He just logged off after all that. I thought he was just weird. How would I've known that this card was illegal or anything? If you want it, you can have it." She handed the card over to the agent. "It's not disintegrating this time!" Neo gasped. "The last one disintegrated?" Scura asked flatly. "It did. But now, with this, we may be able to trace other cards like it." Asterisk said as he inspected the card. "We? I think you mean I! Give me that." Vigionair snapped at Neo and snatched the millennium card away. "And I am not doing anything with this until its been properly scanned. Lord knows what type of spyware it could carry."

"So.. this is part of a bigger plot? What did that guy really want from me?" Scura only felt disappointed, now assuming that Ulysses likely approached her for ulterior motives. "Who knows. I don't know why they would give this card to Thomas either. But I am glad you told us.." Asterisk placed his hand on Scura's shoulder. "Whatever may come, we will protect you." She looked away. "Ergh.. I don't think it's gonna be that bad."

"Maybe not. But we have to be prepared for anything."

(To Be Continued in Line 038: As Scripted by Evolution)

**New Cards used by Chiaoroscura001  
**Subterror Guru  
Subterror Behemoth Umastryx

-  
Book of Moon

-  
Subterror Final Battle  
Metaverse

**Cards used by Ulysses  
**_LEGACY OF MILLENIUM_

-  
Flying Pegasus Railroad Stampede  
Night Express Knight  
Heavy Freight Train Derricrane  
Snow Plow Hustle Rustle  
Ruffian Railcar  
Super Express Bullet Train

-  
Qliphort Genius  
Superdreadnought Rail Cannon Gustav Max  
Superdreadnought Rail Cannon Juggernaut Liebe  
Heavy Armored Train Ironwolf

-  
Revolving Switchyard  
Urgent Schedule  
Iron Call


	37. Give Me a Moment

**Line 037: Give Me a Moment**

_THREE HOURS EARLIER_

Scura did not feel like any of this today. She did not feel like going back to STHEREA after the hectic duels of the last few days. She did not feel like becoming a part of the tagteam tournament that everyone talked about, yet her name ended up on the list anyway. She did not want to do what this randomly appearing CTO wanted from her, yet Hansen scared her into listening anyway while he barely did or said anything threatening. So much she did not want and yet...she had nothing better to do. That did not mean she would let anyone else know who she would fight in the preliminaries, or when. That she could control without something or someone else ruining it for her.

She managed to ruin it on her own. The duel did not go in her favor at all, which she expected anyway. Someone else won and she lost. Well, she would not have to worry about that tournament anymore now. It did not feel very relieving. The fact that she saw others succeed like Neo, just poured more salt unto the wound. At least... at least she did not have to talk to anyone about it for a while.

"That is a shame, isn't it spitfire?" Of course she would not be that lucky. Even in the Triamid desert, a dull and inactive sector filled with nothing but sand and empty pyramids, she did not find solitude. "What did you call me?" Sure she got plenty of nicknames hurled her way in the past but this one made so little sense to her that she had no choice but to address it. "I didn't mean to offend, miss. I just couldn't help but admire the fire in you. Your name was called and you did not have to answer. Yet you did it anyway. You might not have won the day, but you won a lot of hearts."

"Do you get a lot of hits with creeplines like those? Just #*%% off. Wait, I can't even say that word? For !s sake."

"We got off on the wrong foot. I do apologize." The man would not let it go. He had a distinct look to him, Scura could deny that. One one hand he wore a fancy grey waistcoat with white sleeves and a pocketwatch. On the other hand his hands were coated in silver and his face obscured by a metal plate. He took the plate off though, perhaps to comfort her, and revealed his blue eyes, blonde hair and thin beard. "I will cut to the chase. My name is Ulysses. And all I ask is to have a moment of your time, for a friendly game."

"A duel? What for? You're not getting any points from me. And I am not even in the preliminaries anymore." Only one reason to duel remained, and she did not feel like having 'fun'. "None of that matters to me. I know what you've done for all of us, and this is how I intended to repay you." He made a formal bow. "By dueling me?" It still didn't make sense. "Exactly. I consider it a form of respect. And you can consider it a means of blowing off steam. I saw that last duel, I know you were slighted. Now you can prove it. Though we are alone here and now, this duel will not go unnoticed." Indeed, there would always be a log of this duel somewhere in the databanks. "It sounds more like you just want to show off." She said hesitantly. "That is a part of it, I confess. But I will make it worth your time. Disregard the point system. If I lose, you can ask me anything that I can give. And I can spare a lot." His hand tapped away at his dueldisk.

"Tss.. Well. Not like I have anything to lose then. Fine fine. You're on." Scura activated her dueldisk and met his previously one-sided challenge. "Ugh, first turn again? Of course.." She regretted it immediately. "Just because the last two duels started and ended the same way, does not mean this one will be the same." Ulysses tried to cheer her up. "Stop that. Do you even want to win? Or are you one of those guys who gets off on losing?" That would be even worse. "Heavens no. I wouldn't dream of holding back. In fact I usually defeat my opponents in one turn just to put them out of their misery sooner."

Scura's LP: 8000 Ulysses' LP: 8000 -TURN 01-

"Well... good to know. I guess." Scura shook her head. Focusing too much on the enemy made her lose the last duel. This time she would prepare herself as much as she could. "I activate The Hidden City. This spell gets a Subterror monster from the deck. Oh and its also a field spell, so..." As always the holographic world twisted and transformed to match the new field: the underworld city lurking in the dark green caverns. "Anyway, Subterror Guru is what I get from it." Scura placed the added monster face-down on her field, where it would not hide for long. "Hidden City also gets to change a face-down Subterror to face-up attack mode: but only one each turn. And I only have one so far.. yeah." The cloaked girl selected her Subterror Guru: a white-haired bat-demon(4/1600/1800) [Zone 5]covered with robes and armor.

"Anyway, Guru gets to pick a Subterror friend from the deck too. It can be a spell or a trap or a monster. I only want a trap." Scura searched the deck until she found her desired card: Subterror Final Battle. She promptly placed it down in the spell/trap zone, along with two other trap cards. "Oh and I have this too. Book of Moon. So Guru can hide again." The second to last card in her hand, the quick-play spell of face-down flipping, forced Guru back into a set position. And that allowed Scura to activate the last card in her hand as well. "Since a monster flipped face-down, Subterror Behemoth Umastryx can special summon himself in defense position." The narrow paths of the hidden city shook and virtual dust fell from the ceiling. Now a dragonic behemoth lizard(7/2000/2700) [Zone 4] rested in the dark, with strong segmented scales and a drilling horn for a nose. Umastryx could also switch itself to face-down defense position. Which it did. "That was all I can do. Your turn."

-TURN 02-

"You sell yourself short. You have done more than most would try with a hand like that. You take your time." As he started to duel, he put the faceplate back on, making himself look like a metallic mannequin. "Now I am going to take some of mine as well. And I will start by giving this city of yours something it desperately needs. Infrastruture!" He slammed his own field spell card down. "!?" Hundreds of railroad tracks landed on the many rocky paths of the hidden caves, running around each dwelling of the subterror city. "What we have here is the Revolving Switchyard! I can discard one of my cards through it, to get me a level 10 machine monster!" Ulysses conducted his trade with few words, discarding Night Express Knight and adding Heavy Freight Train Derricrane to his hand.

"And now I can bring that discarded monster back, with Flying Pegasus Railroad Stampede! This machine special summons another earth-attribute machine from my graveyard!" The Switchyard received its first transporter: a pristine silver train(4/1800/1000) [Zone 3] powered by a winged horse-front carriage. "Come back. Night Express Knight!" The stampeding pegasus train took a brief detour on some tracks that went into the graveyard. When it came back, another express train(10/3000/3000) [Zone 2] with a sword and shield-wielding knight at the front, followed right behind it. "And when I summon a level 10 machine, my Heavy Freight Train can special summon itself with its effect!" Derricrane, the yellow construction locomotive(10/2800/2000) [Zone 4] blew black smoke everywhere with its exhaust pipes as it bulldozed across the field.

"This is getting way too noisy now." Scura grimaced. She'd put a stop to all these speeding things. "You really shouldn't travel in hidden areas. You don't know where the potholes are! Since you summoned Derricrane, I get to play my Floodgate Trap Hole!" Scura activated her first trap, creating a hole on the tracks. Derricrane would run right into it and get derailed into face-down defense position. "Now there's a keen instinct. You picked the one train most essential for my schedule. Downright shame that I have to shut your trap down.."

"I activate my skill, Legacy of Millennium!"

The darkness vanished. "What? Millennium?" Every machine and behemoth bathed in golden light, despite the absence of a sun. "The Legacy of the Millennium is my gift to you, Spitfire! Aint it something?! All my monsters are unaffected by your spells and traps for this turn! And you cannot destroy them!" Derricrane kept going, running over the floodgate trap hole as if it did not even exist. "Bah, why wouldn't my trap hole get blocked for the umpteenth time? How did an average Joe like you get a skill like that?" Even when she considered her own usual misfortune, this felt like a bit too much. "That is a secret, spitfire." The man chuckled.

"Whatever. That fancy golden light cant stop everything! I activate Subterror Final Battle!" Her second trap sprung up to use one of its four effects. "This card gets to flip my Subterror face-up again, and afterwards it doesn't have to go to the graveyard either." Though it was not a continuous trap, Subterror Final Battle would remain on her field after each use. Once it flipped Subterror Guru back face-up, the trap flipped itself face-down. "Guru gets to switch your Heavy Train to defense instead!" Scura barely bothered to explain the full effect of Subterror Guru, which also added another Subterror card (Subterror Behemoth Speleogeist) from her deck to her hand again. "That is unfortunate." The second power of the Guru acted as a quick flipping effect for both sides. Her monster switched himself along with the Derricrane Freight Train to a face-down defense position. "And now everyone is hiding again, which means I can summon Subterror Behemoth Speleogeist!" Just like Umastryx before, the newly added behemoth came out of the shadows as soon as the last Subterror flipped face-down. The gargoyle demon lord Speleogeist(11/3000/1400) [Zone 3] spread its massive wings and roared at the two remaining trains.

"You put up a good fight. You knew I was going to XYZ-summon." Derricrane would have destroyed one of her cards if it turned into an XYZ-material. However, face-down cards could not be used for XYZ-monsters... "Here's my treat! I link summon Qliphort Genius!" ..or link monsters. "Qliphort's too now?" By taking two machines as the materials: Flying Pegasus and Night Express Knight, a duelist could create a circuit for the Qliphort's link monster. Qliphort Genius(1800/LINK2) {Downleft/Downright} [Extra Zone 1] manifested as purple crystal core of the other qliphort machines, jailed inside a golden raster. "Qliphort Genius can negate the effects of two cards on each side of the field. And while your field spell cannot affect my monsters, it can still affect yours. I would like to avoid that." A dark malicious spirit flew out of the cracks of the qliphort core, and inhabited the capitol of Hidden City and the Revolving Switchyard. "Bah." For the rest of the turn, Scura's spell would not be doing anything for her.

"And now.. Well, you do control more monsters than me. So I can use this spell, Urgent Schedule! It summons two earth-attribute machines from my deck! One of level 4 or less, the other of level 5 or more!" Two green portals opened up on separate paths of the switchyard. One brought out a massive red-painted snow plow train(10/2500/3000) [Zone 5], the other a smaller red ramming train(4/1800/1000) [Zone 1]. "Snow Plow Hustle Rustle and Ruffian Railcar! Their effects are negated, but their timing is impeccable!" Ulysses clapped his hands. "Because, when I summon two machines at the same time, my link monster can add another level 5 or higher machine from the deck to my hand! I choose this beauty: Super Express Bullet Train!" Qliphort Genius claimed his next machine card in less than a second.

"Super Express Bullet Train earns its name with its effect. I can special summon it as long as all my monsters are machines and earth-attributed!" Just as quickly, the jet-powered blue bullet train(10/3000/0) [Zone 2] arrived at the tracks and raced across the two duelists. "But that's enough chitchat! My two level 10 machines are gonna be overlayed now!" The superspeedy bullet train raced across the tracks so fast that it caught up on the slower Snow Plow and crashed right into it. Except instead of exploding, their collision opened a new path into the extra deck. "And I XYZ-summon Superdreadnought Rail Cannon Gustav Max!" In their place an immobile machine arose, a massive cannon-carrying warmachine(R10/3000/3000) [Zone 3].

"Here it comes, spitfire! Gustav Max inflicts 2000 points of damage by detaching one XYZ-material from itself!" Ulysses cared little for the terrors of the darkness. His Superdreadnaught absorbed one of its XYZ-materials into its cannon and came straight after their master herself. "Gyaahh!" The world around Scura turned into a sea of flames as Gustax Max' shot fired across the field. And her opponent laughed. "Don't you feel it? That is the pulse of power running through your veins!"

Scura's LP: 6000

"You're crazy. If I wanted to feel this way I would throw myself into a minefield or something." She waved her arms about until the digital flames dissipated. "But that is the thing! You do not have to here! Nothing can hurt us here! We can be as powerful as we like, build as much as we want!" His words matched his actions soon enough. "Not this again.." She saw him place another XYZ-card from the extra deck on top of the first, just like Vigionair would. "Yes indeed. I can use a rank 10 machine as the base material, for a rank-up XYZ-summon of Superdreadnought Rail Cannon Juggernaut Liebe!" Gustav Max already felt, sounded and looked far too large too fit inside the cavernous battlefield. This new warmachine defied even those parameters. "Do not tell me you have never fantasized about being in the heat of a true battle!" The Juggernaut(R11/4000/4000) [Zone 3] drove on four tracks at once, carrying smaller short-range cannons along the port and broadsides of its warship-body.

"I fantasize a lot of stuff.. That's none of your business." Though her imagination often ran to dark places, she never saw herself staring down a massive skyscraper-sized barrel of a mechanical dreadnought. "But this is the power you will soon have to deal with. And it can be yours as well! Then you can share your dreams with others! But first you must conquer mine!" The new Rail Cannon machine detached one of its own XYZ-materials, causing lines across its barrel and deck to lit up with a fiery glow. "Juggernaut Liebe can raise its attack and defense points by 2000 once a turn! But no other monsters may attack before or after it!" Though imposing, Juggernaut Liebe(6000/6000) faced one problem: all of Scura's monsters were in defense position.

"And yet I need one more! One old.. Which I summon from the graveyard with my spell: Iron Call!" The mechanical duelist revealed his mechanical spell to bring back a level 4 machine, Flying Pegasus Railroad Stampede, without its effects. "XYZ-Summon Heavy Armored Train Ironwolf, in defense position!" Pegasus and Ruffian Railcar crashed into each other on the last clear track of the switchyard. They became XYZ-materials for a smaller transporter: a golden wolf-faced armor train(R4/2200/2200). "Here is the trick, spitfire! I can target one machine with this monster right here! And once Iron Wolf has done that, that machine can attack directly! Like I said, I only have eyes for you!" The Iron Wolf switched lanes and drove out right in front of the Juggernaut, breaking through the Subterror defense line as well.

"Argh. So much for you guys." Naturally, Iron Wolf chose Juggernaut Liebe as its target. And now that monster had a clear shot at the cloaked girl. "If this is the end, than I am sorry to have taken up so much of your time! But maybe you can surprise me yet! My Liebchen..." An untouchable monster whose attack would take away 6000 lifepoints: he did not need to do anything more than to declare an attack. "This is a trick, right? You just want me to think you are helping , whatever.. !" She would have reacted first whether he wanted to or not. "I activate Metaverse, and activate a field spell from my deck! The Hidden City!"

"The Hidden City? You already.. Oh!" The first field spell shattered to clear the field zone. Briefly the switchyard tracks escaped the darkness of the underworld, only to be taken right back as her second field spell activated. "Yeah. Oh. Your Genius machine only blocked the effect of _one_ Hidden City. Not this one.. do you still want to attack me, Ulysses? I actually kinda want to see that." Both duelists knew what would happen if he did. The new City would react to the attack and flip Subterror Behemoth Umastryx face-up. While her spell card could not affect the Dreadnought beyond that point, Umastryx could. And its flip effect allowed her to outright banish his monster. "I don't think I do.. That was a magnificent play, spitfire." With nothing else left in his arsenal, Ulysses could only pass the turn to his opponent. "I told you that you have the spirit of battle inside of you! Who cares what the tournaments say, what the rules say!? Why should we follow them, when we can do so much more in a world like this?!"

-TURN 03-

"Funny, coming from a guy who uses machines that can only follow the rules.. or the tracks. I don't know what you're on, but I dislike being me enough already without extra stuff added to it. So why don't you just disappear?" As soon as she could, Scura reached out to her Behemoth. "Like all my monsters are doing right now." Speleogeist used one of its own effects to flip itself face-down. "Now I get to special summon Phospheroglacier." Switching the one behemoth triggered the effect of another in her hand: one she added back when her second Hidden City activated. Now only the crystalline dragon Phosphero(8/2600/2500) [Zone 2] could be seen dwelling and glowing in the dark.

"I said all my monsters!" Phospheroglacier and its light vanished too, because of its self-setting ability. "You wanna see them again? You can." The time came to flip them back up, starting with Subterror Guru. "Guru gets to add Subterror Nemesis Warrior to my hand!" With the flip effect of the dragonic guru, her fifth monster was secured. The Nemesis Warrior(4/1800/1200) [Zone 1] added his sword to the subterror forces. "Keep going." Ulysses did not seem worried. Rather, he enjoyed what he saw.

"I am not doing this for you, you know." Seeing as how the initial summons of Speleogeist and Umastryx took place in previous turns, Scura could still flip them herself in this turn. "But here you go. Umastryx gets to banish your monster when he shows up. Speleogeist gets to take away all your monsters attackpowers." Each behemoth targeted one machine respectively. The banishing flip effect removed the defending Heavy Armored Train Iron Wolf, and the power drain went all towards the multi-armed Juggernaut Lieve(0/6000). "The Hidden City will flip the Glacier: who sends a Subterror card to my graveyard. Just in case the worst happens." Phospheroglacier did require another effect to be flipped this turn, which her field spell gladly did. "And now.. huh. I don't usually get to say this but.. I think you're already dead."

"Well. There is a first time for everything."

"Go get him!" First Speleogeist attacked and trampled all over the face-down Freight Train Derricrane. Then Umastryx impaled Qliphort Genius with its drilling horn. "Now we are getting somewhere. But you don't have enough to reach the end!"

Ulysses' LP: 7800

"Eheh. I imagine you would squash me like a bug if I let you get another turn. Or make me wait until I die of boredom again. Either wau.. " Scura shrugged and ordered the third attack; the Subterror Nemesis Warrior tossed his sword at the depowered Superdreadnought. A single hit caused a chain reaction of explosions across the entire deck, from cannon to cannon. Even the titanic Juggernaut Liebe left no scrapes of metal behind. "But now its just you and me. Just like you wanted..."

Ulysses' LP: 6000

"Oh and I still have this card, Subterror Final Battle." The self-setting trap card flipped upwards once more. "It can do a few other tricks besides flipping my monsters. One of which lets my Subterror have its defense also become its attack!" She used it on Subterror Behemoth Phospheroglacier. Its icy body(5100/2500) glowed brighter than ever before, with the powerboost from the Final Battle trap. "Remarkable." That would do it. "Heh. That's a nice word to hear. I guess for once I deserve it." Behind the veil, a smile crept up. "Well, bye." Two more direct attacks followed: from the glacier behemoth and from Subterror Guru. Ulysses lacked the means of stopping her monsters or saving his lifepoints. Victory... belonged to her. "Excellent!" He evidently could not be happier.

Ulysses' LP: 0

"Now there is my spitfire! You have shown me up. In one turn even!" As the hidden city and the switchyard railways faded from the field, Ulysses took off his mask and rushed over to congratulate his opponent. "Meh, everyone finishes each other off in one turn these days. Also you're ruining the moment." She was supposed to be the excited one, yet she could barely muster half as much energy as this guy who lost. "It figures that I can only beat someone when it doesn't matter." She sighed. After all, this win did not erase her previous loss or suddenly secure her a spot in the tournament. "Do not say that. Every duel matters! Every second counts! Remember my promise?!" Ulysses reached into his dueldisk and showed off his selection of cards. "You want a rare card? You want my skill card? Anything is yours for the taking!" Scura could not say he had been anything but honest, if not a bit pushy. "The last thing my deck needs is a random machine.." She could not just refuse him. Well, she could.. but his offer did tempt her. "Fine."

...

"And that how I got this card." Back in the present, Scura finally finished her story to Asterisk and the others, leaving no detail unmentioned. "I know you wont believe the part where I won that duel, but I did. And I have this to prove it." All of it looked the same; the same card art of a golden glowing sun and the same blanket immunity effect.

"This Ulysses did not say anything more? He did not want something else from you?" Scura handed them a treasure trove of data, and at the same time a multitude of questions. "No. He just logged off after all that. I thought he was just weird. How would I've known that this card was illegal or anything? If you want it, you can have it." She handed the card over to the agent. "It's not disintegrating this time!" Neo gasped. "The last one disintegrated?" Scura asked flatly. "It did. But now, with this, we may be able to trace other cards like it." Asterisk said as he inspected the card. "We? I think you mean I! Give me that." Vigionair snapped at Neo and snatched the millennium card away. "And I am not doing anything with this until its been properly scanned. Lord knows what type of spyware it could carry."

"So.. this is part of a bigger plot? What did that guy really want from me?" Scura only felt disappointed, now assuming that Ulysses likely approached her for ulterior motives. "Who knows. I don't know why they would give this card to Thomas either. But I am glad you told us.." Asterisk placed his hand on Scura's shoulder. "Whatever may come, we will protect you." She looked away. "Ergh.. I don't think it's gonna be that bad."

"Maybe not. But we have to be prepared for anything."

(To Be Continued in Line 038: As Scripted by Evolution)

**New Cards used by Chiaoroscura001  
**Subterror Guru  
Subterror Behemoth Umastryx

-  
Book of Moon

-  
Subterror Final Battle  
Metaverse

**Cards used by Ulysses  
**_LEGACY OF MILLENIUM_

-  
Flying Pegasus Railroad Stampede  
Night Express Knight  
Heavy Freight Train Derricrane  
Snow Plow Hustle Rustle  
Ruffian Railcar  
Super Express Bullet Train

-  
Qliphort Genius  
Superdreadnought Rail Cannon Gustav Max  
Superdreadnought Rail Cannon Juggernaut Liebe  
Heavy Armored Train Ironwolf

-  
Revolving Switchyard  
Urgent Schedule  
Iron Call


	38. As Scripted by Evolution

**Line 038: As ****Scripted by Evolution**

With everything on the line and a dozen mysteries floating in the shadows, Void faced possibly his greatest challenge yet: Shopping. He would have put it off for as long as possible if he could. Yet with no leads and no known incidents, it was going to be either sitting around and waiting or preparing for this tournament of Exeter. And at the start of the next day, they came to him and showed him the way to the purchase sector in Cosmopolis. To get the unique or the extraordinary, with rewarded gem points, one would go here. You could spend on everything from simple hats with logos to entire outfits taken from iconic monsters. And Void did have plenty to spend, since he never used his own rewards on anything but new cards.

"You are gonna have to make up your mind eventually." "Are you sure you do not want to spring for some cybernetics? What with the cyberse you are using and all." "You want him to look just like you? How unoriginal." Blanche, Neo and even Scura seemed to have more fun than he did. The latter spent most of her time either longingly staring at dresses. It took her mind off the whole Millennium business as well.

"There is just too much." He could not shed the same thoughts. Even if he could ignore lingering concerns, having to pick out his clothes here felt about as frustrating as it did in real life. "Well you can't just use the online store, Void. You don't know what makes you look good, so you have to try it out in person! You'd probably hate my ideas though. I wish I could care as little about appearances as you do." Scura gave this a considerably greater deal of thought than he did. And she was right; he rarely concerned himself with how people saw him. But now the whole dueling world recognized his name. At the very least duelists could browse the many shops privately. Otherwise he could have been swamped by 'fans' right about now. He already saw the sun set and rise since the announcement of the preliminaries. He did not have much time left.

"Oh this works!" Said Madam Blanche as she exchanged some of her own points to buy a random pin. "What? That's just a blue-eyes pin!?" Neo noticed the bought item had the same shape as the spikes on the side of Blue-Eyes White Dragons head. "Well obviously." The blue-eyed girl scoffed while she fastened the pin to her white hair. "Oh... right. We were here for Voids stuff. Whoops."

Ultimately, he did not need the finer things. A simple grey cape with a mantle, black neon-lit gloves and one cybernetic attachment to link his deck and dueldisk with. It felt more like he picked items to please them, rather than the other way around. "Just how many of these things can you find in a game anyway?" It would not surprise him if there were more cosmetics than there were cards. "Too many. Believe me.." Scura gave a weary sigh in response. "I am surprised you didn't know, Void. You seem to be good at collecting cards. This is basically the same." Neo on the other hand made a good point. If his brain had been wired any differently, Void imagined he would have been unable to pry himself away from stores like these until he owned as much collectibles as he could afford. "Not entirely. Cards at least have strategic value." Still, he did not think a requirement for cards equaled a desire for one. Then again his Cyberse deck sometimes felt slightly bloated.

"Let's just get out of here. I am ready now." Enough time had been spent already. "How are things standing? Who can I still challenge?" Of the 32 players selected for the elimination rounds, half had been dealt with already. A few familiar names showed up as recent winners. It appeared that Zettai, Yoro-Himiko, Zanbatou and Bionis Khan all got through as well. Sundown did not show up on the list anymore, though Void could not tell if he ever even signed up or not. "Hey, Veyron made it as well! Good for him! Dont know who would want to partner up with him though." Neo sighed. "Don't you still need a partner?" Scura poked him with a question. "Well I do have a reputation to think off.. Maybe. If I have too.." Allying himself with an admitted cheater would not look good on him.

Thus Void could only pick opponents he had yet to encounter. Choosing one of them would be about as difficult as choosing his new clothes. "I will just let them come to me." Instead of looking for a challenger, duelists in STHEREA could also open invitations to others. He just needed to make sure he invitation used the tournament-tag. So they would know what it was for. "Uh oh. Looks like you got your match." Thus, a duelist with the username of Teraxatron responded when Void gave away his location. A cube appeared in front of him immediately afterwards.

"What is this?" He saw one entrance. "That's the duel box. It's like a pocket dimension that will let you and your opponent meet and duel alone. Everyone will be watching it afterwards, but nobody is directly allowed to interfere with the match as its going. You are on your own. Oh and you cant use any skill cards either. They want the tournament to be like those in real life and such." Neo'd had gone through this before. He had to talk to a few guys to even get the right to stream it. "It was terrible.. Uhm, but you will be fine." Scura tried her best to cheer him on. Not that he could pull out now. "Good luck, boss." Blanche grinned. "Yeah. I think I will need that." He took a deep breath and stepped inside.

Scura and the others vanished from his sight as soon as he stepped through, and the world around him changed. A neutral fighting space: it looked like an ancient roman temple surrounded by clear blue skies. "Bigger on the inside. Of course."

"So you are the one." A woman with long brown hair appeared; the chosen opponent. "Void.. Your style is interesting." Already his new outfit created a lasting if not vague impression. "And you are Teraxatron." She in turn dressed herself like a spiritualist, with flowing colorful monk robes and a symbol on top of her headband. "I am. Is that all you know about me?" She asked without a hint of derision in her voice. "I am afraid I have not kept up to date." He could at least assume she would be one of the more popular and skilled duelists if she ended up on the list to begin with.

"Then our advantages are mutual, as I know little about you. It is interesting that I should find you. It seemed not many wanted to face you before learning who you are, before they learned how you took down The Crown. Not even Alpha, for all of his talk, took the plunge. So that makes me their sacrificial scapegoat." The woman spoke softly, and her eyes moved back and forth from him to her own cards. "I wonder what they had to fear."

"Excuse me?" That sounded more like a snub. "Do not take it personally." She replied. "Then how should I take it?" He grumbled. "Just as a fact. You are an unknown factor who suddenly dropped down into the hall of fame. They are calling you Hero, you and your friends. And we already know most, we already knew Neo, we know Zettai... and we know Veyron." Teraxatron paused to clear her throat. "We do _not_ know you, and yet you are called a champion by many. And all you had to do was defeat a madman. And I am grateful for that. Those rogue ADIs nearly got me, so I owe you. But I still struggle to put it into perspective. I do not know how you could have defeated the crown, why you were chosen to do so. But I do know this. At the end of this duel, there will be a new champion."

"I think you'd have to make it through a few tagteam rounds before you can call yourself champion." Void smirked. "You know very well what I mean, Void. You lucked into this world, I worked my way into it. Let's see what the difference is! Let's Duel!"

Teraxatron's LP: 8000 Void's LP: 8000 -TURN 01-

"My turn! I presume you have heard of this little spell at least? It is called Cross Breed." Rather than summoning one of the monsters in her hand, Tron removed two at once just to use her spell card. "It banishes two of my monsters to claim a third monster from the deck whose type and attribute matches. That may seem costly to you, but to me those sacrifices are just the next step in the chain! I banish Metaphys Decoy Dragon and Metaphys Nephthys, to add Metaphys Ragnarok to my hand!" While Cross Breed took two light-elemental wyrms, Tron gained more than just one other light wyrm in return. "You see.. when Metaphys Nephthys is banished I can return it to my deck during the next standby phase, to add a 'Metaphys' card to my hand. And the Decoy Dragon will special summon itself to the field in that phase too. But that is not important right now."

Tron placed a monster on her field: a white-haired and bearded dragon serpent(4/1500/1000) [Zone 2] crackling with blue lightning. "Metaphys Ragnarok is! When I summon this creature, it gains three 300-attack boosts by banishing three cards from the top of my deck!" The duelist removed her next three cards: Metaphys Daedalus, Cards of Sanctity and a second Metaphys Ragnarok. "Your monsters all react to banishment." He noted. "Very good, Void. Yes, during the next standby phase Metaphys Daedalus will banish yet another Metaphys-card from my deck if it itself is already banished." In this turn only the living Ragnarok's effect resolved, giving the wyrm serpent(2400/1000) 900 more attackpoints. "Now let us see it all transpire, shall we?" Tron placed two trap cards face down and ended her turn.

-TURN 02-

"Decoy Dragon summons itself!" The first effect affected the field, delivering a tiny blue-crystal covered dragonling(2/300/200) [Zone 5], that was also a pendulum monster, in defense mode. "Metaphys Nephthys gives me Metaphys Armed Dragon!" Effect number two provided help for the hand, adding a new card where none where held before. "And Metaphys Tyrant Dragon is what I shall banish, with the effect of Metaphys Daedalus." Lastly she changed the contents of her deck, removing a second copy of her tyrannic dragon in a more permanent way. "His effect, I shall keep a surprise. Until my turn comes again!"

"I think I know what is gonna happen already, Teraxatron." He did not look forward to it. "My turn." Unfortunately, he could do little to prevent it either. "...Ugh." His opening hand could almost not have been poorer, it contained only a few cards with which he could build a link circuit and even less cards to defend himself with. Already the pressure taxed at his mind: he could feel the expectations from everyone watching. "Do you need more time, Void?" And she would not wait around. One could not exactly get away with stalling in an official match. "...I summon Cyberse Wizard." For now, the game belonged to her. He could not break free, he could only try to damage the wall in front of him. "And when I summon a cyberse monster, I can special summon Boot Staggered from my hand." The white magic caster(4/1800/800) [Zone 3] of cyberspace formed the frontline along with the black and white stagwarrior(5/2300/500) [Zone 2].

"Cyberse Wizard allows me to switch your monster to defense position, and all cyberse monsters can pierce through that defense!" Void noticed he was shouting his words. He did not have to. But it felt good. The Wizard channeled his magic into the Metaphys Ragnarok monster, who recoiled its body into a tight defensive formation. "Oh, so you want to see my tuner monster die!?" Tron had a powerful voice herself. "I need it to." Two monsters could do more damage than one, so Void entered the battle phase without a link summon. "However when you declare an attack... Metaphys Decoy Dragon can special summon one of my banished Metaphys monsters. You must know this." She said as Void made Boot Staggered strike first. "I was aware. But I do not have to attack that summoned monster."

"Oh, but what if it wants to attack you?" The woman cackled and revealed her trap card first "Metaphys Ascension! Now I can trade one Metaphys card for another card. And I can banish a Metaphys monster from my deck again. I banish Metaphys Daedalus!" Teraxatron gave up the Metaphys Armed Dragon in her hand to draw a new card. That did not prove as much of a problem as the card she banished afterwards. Because that card could now also be brought out by Decoy Dragons effect. "You attacked, so Decoy Dragon banishes itself to summon my decoy: Metaphys Daedalus! You wont enjoy his effect, Void. All special summoned monsters are banished when a Metaphys card summons Daedalus!" Boot Staggered never made it to the other side. His fist disappeared inside the radiance of a pure white deepsea serpent(7/2600/1500) [Zone 3] with spiked golden armor. The rest of its body slipped into another dimension soon after. "I cannot believe you fell for such an obvious feint. I am sure that is what most people are saying right now as well. This will be easier than I thought."

"It is not over yet!" Void figured he would lose at least one card, but he would get even. Cyberse Wizard survived to finish the battle, destroying Metaphys Ragnarok with a piercing spell. "I set two cards in the spell/trap zone and end my turn!"

Teraxatron's LP: 7200 -TURN 03-

"Very well, you did some damage. But I wont give you anything more. Unlike the Crown." At this point the effect of Metaphys Tyrant Dragon resolved. "Now! A banished Tyrant dragon special summons another Metaphys monster from my hand during this standby phase. And it just so happens that I have another Metaphys Tyrant Dragon in my hand!" One aided another. The first copy gave life to the second tyrant: a wyrm version of the infamous Tyrant Dragon(8/2900/2500) [Zone 4] now cleansed by the light element. "And my Decoy Dragon also returns to me, every time it used its effect in the previous turn." Her decoy-creating dragonling [Zone 5] returned to the corner of the field: waiting for another foolish monster to attack.

Though first the metaphysical wyrms could go on the offense. They waited for one more name to bolster their offense. "I activate the Light of Redemption to reclaim one of my banished light monsters! Ironically the same amount of lifepoints you took, is what I will willingly pay to use this spell!" For another 800 lifepoints, the recuing light spell would return the banished Metaphys Ragnarok to Tron's hand. Naturally, she normal summoned the blue lightning drake(4/1500/1000) [Zone 2].

Teraxatron's LP: 6400

"And I shall reveal my final card: Assymetaphys! This continuous spell will weaken your monsters each time one of my possessions is banished! What shall Ragnarok banish from my deck this time?" Only one card mattered among the trio that Ragnarok banished: another Metaphys Nephthys. "Soon I will have even more Metaphys monsters at my disposal! If you can last that long, that is!" The rest of Metaphys Ragnarok's effect played out to add 900 attackpoints to the creature(2400/1000) and to give Assymetaphys a reason to use its own effect. "Your cyberse is crippled!" The assymetrical radiance struck Cyberse Wizard(1300/300) and shaved off 500 of its attack and defense points. "Let us put it out of its misery!" Finally, the fight broke out. Metaphys Tyrant Dragon led the charge and breathed pure white flames upon the weakened wizard. It burned to death in silent agony. "And let us put you out as well! Because I can see it, Void. You do not want to be here!"

Void's LP: 6400

"Want?" Void winced. "You do not have the warrior spirit! It is written all over your face! You may have beaten the Crown, but you do not have what it takes to defeat a true duelist! So let me end your story here!" She smirked and ordered her Tyrannic dragon to strike again. "Metaphys Tyrant Dragon can attack twice in one tur, if the first attack involved a monster!" Now Void took the colorless fire on with his own body. "!" He felt the searing hot pain course through his body, a simulation paired with the loss of half his lifepoints. Void would not survive the next two attacks from Ragnarok and Daedalus.

Void's LP: 3500

"Since I took damage! I can special summon Interrupt Resistor from my hand!" The cyberse duelist could still call upon the white cloaked rogue(6/0/2100), who jumped down from an unseen spot. "And he gains attackpoints equal to the damage I took!" With that one move, he had summoned the strongest monster(2900/2100) on the field that could still act in this battle phase. "I do not intend to give up so quietly, Teraxa. Not just because of promises I made to others, but because of what I want for myself! If I give up, I will never know how far I could have gone!" Perhaps he did lack a true warrior's spirit. But he did feel a desire to challenge himself. And if that did not count as some form of dueling spirit, what did?

"Oho? Well I am fine with that, Void. Maybe you wont be a dull opponent after all!" Teraxa laughed once more, despite having to cut her battle phase short. "You have even forced me to use this! A synchro summon! Metaphys Ragnarok is a tuner, who I will synchronize with Metaphys Decoy Dragon!" The four-starred wyrm of blue lightning transformed into four rings of synchronic energy. Her Decoy dragon flew through the rings to add its own two stars to the dimension-transcending light of summoning. "Here it is: Metaphys Horus!" A pure white version of the sundragon horus(6/2300/1600) [Extra Zone 1], in its middle evolutionary stage, arrived amidst a veil of stars. Its body never stopped glowing. "Metaphys Horus can take control of your monster, since I used a pendulum monster as one of its synchro materials!" That she would take control of Interrupt Resistor went without saying.

"So that is why.." . His strongest cyberse[Zone 2] now obeyed only her. "And now that my turn is over, I activate the effect of Metaphys Nephthys and add Metaphys Executor to my hand! This is the ultimate Metaphys card, Void! No tricks or traps will save you on my next turn!" With a name like that, execution certainly awaited him if he did not draw a good card now.

-TURN 04-

"We shall see." But he did have faith in his own deck. And it did not let him down today. "...I summon Flame Bufferlo!" What he drew was what she saw now: a mechanical black buffalo(3/1400/200) with horns and a tail of blue flames. "Since it is a level 4 or lower cyberse, I can use it as a link material for Link Disciple!" The blue flame slammed into the link circuit: just one material for the one mark of the crimson wand servant(500/LINK 1) {Down} [Extra Zone 2]. "And when Flame Bufferlo leaves the field, I can discard a cyberse monster to draw two cards!" Another reliable card, Dotscaper, became the fuel for Bufferlo's double drawing effect. In effect he did not lose anything at all. "When Dotscaper is sent to the graveyard, I can summon it back to my field! And I can use him to link summon Linkuriboh!" The cyber critter(1/0/2100) of dots and blocks reformed just in time to become its own link material. The circuit accepted the level 1 cyberse and transformed into the excitable Linkuriboh(300/LINK 1) {Down} [Zone 2].

"And what are these link 1 monsters meant to accomplish, Void?"

"You will see soon enough. In fact you will see it right now! Because... I link summoned a monster. That allows me to activate my trap: Breakoff Trap Hole!" Though tiny, the arrival of Linkuriboh caused a great disturbance to ripple across the field. "All non linked monsters are now destroyed! Link Disciple is linked with Linkuriboh. But your monsters are not linked with anything, Teraxa!" All land beneath the metaphysical monsters disappeared: Metaphys Daedalus, Horus and Interrupt Resistor fell down into the cybernetic void and were never seen again. Yet the Breakoff Trap Hole could not swallow everyone.

"Ha! A nice move, but futile! Since it was summoned by another Metaphys, Metaphys Tyrant Dragon is immune to any and all traps!" The tyrant refused to be destroyed, it flew across the hole and waited for it to close up again. "I knew, Teraxa. That was even a part of my plan." Void put on his own smirk. "I control only cyberse monsters, so I can special summon this monster too." With the floor restored, Backup Secretary(3/1200/800) could be special summoned safely. "Oho? Are you going for a link 3 monster?"

"No. What I have right now is enough." Void shook his head and tapped the last unknown card on his side. "I activate my trap card: Universal Adapter! This card targets your monster, and copies its attackpoints to all other monsters!" Metaphys Tyrant Dragon's survival worked out well for Void, because it meant he would share his powers with Linkuriboh(2900 atk), Link Disciple(2900 atk) and Backup Secretary(2900 atk) all at once. "What!? You use traps like that?" The current of energy turned everything into a threat. "I would use that and more, to make sure that I win. I have fought many tough battles, miss Teraxatron. In the end, this was easier then I thought." He said, turning her own words against her as he placed down the finishing element. "Field spell: Cynet Storm! All linked monsters gain 500 attackpoints!" A second circuit of power appeared between the linked Linkuriboh(3400 atk) and Disciple(3400 atk), conducted via cyberspace. "That is.." Teraxa gasped. "Enough, yes." Void opened the battle phase. "Linkuriboh! Attack Tyrant Dragon!" Now supercharged, Linkuriboh could easily plow through the white dragon with a simple headbutt.

Teraxatron's LP: 5900

"Link Disciple and Backup Secretary! Attack directly!" The rest was silence. A small wand-cassted blast took over three thousand lifepoints, a smack with the secretary's book destroyed the rest. "Unbelievable." She did not make it to her Executor. The execution made it to her.

Teraxatron's LP: 0

"What was unbelievable? The part where you lost, or the way that I win?" Void did not mind acting a little cocky now that he'd the duel behind him. "Ha. A bit from both sides. I could even believe you were doing your best to keep your best cards under wraps." She and the audience both knew that a deck like his could do so much more than just summon link 1 monsters. "Perhaps. Or perhaps I just got lucky. You left an opening for me to exploit." He probably would not get a second chance like that.

"In either case, you have potential. I apologize for what I said before, you might fit in with the rest of us after all. Though you have a tough world ahead of you." The woman dismissed her remaining cards, accepting her defeat. "No you were still right, I don't know half as much as I should.." He said and wondered if it would be too much to ask for tips from her now. Or inversely, if he had to warn her about threats that might yet reveal themselves. "Who would you have partnered with?" In the end he decided to keep it light. "Heh. I would have liked to work with Alpha himself. But he will have to find someone else now." Tron answered clearly. "You may be good, Void. But there is no cyberse duelist with a better record than him."

"Well, records exist to be broken."

(To Be Continued in Line 039: Preview for the New Age)

**New Cards used by Void  
**Flame Bufferlo

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Cynet Storm

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Universal Adapter

**Cards used by Teraxatron  
**Metaphys Ragnarok  
Metaphys Decoy Dragon  
Metaphys Nephthys  
Metaphys Daedalus  
Metaphys Tyrant Dragon

-  
Metaphys Horus

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Cross Breed  
Light of Redemption  
Assymetaphys

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Metaphys Ascension


	39. Preview For the New Age

**Line 039: ****Preview for the New Age**

_Alpha the First Flame, Zettai, Arcis Da Vinci, Neo, Grand Donna the Monday Smasher, GiganotoX the Meteor, Crescent Aurora, Pharaoh Slayer_

_Bionis Khan, Veyron, Yoro-Himiko, Zanbatou, Void, Baron Schwarzwald, Kremlore, Madam Blanche_

The top 32 ranked duelists fought. Sixteen won. "Good thing you reminded me, boss." The very last one on the list to pass was the white-haired girl who proclaimed herself to be Voids future tagteam partner. "That is still funny to you, I see." She'd been so focused on his duel, that she nearly forgot her own. Though she did not sound too upset about it, beforehand or afterwards. "Not as funny as getting to beat someone who didn't get to pick their opponent. He never saw me coming." Blanche snickered. Perhaps there had been some strategic purpose to her procrastination. "Well, I am glad you made it." As much as she apparently liked to make fun of everything around her, Void did feel a certain bond of trust between them. She'd be one of the few he could see himself teaming up with. As duelists at least. "Yup, now we can be a team forever, boss!"

"You won? Of course you did." Scura returned to the streets of Cosmopolis. She and Neo had run off elsewhere while Void waited for Blanche to finish her preliminary. The duties of a teamplayer, he supposed. "If it is of some comfort.. We may be able to bring the duelist down that defeated you, Scura." Void offered. "Oh yeah i will feel much better when you succeed where I failed." The veiled woman declined. "Well, we can also lose. Odds are 50/50 on that." Blanche said with a shrug.

"But anyway, what do we do next? And where did Neo get off too?" She imagined there were a few more required steps before they could officially begin the tagteam tournament. "Oh he started looking around for a partner, since he hasn't found one yet. Then they made an announcement to tell us to come to the Sanctuary in the Sky. We're supposed to register our teams there, and receive the bracket." As its name implied, the sanctuary in the sky floated far above the clouds. The entire sector served as a safezone for discussions, trades and now for special events as well. A sector Void never had a need to visit, until now. "Then I guess we will all meet up there."

...

Indeed, every avatar that mattered could be found at the temple above the clouds: some standing on the white marble steps outside, others inside the shrine or near the watchtower. "Hello Void." The first duelists they came across were Neo and his new team-mate. "Bionis." The ritual duelist who would not force any kind looks for Void. "You went with Khan? You must really have been desperate." Blanche could not help but laugh.

"Hey it can work! I know his style and he knows mine! I would rather duel with him than someone I don't know very well!" Neo snapped to defend his choice. "Let her talk. We don't have to justify ourselves against them or against anyone. We will win this tournament easily." Bionis clenched his hand. "I look forward to crushing you, Void. Not because of personal reasons. But because we never got to finish that duel from before." At the very least he seemed to have dropped the suspicion. Not that being on the receiving end of a grudge felt much better. "_If _we run into each other that is."

"So, does this mean that most teams have already been settled?" Void based that conclusion on two facts. One; Neo could have gone with anyone and yet he talked like his choices were limited. Two; he did not see anyone standing by themselves. "Yeah. You're kinda the last ones to register I think." Neo confirmed his theory. "Kinda makes it pointless to even do it, doesn't it?" Khan added sneeringly.

"But you have the expected pair-ups. I will give you one guess who Yoro-Himiko picked." Even if one did not know her well, they could already tell. "Zanbatou.." The zombie princess and her samurai bodyguard were seen conversing next to a pillar. "Correct. Also, have you heard of Giganoto, Arcis, Kremlore, PharaohSlayer, Baron Schwarzwald, Alpha?" Khan rattled off a few a names. "Just one of them." More for Void to try to remember. "Well, you better get ready. They all partnered up and are looking to get a slice of our pie. Crescent and Donna at least found a partner in that group. Heck, even Veryon of all people got someone. I can't believe..."

"My comrades!" Though they had only met once or twice before, Void recognized the voice that inerrupted Bionis immediately. "Miss Donna." He turned along with the others to the heavy steps of the Gouki duelist. "Please. My mother doesn't even use that word! Now, let me introduce you to my friend! GiganotoX the Meteor!" She came down with an equally heavy-sounding duelist: a bald man with a leather vest and pants and tribal tattoos all over his bare chest. "So you are the ones Donna has waged war with! How are you doing brothers and sisters!" The Meteor acted quite chummy, quickly embracing Void and Blanche at the same time with his big arms. "Oh. Haha.. No problem." The blue-eyed girl pried herself loose immediately. "We only did.. what anyone would have done." Void was released shortly after, amazed that his avatar took no damage from such a firm grip.

"Giga. Go easy on the lads. They are not as physical as us." Donna laughed. "Nothing a few good fights wont fix!" The Meteor slammed his hands together. "... You two know each other already then." Void coughed. Donna's partner choice made sense in that regard. "We've known each other for some time, did many quests together or dueled often against each other. We're both from the dueltainment community. I couldn't call him before because of... you know why. But once I got online again, I called him up immediately." The wrestler duelist explained. "Dueltainment? You mean you perform duel shows for money?" Void'd heard of those shows before. They were different from streams in that they were actually broadcast live on television and payed for it by sponsors rather than viewers.

"We do it for the glory, not the money." Giganoto corrected him quickly. "That is why we are all here, aren't we?" He gave everyone around him a determined glare. "I suppose that is one way to describe wanting to be known as the best duelist on the network." Bionis Khan agreed. "There you have it! So may the best duelist win!" All of them had the same shot at grabbing the title of champion, whether they wanted it or not.

Almost all of them. "Yeah.. the best duelist." Scura would get no such chances anymore. "Hey!?" Because of _her._ "Them!?" She left the group to stare and point at another pair who stood on the edge of the sanctuary.

"Chiaroscura001.. I mean, Scura. It is nice to see you." One of them, Crescent Aurora, welcomed her as soon as she heard the veiled girl. But she was not the one that Scura flipped her lid over. "I was not aware that duelists like you were invited as well." The woman next to her; a tall woman with a spiked bob of golden hair. She wore a long-sleeved sequin suit draped in various gems, and a monocle across her left green eye. Scura sent her ire entirely at this woman. "Scura? Do you know Arcis?" Crescent lacked the context to understand why. "Of course we do, she is the one that beat me. And of course you would team up with her." Because of this woman, Scura lost her chance to be a part of the tagteam tournament.

"You and her were friends? I apologize then. I had no idea. Though I don't think it would have changed anything if I had." Arcis stated somewhat sympathetically. "Scura. This was nothing against you. I simply chose a partner that I felt best suited me." Crescent also made her feeling as explicit as she could. "Hmph, would you have been my partner then.. If I beat her?" Scura asked in return. This time Crescent could not sugarcoat her words. "I do not know. My style does not work well with yours." She did like her, but she liked to be pragmatic just a little bit more.

"Bah!" Scura scurried off, giving Void and the others a chance to cut in. "Crescent, hello. I did not expect to see you again so soon." Void did not know how smart it would be to bring up a certain subject right now. Though she caught on to his intended meaning anyway. "You are referring to Wagner. Yes, I would have preferred a world where he could be my partner. It feels strange to do something like this without him. But I cannot change reality. He is still recovering, and I think he would have wanted me to do this for him as well." So she claimed. "Hmm." Void wondered. Her tempered voice made it difficult to read how she really felt. "I might have talked her into it a little. I knew Wagner too, by reputation. I figured this tournament would give us something to do while his situation remains in limbo." The other woman extended her hand. "I go by Arcis Da Vinci by the by. And I wanted to thank you specifically, Void."

"Because I stopped the Crown?" She would be the second one to thank him for that today. "Because of that, yes. My avatar took damage during that first outbreak. And I do not know if it would ever have been regenerated if not for you stopping the man that caused all those ADIs to go rampant. I imagine I am not the first to thank you for it, but I did not want to be the last." Arcis' hand still waited. "I think she wants you to shake it." Crescent dryly clarified. "I know. I am just not used to..."

"interactions like this?" The weather girl interjected. "Uhm... yes." She phrased it better than he could have. "I understand. I would not have liked to be in your position either. So, I should thank you too, for being the true hero." Now she extended her hand as well. "Oh.. well. Alright then." Void sighed and shook both their hands at the same time.

"Okay. That's enough fun for you guys. We have some registering to do." Madam Blanche dropped by just in time to push Void further up the sanctuary stairs. "Hello. Welcome, contestants. Would you like to register, what name will you use?" In front of the temple watchtower they came across an ADI: the fairy monster Dunames Valkyria. "Hah. They couldn't even get a real person to do this." Blanche did not know whether to laugh or not. "Yes, we would. Void and Madam Blanche. We are team White Void." Merely saying their names sufficed. "Very good. You are the last two. Now the seeding can begin. Please hold, it will not take long." Dunames took in the info and let the rest of the network process it. "Hey did you make that up on the spot? I like it!" Blanche nodded. "Still, I thought we would at least see a champion or an admin here."

"So you are the ones." And they could talk to each other while they did so. "Do you know who I am?" A man with flaming red hair took a keen interest in Void. "You are Alpha." Void figured this encounter would have happened sooner or later. "Good. You have at least heard of me. I wish I could say the same. But I never came across your name until the day of the Crown. What have you done before that?" Both contempt and curiosity came through in his words: as if he had already made up his mind about the duelist before him. "What one normally does in STHEREA." Void would not have called himself a slouch. He just did not set any major records. "So you were there for the fundraiser as well? I have seen a lot of faces during that event, and you and your friends were not one of them." Alpha started giving looks at Blanche and others as well.

"We were kinda busy saving your game too." Bionis happened to overhear and could not let that go uncommented. "Hmph. Convenient that you came to know of this threat before anyone else. How did you manage that? Were you hired by Exeter? Was the fundraiser just a distraction?"

"The results are in!" Thankfully, the Dunames ADI became active again before the tension could get worse. "We have taken your timezones under consideration. Round one will commence tomorrow at 10 AM Eastern standard time; at the shien sector. The matchups are as follows: Team Rainbow against Team Gigasmasher, Team Loreslayer against Team Absolute, Team Black and Red against Team Technorganic, Team White Void against Team Yorohimiko. If you cannot make it, please notify us in advance. "

"Team Yorohimiko?" Only one set of duelists could have chosen that name. "You named it after yourself?" Blanche turned around to look at the Mayakashi duelist, who approached the duo the second their future duel got announced. "I could think of no better name." Himiko laughed softly. "What about you, Zanbatou?" Void looked up at the bodyguard, wondering what he felt about this. "The lady gets what she wants." He muttered and said nothing more. "Well, It is an honor to have you as our first opponents... Void and Madam Blanche. We have earned some entertainment I feel, so I am looking forward to this. I hope you will be too." Despite her polite tone of voice, her words managed creep Void out just a little. "The same to you. We will see you tomorrow." Still, he could have gotten worse opponents. "Yes, we will." The lady bowed slightly and teleported out of the sanctuary along with Zanbatou.

"Well this is trouble. Those two are naturals at team dueling." Blanche did not feel good about it. "We will have to prepare well. We know how she duels, but she knows our strategies too.."

"I'd say you got lucky. They got saddled with that guy." Scura rejoined the conversation, and motioned towards Neo and Bionis. "Oh yeah, I guess they would be team Technorganic. And that makes their opponents.. Team Red and Black?" The cyborg and mutant duelists opposed Alpha and his teammate, a blackhaired man dressed like one of those plane soldiers from the great wars. Void could not hear what they were saying to each other, but their conversation looked like the trashtalking variety. "Your two biggest fans duking it out against each other. Heheh, you should be glad."

On the opposite side, Donna and Giganoto appeared to be doing better with Crescent and Arcis. The wrestlers were more excited than the other two, but no harsh words were exchanged. That just left two teams: a pair of duelists Void had been overlooking up until now. "Zettai... and Veyron?" He should have connected the dots before. Noone else could have partnered up with Veyron. They were team Absolute and their opponents team Loreslayer. Said team no longer seemed to be in the sanctuary though.

"Zettai. Veyron." Void wanted to at least talk to them. "Good day, Void." Veyron had a weary look on his face. "What happened?" Void asked. "Just the foolishness of men. They under-estimate us. Indeed. They will see your true skill tomorrow, our true power. They will not be mewling then!" Zettai answered disdainfully. "They laughed in our faces. I imagine they would rather have faced the true hero of Pandemonium." The dejected speed duelist said while giving a quick glare at Void himself.

"Is this about your... reputation?" The rumors of Veyrons illegitimate victories must have been spreading far. "Of course. They will not forget something like that." Though he did not say it, Veyron did not think he deserved to be Zettai's partner. "Let them blather about the past. You are my partner, not theirs. And I judge you by what I have seen. Void was not the only hero that day." She clearly did not agree. "That is true, Veyron. You were instrumental in bringing Anders down." Void knew that it had been his surprise attack on the crown that bought them enough time to overpower him in the end. "Thank you for that, Void. And for a lot of other matters as well, of course."

"Well, I wish you luck. As for us, I think we are done here." Void had spoken to just about everyone at this point and somehow managed to remember all their names.

"Oh before you go. Do you know what happened to Scarlet?" Unfortunately, Veyron reminded him of a sore subject. "What do you mean?" He forgot that he and Zettai used to be her partners. "He means that the good doctor severed all ties with us for no clear reason. She put her account on private and barred us from her lair. Himiko has not been able to speak with her either. Since you were last seen with Scarlet, perhaps you know more about her change of heart?" This news from the speed duelist did not surprise him. Yet he could not tell them the whole truth out here in the open, no matter how intimidatingly Zettai stared at him. "I think she wanted to devote more time to her research. She already said she had no interest in the tournament. However.." He still wanted to warn them in some way. "I don't think you should trust her, Zettai. The things she said, did not sound like they were on the up and up."

The ace duelist appeared to understand. "Hmph. I suspected as much, she always spoke about unsavory experiments. If she has cut the cord, then that is her loss.."

"Excuse me." Void checked his dueldisk, as he heard the telltale noise of an incoming message. "...?" He noticed Scura, Neo and Blanche doing the same thing at the same time. "It must be your friend, huh?" Bionis Khan chuckled. "Huh? Oh yeah it is.." The message came from Asterisk and Vigionair, though the latters name did not show up on the text.

"Hey maybe we can bring them over too? Now that they don't have Scarlet's secret hideout anymore?" Neo felt a little sad for Zettai, Veyron and Bionis as well. "I do not need your sympathy. It is best you remind yourself that our paths are not aligned right now, Neo." Zettai declined it harshly. "I am afraid I have to agree with her. Whatever you have going on, works better without me in it. At least until I have my issues resolved." Veyron refused more despondently. Bionis meanwhile just stared at his partner. "Whatever Neo. You do your thing, just don't tell them our battleplans." The ritual duelist sneered at Void one last time and logged off. "Hrm.. Well. Lets see what this is all about."

...

"Good evening, morning and afternoon. That is some interesting timing on your part." Vigionair turned around in his swiveling chair to greet the trio once they entered his virtual base. "What? We came as soon as we got the message. We just happened to be in the same place, doing something else." Neo started to explain. "Yes yes, that silly tournament of yours. I am so sorry to disturb you." Their host's apology dripped with sarcasm. "I would not even have alerted you. But Asterisk insisted upon it. Why, I have no idea. He can do his tasks far better on his own." Vigionair scoffed as he gestured at a screen behind him.

"He is not here? Then where is he?" Void could not really tell what he was supposed to look at, it looked rather dark and unclear. "What you are seeing is what he is seeing right now. I believe you would be familiar with this kind of technology, Neo." He turned back to his computers. "Oh he is using a streamer!?" Neo cried out.

"Not for a global audience mind you. But yes; Vigionair and I always record 'adventures' like these." Asterisk himself spoke up, to respond to the outcry. Evidently he could listen in on what they were saying too. "Adventures?" Scura tilted her head. "Information gathering. This is thanks to your contributions, miss Scura. The card you gave us led me here: to the backstage area of the royal hall." The agent moved his head around a bit so they could get a better look.

"You mean the theater?" Another popular aspect of dueling came from the cinematic world. Duelists from across the globe could come in here to watch famous live duels or even movies based around dueling and duel monsters. Unfortunately the feature had not been very popular, causing the place to often be abandoned. "Indeed. Once I finished scanning your Legacy of Millennium card, which disappointingly showed no extraordinary features or interesting tricks, I ran a trace for it across the network. This was the only hit so far. And Asterisk went over there to investigate." Vigionair explained even further.

"And I am very close now." Asterisk moved some boxes and props aside. A lot of virtual junk got dumped here. "So did you call us in for backup?" Void asked. "It never hurts to be careful. But for now I am fine on my own. I... I am not alone." Asterisk stopped moving. "Is that singing?" Musical chords and a female voice came from the other side of the wall. "But there shouldn't have been anyone there." Vigionair protested as he fiddled with the settings on his screen.

"It still registers you as the only avatar in that area." Vigionair turned up the volume just so everyone could hear better. What he heard did not clear things up much. "Thank you! Thank you! I dedicated this song to all my loyal fans and followers!" Whoever did the singing, seemed to be doing it for a crowd of people. People V could not scan for either. "V? Is this woman perhaps the the owner of the card?" Asterisk continued looking around the room carefully. He did not see any doors that could lead him to the other side of the wall yet. "But this does not add up. The Legacy of Millennium card should be there in that room you are in .." The encrypter flinched. "It disappeared?" The item disappeared from the screen. "Can you repeat that?" The agent tried to inquire further when his voice got drowned out by the suddenly very loud singer.

"And I dedicate my next song for you, Agent Asterisk!" The music stopped. "?" All walls between him and the singer disappeared and every spotlight pinned him down. "Welcome to my show! I see you and your friends made good use of our invitation! Though I had hoped for more guests." Now he could see her audience; rows and rows of empty seats. And he could see her. "You." A woman in a shoulderless black and wine-red dress with magenta highlights in her jagged pigtail hair. Tattoos of a cherry and a black star marked both of her cheeks. The music came from her guitar, which turned into a dueldisk that forced Asterisk into a duel with her.

"Wait. Why does she look familiar." Void and the others caught a glimpse of the woman as well, through the agents recorder. Blanche's reaction proved his suspicion. "Yeah. That's Cherry Anise! What the hell?"

"She was one of the twenty!?" The first time Void saw this girl, she stood with all the others in the arena beyond. Static invited her too. Except her avatar had been destroyed early on, around the same time as Skylanders destruction. "I remember her too. Well I stared at her for a bit, then she left without saying a word." Scura said. Neo did not have many things to say about her either, this girl hadn't left a strong impression outside of her already existing dueling reputation. And nothing could explain why she appeared here, completely intact. "Did she survive after all?" Nobody had seen her loss to the ADIs, Neo realized. "No. Static told us she died. I don't know why he'd lie about that. I.. I do not know whats going on."

"..Miss Anise. It appears the rumors of your demise have been greatly exaggerated." Asterisk muttered. Finding her here, clearly was no coincidence. "Did you guys miss me? Did you have a lot-of-fun without me? I bet you are dying to know how I survived, aren't you?" The woman continued prancing around the room, singing half of her lines. "But I am not giving you a free show: Agent Asterisk. If you want the truth, you are going to have to impress me! So impress me!" Cherry activated the disk and materialized her cards. "My Trickstars will give you a treat!"

(To Be Continued in Line 040: You Are Only Live Once)


	40. You're Only Live Once

**Line 040: You're Only Live Once**

Cherry's LP: 8000 Asterisk's LP: 8000

The agent fell into her trap. He looked for a Millennium card, instead he found a ghost. "Let's get started, yo! Lights, camera, action!" The only way to escape her, of course, lied in victory. "I aaaaaaactivate Trickstar Light Stage!" And it would be a loud battle. Cherry Anise's field spell brought both duelists to a realm of noise, light and red and gold colors. Pillars rose up, the floor rose several feet and the symbol of a heart appeared behind the dueling performer.. "Now that I have set the stage for my Trickstars, I can bring them in! Trickstar Light Stage adds one Trickstar from my deck to my hand!" The girl spun around and walked up the steps of her stage. "I add her, my Trickstar Lilybell! And what a thrill, she can be special summoned whenever she is added to my hand!" And so the show began, with the performance of the black and white dressed pixie: Trickstar Lilybell(2/800/2000) [Zone 3]. Her large pink pigtails billowed in the wind, while she smiled at the nonexistent audience. "A pity she will have to perform for a crowd of one." The agent surmised. "Oh I think she has more onlookers than that! Heeheehee!"

"An interesting suggestion." He did let it show that her remark caught him by surprise. But the way she talked, she could only have been referring to Vigionair and the others back at the base. She expected them... Did she know they were watching too?

"But this is no solo act! Bring yourself up here, Trickstar Candina!" Another pixie-winged and pixie-eyed Trickstar made her entrance: this one(4/1800/400) [Zone 2] with a yellow flowery dress and a blonde star-like ponytail. "Candina is the star power. When she leads, others follow!" With that Cherry meant that the normal summon of Trickstar Candina allowed her to add any kind of Trickstar card to her hand. And she chose a spell with the name of 'Trickstar Bouquet'. "And together they can create something real special! Today's top request: link summon!" Candina and Lilybell disappeared behind a twice-marked link circuit. "Trickstar Holly Angel!" Slowly the new star emerged from the extra deck. Holly Angel(2000/LINK 2) {Downleft/Downright} [Extra Zone 1] with her long ponytail, blue dress and black tights made a more mature impression on the dueling agent. "Charmed, I am sure."

"Ooooh. Are we falling in love? I can tell! Too bad your smooth moves have no affect on her! Heeheehee!" The stage duelist placed two cards face down behind her, before turning back to the monster at the front. "Time for an oldie, Monster Reborn! I activate it to bring back a co-star: Lilybell!" The spell of resurrection changed the link material back into a living supporter, special summoning Trickstar Lilybell [Zone 3] to a zone marked by Holly Angel. "Hhehehe! Now now, Holly Angel inflicts 200 points of damage, whenever a Trickstar links with her!" The angel took off, flying into the air with her four wings. There, from up high, she fired down golden light to strike the agent.

Asterisk's LP: 7800

"Oof. She has quite the nasty sting." He felt that, like a rain of needles. "And that was just a lovetap! Whenever my Trickstars inflict damage, Trickstar Light Stage adds another 200 points on top of it!" The great red heart behind Anise started to glow a bright green. "Oh dear." Asterisk winced as a wide beam of green energy blasted him right in the chest. "I take it that there is more where that came from.."

Asterisk's LP: 7600 -TURN 02-

"Absolutely!" Though she ended her turn, she kept the Trickstar parade going. "Let me show you my third star! Trickstar Lycoris! I can summon her in either players turn, by returning another Trickstar monster to my hand!" Trickstar Lycoris(3/1600/1200) [Zone 1], with her long dark hair, came on with her pink and black dress that looked like an upside-down flower with stamen. To make room for the new act, Trickstar Lilybell left the field. However.. "Since I added Trickstar Lilybell to my hand, she can special summon herself again!" The pink-haired star [Zone 3] just would not be removed from the stage for long. She appeared in the same spot as before. "And since I linked both my Trickstars with Holly Angel..." The angel responded to the summoning of Lycoris first, and fired a second blast of 200 effect damage when Lilybell came back. "I see." Not only did the Agent take those two hits, he received an extra 200 points of damage each time because of the Trickstar field spell. "You are playing with fire."

Asterisk's LP: 6800

...

Void and the others could still see every turn of the duel play out from Vigionair's screen. And though they did not share the agents pain, they could imagine it. "Ugh, not another burner. I hate them so much. If you're gonna defeat someone, at least do it quickly." Scura did not care for slow and painful. "Well she is known for her Trickstars. Nobody ever liked dueling her." Neo spoke from experience, she was a streamer like him. And they often ran into each other. "But we could have used someone like her on our side. Why did she not help us?" The more Void thought about it, the less sense it all made. A duelist with her kind of fame would not just disappear from the map entirely on their own accord. And yet there she stood, as if nothing had changed.

...

"Your stage and its stars are lovely, miss Anise. But I prefer the relaxing peace of my own field spell, SPYRAL Resort." The agent decorated his side of the room with large screens and blue walls: making it a part of his secret hideout. "From now on your cards cannot target my other Spyrals. And each turn I can claim one of their operatives or tools from my deck. I will take the main agent himself: SPYRAL Super Agent." With that card draw and the SPYRAL GEAR drone already in his hand, the plans for a destructive counterattack had been drawn. "Ngh..." Except, within the same heartbeat, Lycoris zapped the agent with lighting from her baton. "So your lovely little lady burns me for each card I add to my hand." That effect would become a problem.

Asterisk's LP: 6400

"That is her special talent! And aww.. It would be a shame to see such a fine young man fail at his tasks. But I am affraid that, like you, he was not invited!" Asterisk would not even get to keep the card that took literal pains to acquire. "I activate Trickstar Reincarnation! Now all the cards in your hand are banished and you must drew a new hand!" Her trap caught him completely off guard. The other dimension claimed all five of his cards, mercilessly replaced with five other cards drawn from the deck. "Ugh!" The writing was on the wall. Asterisk counted 1200 points of damage: five times 200 plus the 200 from Trickstar Light Stage. Lycoris burned him for all of it: nearly half his lifeforce gone before he could even lift a finger. "And each time you take effect damage from my Trickstar monsters, Holly Angel gains the same amount of attackpoints until the next endphase!" Just this turn alone, the trickstar angel(3800 atk) received several power blessings from her own effect.

Asterisk's LP: 5200

"You are certainly skilled, lady Anise. I am surprised you opted out of the tournament." He knew enough of her records: you could always count on the duelist Cherry Anise to join every competition. "Nice try with the flattery, agent Asterisk. But tagteams are not suited to my style. Too many lifepoints and too many players I have to share screentime with. I like to whittle them down piece by piece on my own! Besides I have a low profile to maintain. Wink wink, nudge nudge!"

"I too prefer too take things slowly. And carefully. I don't normally get spotted during my investigations, in fact. Which brings me to a question, how did you?" His words got her to slip some information already, he could not let up now. "That depends on what you were looking for." She responded with a coy smile. "Not lady Cherry Anise, I can assure you. Perhaps you were looking for someone too." Only a fool would see this as a coincidence. "Heehee. You're saying that I tricked you? That has a nice ring to it!" If she had that skill card prepared, she would have used it by now. That did not mean she did not have it stored somewhere else. "Hmm. Do you know a man called Ulysses?" The agent was beginning to think that everything up until now had been part of a complicated trap. "Ah, Scura told you about him too, eh? Is she listening now? Scura! Are you enjoying the show!"

...

"Gah. Can she see us?" Scura flinched. "She is just guessing." Void claimed with some level of certainty. "But.. if she knows Ulysses. Then there is a connection." He had been right all along. "What it means is that we took their bait. They knew Scura would come to me.." Vigionair cursed.

...

"I suppose I will get more straight answers after the duel." The agent sighed. Due to the exile of Spyral Super Agent and the drone gear, Asterisk could only call upon his less subtle forces. "SPYRAL Tough. The target is all yours." The muscular spy(4/1900/1500) crashed the party from above, landing on the stage with a heavy thud. "SPYRAL Tough can scan the top card of your deck, after I declare what type it is. And if my guess is accurate, one of your cards will be destroyed." One agent pointed at the deck, and his monster trained his weapon on Holly Angel. "My guess is.. monster!" Now she would have to play along by revealing the top card of her deck.

"Ghee. Wrong!" Unfortunately for him, she revealed the spell card Trickstar Light Arena instead. "Then my attempt failed." Asterisk shook his head. "My lady. You have forced my hand again. While I prefer the less crude approach, it does not seem be the time for it... I activate one of my skill cards! Stealth Check! This time I know the next card you will see is a spell." The skill forced Anise to reveal Trickstar Light Arena again. "That is some weird mojo, agent." She had to banish the spell afterwards.

_Stealth Check, Skill Card  
__Excavate the top card of your opponent's Deck, and if it is a monster that can be Normal Summoned/Set, special summon it to their side of the field.  
__Otherwise, banish the excavated card and double the original ATK of 1 monster you control until the end of the turn._

Now the tough agent nearly destroyed his jacket as he(3800/1500) became twice as muscular as before. "I will make this quick, lady Anise." Asterisk took two cards from his hand, using both on the same target. For starters, Spyral Tough(4800/1500) gained a high-tech arm gauntlet. "The equip spell SPYRAL GEAR Fully Armed gives my agent an additional one thousand attackpoints." Then, a gargantuan mechanical exo-suit dropped down. The tough agent climbed inside of it, controlling the arms and legs like a mobile armor. "And SPYRAL GEAR Last Resort. This monster equips itself to another Spyral agent to make it untargetable, and immune to all types of destruction. And it destroys one other card I control." Spyral Tough took a little too long to get used to his new gear, and he crashed back into the vid-screens of the Spyral Resort. Asterisk did not mind, as he could not maintain his field spell without monsters in the graveyard anyway. "The battle phase begins. Spyral Tough attacks!"

"Now we are talking. Heehee. But I got you too, agent!" Anise gladly unveiled her face-down quickplay spell. "Ta-dadadada! Trickstar Bouquet! I have to send one of her costars back to my hand, but another Trickstar will then get all of her attackpower! Her flower power!" Trickstar Lycoris flew away from the stage, but not before making sure to toss out a bouquet of red flowers. The one who caught the flowers was of course Trickstar Holly Angel(5400 atk). "And you cannot attack any other Trickstars that Holly points to! You have to attack her! I got you, I got you!" For as long as she lived, the angel would defend Trickstar Lilybell. And normally she would also have defended her master.

"I am affraid I am not attacking her, miss Anise. I am attacking you." Not this time. "Huh? Yow!" The star-duelist took a powerful punch to the arm, as Spyral Tough struck her directly. "A monster that has Last Resort equipped, can attack directly. That was why I had to destroy my own field spell; only then does the full effect of the Spyral Gear get unlocked."

Cherry's LP: 3200

"Ahee. _You_ got _Me_. Don't let go then! I am really curious whatcha gonna do if you win!" Cherry Anise rubbed her sore arm with a strange sort of excitement. "I would only ask you what I asked before. Why did you not come back earlier? Where did you go to? How did your avatar get restored?" Many mysteries surrounded her, yet one thing remained clear. She had been destroyed by an ADI, multiple sources confirmed that fact.

"Well, if that is how this works. Then do I get to ask questions too if I win? Like who else is listening in? And where did you come from?" Again she more than hinted at knowing more than she should have. "I could also ask how you found me. But I think I already know the answer to that one. In fact your answers will probably be boring." The girl blew the hair out of her face. "My answers though. Hoohoo.. They will rock your world. What could they be? Heeehehe. Hit me again to find out!" She awaited his next move with open arms. It seemed it no longer pained her to move that limb. "Since you asked for it." The agent placed the last two cards in his hand down in the spell/trap zone. "But for now, it is your show."

"That was it? Hee. It did hurt me a little. Not as much as what that ADI did to me. You thought I died, didn't you? In a way I did. In a way I didn't. It will take a lot more to get me off the airwaves!" The star duelist leaned backwards to touch the heart symbol of the Light Stage. "And now here is another feature of my spell! Each turn I can seal one of your face-down spells or traps! And delay its activation until the end of the turn!" Currently she could pick one of two traps. "Then allow me to make the choice easy for you. I activate SPYRAL GEAR Utility Wire!" The choices narrowed down to one, due to the activation of the second. "Since I control Spyral Tough, who is also considered to be a super agent, I can return one card you control to the top of the deck!" This time the tough operative(2900/1500) pulled a fancy wire gadget from his suitcase. With a strong and fast throw, the wire coiled around Trickstar Holly Angel and constricted her.

"I see we are not a fan. But, before she goes.. One last encore! I can banish Trickstar Reincarnation from my graveyard to special summon a Trickstar to the field!" No wonder they called it a card of reincarnation, Asterisk thought. Though Utility Wire succeeded, the revival effect succeeded first. Anise's trap revived Trickstar Candina [Zone 1] and linked her up with Holly Angel just before she went back to the extra deck. "You take 200 points of damage from Holly, and 200 points of damage from Trickstar Light Stage!" The cycle of burn damage resumed. "A cost I will gladly pay, to minimize damage down the line." He also lost the ability to use his other trap due to the Light Stage. Nevertheless her superstar link monster vacated the stage.

Asterisk's LP: 4800

"Then I will simply bring in outside talent!" Cherry said while she reactivated the effect of her Lycoris. The darkhaired Trickstar [Zone 2] special summoned herself and forced Lilybell to leave the field yet again. Of course, Lilybell [Zone 3] could return right back to the field since she had been added to the hand again. "I summon the Fairy Archer!" Cherry's greatest hits included more than just the Trickstars. "You would use the Archer?" The wood nymph archer(3/1400/600) [Zone 4] with the wings of a butterfly did not look entirely out of her depth on the stage; largely due to her effect. "I would and I will! Fairy Archer inflicts 400 points of damage for each light-type monster on the field!" In spite of their many flavors, all Trickstar fairies belonged to the element of light. With Lycoris, Lilybell and Candina all there for her support, Fairy Archer could knock four arrows on her bow. "Shazam!" The four bolts struck as one, like an explosion of rubies.

Asterisk's LP: 3200

"And now, for my final act. I will make at least two fairy monsters disappear as link materials... to link summon Trickstar Foxglove Witch!" The Fairy Archer, Trickstar Candina and Trickstar Lycoris all converged inside the linking grid and created a starburst of pink light. First the two-pointed hat of the witch emerged, then her face, her curled green hair and her star-patterned dress. The Foxglove Witch(2200/LINK 3) {Left/Up/Right} [Extra Zone 1] smiled at the agent, who managed to smile back.. as a facade. "So.. The Foxglove Witch inflicts 200 points of damage for each card I control." Asterisk understood the situation this card put him in. Having Spyral Tough on the field, along with this two equips and the face-down trap card, meant that he would take 800 points of damage. "Don't forget Trickstar Light Stage!" Cherry's field spell added 200 more points on top of that. This damage rate worried even the agent.

Asterisk's LP: 2200

...

Enough to make him send a text message to Vigionair. "V I might not be returning from this." It said. "What? No Asterisk, you can still make it!" Neo blurted out in response. "Be quiet!" Vigionair snarled. They were lucky that nobody could hear them on the other end. Instead the encrypter sent Asterisk a text message. "Asterisk, message received."

...

"Are you tired out already? The fun has yet to begin! Here is where I finally get to attack you!" She laughed loudly as the Trickstars flew away from the stage. "Trickstar Lilybell can attack directly! And when she hurts my opponents, I can add one Trickstar card from the graveyard to my hand!" The pink-pigtailed maiden swung her bell like a club, creating a wave of sound force that the Spyrals could not block. "Hmph.." Her attack passed right through them and pushed Asterisk against the wall of the room. "Rgh!" Even battle damage from a Trickstar would lead to an extra damage boost from Trickstar Light Stage. The Agents lost another thousand lifepoints in the blink of an eye.

Asterisk's LP: 1200

"I suppose now, you will reclaim your Trickstar Lycoris." He could not stop her from doing that either. "Who else? But it's not time for her swan song just yet! First Foxglove will attack your Spyral spy! To die!" And he could not save the Fox witch from destroying herself, as she attempted to strike SPYRAL Tough with her star-scepter. He simply punched the wand aside and blasted her into stardust. "However! When a monster equipped with Spyral Gear Fully Armed destroys a monster, he can banish that monster along with another card you control! I choose to banish Trickstar Lilybell and Trickstar Foxglove Witch" The gauntlet gadget started to light up, and used some of the stardust to power its dimensional cannon. A single blast and the Foxwitch vanished.

Cherry's LP: 2500

"Too late, tootoo late! That wont save you from your fate! For each card you control, Foxglove inflicts 200 points of damage when she dies! Even if you banish her, you still destroyed her!" The agent would take another 800 points of damage from the now banished witch. "Yet your field spell cannot finish the job. It only reacts to damage caused by Trickstars you control!" And one could not 'control' a banished monster.

Asterisk's LP: 400

"Do you think you that keeps you safe? You know that Foxglove Witch has another power! If she dies, she summons a Trickstar Link monster from my extra deck! I think it;s time for Trickstar Holly Angel's comeback!" The original superstar(2000/LINK 2) {Downleft/Downright} [Extra Zone 1] took back the stage from the banished tricksters. "This dance is over, agent." Cherry once again summoned Lycoris [Zone 3] from her hand, after she returned Lilybell to her hand. "Of course, a stiff breeze could knock you out." The effect of Holly Angel followed, and combined with Trickstar Light Stage to blow away every last lifepoint.

Asterisk's LP: 0

"I can see when I have been bested." Asterisk did feel drained, the duel exhausted him to the point of being too tired to even escape. Of course, curiosity compelled him to stay anyway. "Now remember, we have some questions for you." She did not intend to run away either "We?" Because she had to wait for someone. "Yes. We." Waiting on the thunder and lightning that struck the trickstar stage, on the booming voice that came from the living spark of energy in front of Asterisk.

...

The same spark that Void saw talk to the Crown before. "It's Him, he was the other from the clocktower!"

...

"I believe we have had the pleasure of meeting before?" Asterisk tried to remain as composed as one could be expected. Not everyone got the chance to strike up a conversation with thunder. "Call me, as I call, myself: Prospero. This knowledge, is all, I grant you." His fragmented sentences echoed across the room, deafening all other noise with each word. "Now you, will tell us, the coordinates of, those you are linked, with. So that we, can seek them, out. Refuse..." And his electric body flashed at random intervals as well. One such flash connected with Asterisks arm. "Aagh!" The jolt ran up and down his nerves in the span of a second. "... and you, will feel our, wrath. You have, a choice now. Cooperate, or be banished, from STHEREA." Prospero made his threat clear.

"What.. would you do with that information?" Asterisk could not even move his numbed arm anymore. "The same thing they did to me, Asterisk. We're gonna bring the future. We already know about Void and the others. We just need the name of your special friend." Cherry seemed slightly bothered by his pain, but did nothing to help him either. "I am affraid I cannot give you what you want...

"Graahh!" Prospero immediately rewarded defiance with another shock, paralyzing the agents leg this time. "Heh. You know you remind me of another friend of ours. You remember, dont you?" Asterisk put on a brave face regardless. He could not just give these people what they wanted. He would not betray Vigionair. Though, he was starting to see more shadowy figured in the theater. More duelists, more of her friends?

"Oh yeah. Good old mister Static. The wanter. I had to get away from him as soon as possible. But he is nothing like my real friends. If you thought Static was powerful, you don't know anything." Cherry took several steps back as if to avoid impending fallout. "Do not, resist us, Asterisk. The pain, you feel, is only a result, of you, clinging to the material. If you, join us, you can put, it all behind you. We have, already converted many, even those, within your pointless tournament. We are everywhere, we are Millennium. To, refuse us, is, to suffer.." Prospero closed in on Asterisk, crackling fiercer than ever. "Heh. I will take that under consideration." And just as Asterisk was about to receive the final dosage. He disappeared from the room. "What, is this? Where did he GO?!" Prospero roared.

...

"Guh!" Asterisk landed on the floor of Vigionair's lab with a soft thud. "Asterisk!" Void and the others rushed to his side immediately. "What happened? How did he get back here?" Neo looked to Vigionair for answers. "Emergency quickjump override. A function I patched in for occasions like this. Ho are you feeling?" The encrypter calmly but considerately assessed the situation. "I have been better. But I knew you would not let me down." Asterisk groaned and laughed at the same time. "I seem to be getting shocked a lot lately." He still could not move his arm. "Of course I would not abandon you, kid. We are in this together! But I told you not to go in the first place! They lured us in and we've learned almost nothing."

"No, we did learn something." Asterisk shook his head. "We now know how the Crown could anticipate our moves. Because of them... They have more insiders than we thought." Cherry was not the only one. "The tournament is in danger already."

(To Be Continued in Line 041: A Matrix of Parallels)

**New Cards used by Agent Asterisk  
**_STEALTH CHECK_

-  
SPYRAL GEAR - Last Resort

-  
SPYRAL GEAR - Fully Armed

-  
SPYRAL GEAR - Utility Wire

**Cards used by Cherry Anise  
**Trickstar Lilybell  
Trickstar Candina  
Trickstar Lycoris  
Fairy Archer

-  
Trickstar Holly Angel  
Trickstar Foxglove Witch

-  
Trickstar Light Stage  
Monster Reborn  
Trickstar Bouquet

-  
Trickstar Reincarnation


	41. A Matrix of Parallels

**Line 041: A Matrix of Parallels**

_Editors Note: Tagteam duels will have 2 fields, the 3d and 4th player will therefor be placing cards in separate columns: zones 6 through 10. And have their own extra zones (3 & 4)_

He could not believe it, the tournament would still happen. All sixteen competitors and their friends were invited to watch and play, because today would be the day. They were called to fill the rows of a pocket dimension around what would become the dueling stage itself. They called this the safe room. He did not feel safe and how could he? The new enemies had revealed only a glimpse of their power. And they were a part of this too.

"Void, I know you are distracted. But you do want to win this tournament, right?" Said Blanche, to remind him of why he was actually here. "I know. I just, I can't believe Exeter is letting this happen. Asterisk sent them the warning, didn't he?" Void had hoped that the news about their encounter with Cherry and Prospero would cause the company to take some action, perhaps make some delays. Instead it all went forward as planned. "Yeah well he did, and he is still talking to them. What else is there to do? You don't have to do everything.." But as always, she kept him focused. "Ngh... You are right. I apologize. I do want to win.." A tagteam would not work with one distracted mind. Even if he did not have to duel yet, he could end up facing the winners of the current match. "We should wait." Asterisk and Vigionair were doing their best of course.

Perhaps this was inevitable. The whole world wanted it to happen, they wanted to watch. Virtual windows lined the walls. Avatars that did not have the time to enter the safe room could watch from afar through those dimensional rifts. Even non STHEREA players could follow the duel live on their computer screen, phone and what not. Various hosts from all parts of the world were there to give comment and to translate for their own countries: some artificial and some human. So much noise. Void tried to tune it all out.

"Gogogo, Crescent! Donna! ... Do you think they can hear me?" Sitting right next to Neo made that complicated. "No.. I don't think they do." So far only the cyborg duelist and Madam Blanche felt like being near Void. The others sat elsewhere, had yet to log in, or were heading into battle. "I dont know who to root for, really." Blanche noted. The four duels of the first round would take place across various sectors: with the first taking place in the enormous crystal caverns of the Crystolic creatures. First Crescent and her partner Arcis would duel Donna and her partner Giganoto. Through the safe room's forcefield the four duelists walked, instantly transported to the crystolic cave. He could hear every word they spoke and every expression they made thanks to the omnipresence of STHEREA's invisible cameras. "Well we wont have to duel the winner next round yet." Void had no preferences. Two duelists on either side he would have considered friends, while their partners were complete mysteries. Right now, just like the night before this, his mind kept going back to what Cherry Anise said. Her group; its members were everywhere... even inside this bracket. Could Giganoto be the one, or Arcis?

The four duelists stood face to face, on a platform carved out of diamond. "Miss Donna. I want to say it is good to see you in action again. I hope I phrased that well." Crescent wanted to give the first greeting. "Rhahaha! You don't have to worry about that with me, Aurora! I don't do fancy talking myself either!" Donna took everything in stride, seemingly just happy yo be here. "Right on! We are here to act, to duel! Words are for the announcers and the judges!" GiganotoX, the duelist also known as The Meteor, handily matched her enthusiasm. "I think it is quite possible to be an expert at both. This game is about more than strength after all." Despite her choice of words, Arcis Da Vinci sounded more amused than annoyed. She was the hardest to read either way. "But I am sure this will be an educational fight." She drew her cards along with her partner. "Good luck. Is what they say." Donna and Giganoto added their own cards as well. "Good luck to you too, Crescent and Arcis!"

Team Gigasmasher's LP: 16000 Team Prismbow's LP: 16000

"What were the rules again?" Void had missed that info during his zone-out. So Neo went on to explain. "Oh well its just like a regular tagteam match. Lifepoints are shared and raised to double the normal amount. If you hit one player, you hit them both. Each player takes a turn and can use the cards their partner controls. They all have their own fields though and cant place cards on any other field. Whoever goes first and second will face each other. Same thing with number three and four." In this case GiganotoX stood opposite of Crescent Aurora. "So each player still gets their own extra zone. Things could get hectic." Void calculated that a team could have twelve monsters on the field at once. "Seems like a slow start to me actually." Blanche shrugged.

-TURN 01-

In spite of his boisterous laughter, Giganoto only went as far as to summon a single monster. "Yeahaw! I am ready! And so is my guy: Dinowrestler Capoeiraptor!" The tattooed duelist favored dinosaurs, especially those that could also wrestle. Capoeiraptor(4/1800/0) [Zone 3] took after the real-life capoeira fighters, with his bandaged punching arms, blue vest and wrestling mask. "In attack mode of course! We will not cower and defend!" Giganoto also placed a trap card face down and left his turn at that. "Are you happy with that?" His monster would not have been a good defense anyway, yet Crescent still expressed her concerns. "Of course! Come at me with your full might! There is no shame as long as we do our best!"

-TURN 02-

"..You remind me of Wagner, he was loud too." Crescent sighed and drew her card. "I hope this will do." It did not help that she had to play a card given to her in the past, by Wagner. He never made a big deal of sharing cards. "I activate Valhalla, Hall of the Fallen. Now a fairy monster can be special summoned from my hand, as there are no monsters on my field." Her continuous spell acted like a visual field enhancer, erecting a heavenly throne room and four pillars covered in rose-vines. "I special summon Aurora; the Weather Painter Aurora." Light shone down on the Valhalla throne, bringing life to the greenhaired painter(6/2200/2000) [Zone 2] of the northern lights. "None of my Weather spells or traps can be destroyed while I control her."

"That includes this one... the Cloudy Canvas." Right behind the first painter, the first weather canvas [Zone 4] emerged. On it Aurora could paint with the colors of the grey clouds, and she marked the three zones to her right. "Now any monster in these zones has a new effect. They can be banished for one turn, to allow another monster to attack directly with half its attackpoints... I suppose I should put a monster there first." Crescent normal summoned her next painter: a tiny blue-haired girl(3/0/2200) [Zone 3] with a white cloud-lined dress and snowflake wings. "This is the Weather Painter Snow. When I normal summon her, I can take any Canvas I want from my deck." Aurora searched the deck for another continuous spell: The Weather Snowy Canvas.

"I activate this card." Snow fell down on the three zones in front of the pure white canvas [Zone 3]. "This is the first attack, mister Giganoto. It's for you." The power of the clouds got invoked. Weather Painter Snow absorbed the effect from the first spell to banish herself and to target the monster Aurora(1100/2000): halving her attackpoints to give her the chance to attack directly. "Ha! Bring it!" Aurora attacked directly, slapping the dinosaur duelist with her boreal brush. "Gahaha! That tickles" The man laughed it off. "I regret that it could not be more, Arcis." Crescent did not have anything else to attack with anymore, so she ended the battle phase. "Every point counts." Her partner assured her. Afterwards, Crescent activated the Snowy Canvas effect given to Aurora: banishing the stronger painter to add a Weather card to her hand. She selected the Thundery Weather Canvas and placed it [Zone 2] facedown along with another trap [Zone 5].

Team Gigasmasher's LP: 14900

"She is so timid. Donna is gonna eat her alive." The comments of those that either watched the duel, or were present at the stadium, did not give her favorable odds. "Have they even seen her duel? She is great." Neo loudly disagreed. But all of them ignored him. "She has a chance." Void knew not to under-estimate the weather duelist. When the end of her turn came, Aurora and Snow returned in attack and defense position respectively. Weather Painters banished by their own effects would always special summon themselves during the next standby phase. "But her opponent is no pushover." He could not under-estimate Donna either. She could do things with her Gouki that he could only dream off.

-TURN 03-

"Rhahaha! Do not sweat it, Crescent. A soft start can decide everything! Not that i am going to go soft on anyone!" The time came for Grand Donna to smash. "I activate Reinforcement of the Army, and add Gouki Suprex from my deck to my hand!" To start the onslaught, the warrior recruiting spell chose the blue rex warrior. Normal summoning Gouki Suprex(4/1800/0) [Zone 6] allowed Donna to special summon another Gouki warrior. "Go help him out, Gouki Bearhug!" A brawny redhaired warrior tagged in as well. Bearhug(6/2400/0) [Zone 7] owed his name to the bearhide on his back and to his special effect. "Bearhug! Give Aurora a hug!" Bearhug could halve a monsters attackpoints. Donna enjoyed the animation of Aurora(1100/2000) being power hugged too much to pass it up.

"The link materials for Gouki Jet Ogre are two Gouki monsters!" Suprex and Bearhug left the field for the link summon the fencing jetpack warrior Gouki Jet Ogre(2000/LINK 2) {Left/Down} [Extra Zone 3]. "A-ha! When my Gouki monsters hit the graveyard, they can add new Gouki cards from my deck to my hand! I take these two, Gouki Twistcobra and Gouki Rematch!" Now the Gouki fun could truly explode. "You all know it, you all love it! Here it is, my ultimate once-a-turn spell! I activate Gouki Rematch to bring my two Gouki warriors back to life!" Bearhug [Zone 7] and Suprex [Zone 9] Just like when she dueled Mister Static, Grand Donna got enough materials on the field for a link 4 monster. The crowd already chanted the names of all the Ogres she could summon.

"What do you say, X? Do we go for the Giant, the Destroyer, the Master? Personally, I think I should bring the thunder!" She looked at her partner, who flashed a toothy grin. "Then thunder away!" He approved of her plan. "Then I will need at least two Goukis!" From two links to three: Jet Ogre blasted into the circuit and dragged Gouki Bearhug along. Lightning escaped out the other side, crashing down to the extra zone. "Let's go! Gouki the Thunder Ogre!" The thunder warrior(2200/LINK 3) {Downleft/Up/Downright} [Extra Zone 3] appeared, with red armor plates and golden lightning stripes on its outfit. "When Jet Ogre is sent to the graveyard, all Goukis gain 500 attackpoints! And then some! Each turn a player can normal summon another monster to one of Thunder Ogre's links! So lets bring down the TwistCobra as well!" While the ogre(2700 atk) of thunder took on the flames of the Jet warrior for himself, he allowed the green viper, Gouki TwistCobra(4/1600/0) [Zone 8] to back him up on his left flank.

"That aint all brothers and sisters! When a Gouki monster is destroyed, Thunder Ogre gains another 400 attackpoints! So I activate my spell Gouki Faceturn!" She would get her destruction from her spell. Gouki Faceturn destroyed one Gouki, TwistCobra, to revive another, Gouki Bearhug [Zone 8]. Not only did this further power up her link Ogre (3100 atk), it also triggered TwistCobra's searching effect. "Since TwistCobra died, I will add Gouki Moonsault to my hand! Moonsault can special summon himself, by bouncing out another Gouki!" A long-eared brawler(6/1900/0) with the symbol of the moon plastered on his body, took over for Gouki Suprex: sending the defending warrior back to Donna's hand. "And with the power of the Moon Saulter, I can rescue two cards from my graveyard: one who came from the extra deck and one who came from the main deck!" The choices were obvious there: Gouki Jet Ogre returned to the extra deck and Gouki TwistCobra wound up back in Donna's hand.

"I have kept all of you waiting long enough! Especially, you.. Crescent and Arcis! Now we fight! Gouki Bearhug, Gouki Moonsault, attack with your Boa Constrictor and Lunar Lariat!"

"You have more monsters, but I cannot let you have mine." Crescent said softly. The painter fairies lacked the strength to fight back on their own. Fortunately their positions allowed them to benefit from the Canvas trap [Zone 2] which Crescent decided to reveal. "This is the Weather Thundery Canvas. Any monster in its column and adjacent columns can banish itself to remove a monster that battles it. Those monsters will be returned to the hand." The clouds above the field grew dark and stormy. They released thunderbolts each time a Gouki came near a Painter.

"So those attacks have failed, huh!?" The trap forced Moonsault and Bearhug back into Donna's already overly filled hand. However, Aurora and Snow could not defend Crescent anymore either while they were banished. "Let's get them, X! Thunder Ogre, Ultima Thunder! Capoeiraptor, Martelo Kick!" The wrestlers had a clear shot at both Crescent and her partner. "!" Crescent crossed her arms to fend off the Ogre's electrically charged punch. And Arcis received a quick hammer kick from the fighting raptor. "How was that?" Donna then placed a trap card face down and ended the turn. The Thunder Ogre(2600 atk) lost the attackpoints it gained from Gouki Jet Ogre.

Team Prismbow's LP: 11000

-TURN 04-

"You hit hard." Arcis rubbed the side of her arm. "How are you, Crescent?" Her partner seemed to be shaken up as well. "Rattled, I think is a good word.." Once again the Weather Painters Aurora and Snow came back from the other dimension, special summoned to the same zones they left behind. "Keep going, Arcis." This was her moment now.

"Very well, I will show them a masterpiece. I summon Witchcrafter Pittore!" And these were her cards: the magical artists known as Witchcrafters. The girl(3/1000/1500) [Zone 6] in the green dress, Pittore, practiced painting. Her auburn braided hair looked like a thick brush. "A spell card.. and the life of my spellcaster: with these sacrifices I can special summon a Witchcrafter from my deck!" Pittore discarded a Witchcrafter Holiday spell card from the hand, and tributed herself. In return, Arcis could bring out a more powerful witch. "Witchcrafter Madame Verre!" Another young girl(8/1000/2800) [Zone 6] materialized: with long blue hair and a pure white dress. Madame Verre stared smugly at her opponents, seated on her crystal chair.

"I bet she is the one." Scura muttered behind Void and Blanche's back. "The spy that the big thunder guy told us about." Her ability to sneak up on them improved with every passing day. "Also hi Scura. Sure you're not just saying that because she was the one that beat you?" Blanche turned skeptical. "Tch. Sure I am sure. Think.. first she takes me down, then she sends her buddy Ulysses to come cheer me up. Its a two-for-one deal!" It made sense on some levels... yet contradictory on others. "Why would they tie themselves so obviously?" Void did not see any other connections, and that one would be tenuous at best. "Then why did she partner up with Crescent? To worm her way into our group of course!" The veiled girl did not let weaken her suspicion. "I think its just because Arcis uses elemental monsters too, like Crescent." Blanche pointed out. Each Witchcrafter artist used magic of a different attribute: Pittore being a water caster and Verre a light caster. "Meh." And Scura could not refute that logic. "Maybe. But something is up with her. I can just tell..."

Back at the duel, Arcis started her offense. Thanks to Crescent banishing the Snow Painter with the shared effect of the Cloudy Canvas, the attackpoints of Thunder Ogre(1300 atk) got reduced by half. "That effect works on any monster huh?" If it had been her turn, Donna could have attacked directly with her link monster now. Instead she would have to sit and watch as the Painter Aurora destroyed the thunder fighter with an attack of boreal lights.

Team Gigasmasher's LP: 14000

"On the other hand this effect works on mine alone. Madame Verre! Raise your attackpoints by the number of spells in my hand!" Arcis revealed three spell cards in her hand, which magically bolstered the crystal mage(4000/2800) as she set her magic upon Dinowrestler Capoeiraptor. "Then this is where I come in! My Raptor cannot be destroyed as long as its in attack position!" Giganoto's monster took a stance to brace himself. Alas, the Madam did not approve. "How unfortunate then that Verre can negate all of your monsters effects, at the cost of a single spell!" Arcis discarded the spell, Witchcrafter Collaboration, and encased the raptor in a prison of crystal. "Argh!" Giganoto's monster could not escape the spellcaster, whose magic hit it square in the chest.

Team Gigasmasher's LP: 11800

"A good hit. But you wont like this! I can discard Dinowrestler Martial Anga from my hand, to save my monsters life from a monster with more attackpoints!" Right in the middle of their fight, a third party interrupted. Anga the irritator dinosaur deflected the magic and negated the destruction of Capoeiraptor. "Also your battle phase is over!" The Meteor bragged, having successfully defended his defenseless monster. "For now." Arcis moved to her second main phase, so she could use an effect from her graveyard. "But there is always more magic ahead. Behold, Witchcrafter Pittore banishes herself to trade a spell from my hand with a card from my deck!" The bejeweled duelist discarded her Witchcrafter Draping spell and drew one new card. She then placed one trap card face down. "Now, as for the endphase.."

"Did I hear the word 'end'? Haha! Then my dinowrestlers can begin their comeback! Arcis, Crescent.. you control more monsters than we do! That means that Martial Anga can summon itself back to my field!" The Meteor beat his own chest to give his fighting dinosaur(5/1600/0) [Zone 1] a proper introduction. The Angasaur hissed at the witches in front of him.

"Interesting. I should show you a magic trick of my own.. Donna and Giganoto." Arcis retaliated, by deftly drawing all three spells from her graveyard. "What is this?!" Giganoto gasped. "This is the special power of the witchcrafters. If I did not activate them this turn, I can reclaim them from the graveyard during the end of that turn!" Now there were four spells in her hand; enough to power Verre up to 5000 attackpoints. "And I will use my card too." The weather girl in turn banished Aurora from her field again for the effect of the Snowy Canvas. In turn she added Weather Painter Sun to her hand. "Now take your move, team gigasmasher! We can weather anything!" Control fell back on Giganoto, while Crescent yet again special summoned her Painters Aurora and Snow back from the banished realm.

-TURN 05-

"Ha! Donna has already shown you her powers! It's time I bring my own! Get out there, Dinowrestler Terra Parkourio!" Having two dinowrestler link materials on his field, Anga and Capoeiraptor, allowed the Meteor to link summon his parkour wickertail dinosaur(1000/LINK 2) {Left/Up} [Extra Zone 2]. "We're gonna have a lot of fun now! Terra Parkourio takes advantage of my terrain. Once I activate World Dino Wrestling, he will rescue another Dinowrestler from the graveyard!" Giganoto transformed the stage into a prehistoric fighting arena surrounded by jungle trees. The field spell World Dino Wrestling added 200 attackpoints to all battling Dinowrestlers. "Do you think I will let you have that monster?" Madame Verre reacted swiftly, discarding Witchcrafter Draping from Arcis' hand to negate Parkourio's effect.

"You will have to! Because I activate Miscellaneousaurus!" A skeletal triceratops dinosaur emerged from the Meteors hand, haunting the field with its ghostly body. "All my dinosaurs are unaffected by card effects for the rest of he main phase!" Madame Verre failed to keep Terra Parkouria from taking Dinowrestler Martial Anga back from the graveyard. "Curse it.." Arcis wasted her spell for nothing. "And I will go one step further! Show her, Dinowrestler Capaptera!" Even flying dinosaurs like Capaptera the wing-to-hand selfdefense fighter(3/1600/0) [Zone 2] could join the world of dinowrestling. "Capaptera can send a monster to the graveyard, as long as there are more on your field than on mine! And my target is you, Weather Painter Aurora!" The wrestler pointed his finger of doom at the greenhaired painter.

"If my monsters have to outnumber yours, then I will even it back out." Before the Pterasaur could activate its not-so-quick effect, Crescent activated the Aurora/Snowy Canvas effect. The painter banished herself, and placed Weather Painter Cloud in Crescent's hand. "Hahaha! I knew you would! But that just allows me to summon my strongest wrestler!" Giganoto took both Terra Parkourio and Capaptera as link materials. "Lets show them what strength is, King T!"

...

"So I missed the start. A shame." While all of that went on, everyone's suave friend the Agent dropped by Void and the others. "Asterisk?" Much to their surprise. "What happened? What did Exeter say?" Void could scarcely imagine Asterisk coming here just to watch a tournament in which he played no part.

"I told various admins everything we know, but they didn't come back to us until just now. Or rather, Hansens assistant Walter called to meet us. I shall spare you the dull parts of conversation." He let out a long sigh and sat down in an empty seat. "To make a long story short. Exeter claims to have taken appropriate action. It probably wont come as a surprise to you that they tried to find to find the names and locations of suspected targets: Ulysses and Cherry Anise." Asterisk winced slightly as he uttered her name. It appeared his arm still carried some leftover pain from his encounter with her and the man of thunder. "Let me guess, they used some illegal umbo jumbo to track them down in real life?" Scura rolled her eyes behind her veil. "Well, they assured me they have only broken the privacy laws to protect those affected by the Crowns 'destruction spree'. A delightful name they came up with..."

"However, and this is where matters get complicated; despite their best efforts they could not locate either of them." Asterisk turned solemn. "What? Did they like run away from home?" Blanche wondered. "There were no homes for them to visit, miss Blanche. As far as Exeter is concerned, Cherry Anise and Ulysses have no history within STHEREA. They are ghosts."

"No History? What do you mean?" Neo yelled. "That they could not find evidence of them ever having existed, no avatars with their names or appearances exist." The agent clarified. "What!? That's not possible! I saw Cherry stream a few times!" Neo quickly went to check on his dueldisk to visit her channel. "It's gone?" The places where her streams could be seen where all gone now, along with her profile. He knew it never got a lot of hits, but this went beyond the pale. "But they are real, right!? I sure as hell didn't imagine that guy!" Scura protested. "Of course, we do know better. We have to assume this is the same Cherry Anise that you once knew, as Exeter assured me that only one person can be linked with an avatar. Yet it appears that their identities have been erased from the network." Asterisk had no better explanation.

"Not ghosts then.." Void muttered in disbelief. "An avatar disconnected from STHEREA. A mind that can stay inside the network as long as they want. But what does this mean for the body?"

(To Be Continued in Line 042: Dead Weight)

**Cards used by GiganotoX The Meteor  
**Dinowrestler CapoeiRaptor  
Dinowrestler Martial Anga  
Miscellaneousaurus  
Dinowrestler Capaptera

-  
Dinowrestler Terra Parkouria

-  
World Dino Wrestling

**New Cards used Crescent Aurora  
**The Weather Painter - Snow

-  
Valhalla, Hall of the Fallen  
The Weather Cloudy Canvas

**New Cards used by Grand Donna the Monday Smasher  
**Gouki Bearhug  
Gouki Moonsault

-  
Gouki the Thunder Ogre

-  
Reinforcement of the Army

**Cards used by Arcis Da Vinci  
**Witchcrafter Pittore  
Witchcrafter Madame Verre

-  
Witchcrafter Holiday  
Witchcrafter Collaboration  
Witchcrafter Draping


	42. Dead Weight

**Line 042: Dead Weight**

The story of Millennium grew stranger and stranger with each new page. Anise's avatar had been destroyed, Cherry Anise's avatar ran free: both these facts contradicted each other. It could have been an impostor, but for what end? She looked and sounded like the same. "Thomas... they promised him an eternal stay within the network." Unless a third fact existed that neither Void nor anyone else could see yet. "If they can make such an arrangement at all. Thomas only mentioned the removal of a time limit. To sever the human mind from its body entirely is one step too far into the fantastical." Asterisk did not see it as possible. "What if someone else took over her avatar after she lost it? What if its a pretender after all? Though that would mean.. she could not be the only one who has been replaced. People inside the bracket they said.." Blanche looked back at the duel and at Neo. "Hell, it could be one of us."

"What?" Neo freaked out. "I doubt that. It would not explain why Cherry Anise and Ulysses do not show up on the network. Vigionair has also at least verified that none of you have been replaced in any capacity." The agent quickly assured them, though his revelation did not please everyone. "How did he do... You know what, I don't even wanna know." Scura grumbled.

"Did Vigionair even detect the millennium legacy card anywhere else yet?" Void asked, feeling his own concerns surface again. "Sadly, no. In fact the card Scura gave us deleted itself overnight. It's clear to us now that they only gave it to her, because they knew she would give it to V and me. Though Cherry could not have been the one to plan this, she left our group before anyone knew Scura had joined us. All we can do is try and see if there are any inconsistencies in the people we already know, Millennium could have approached others. We can seek help from other sources once this match has reached its conclusion. Exeter is watching us, it would be unwise to head out to certain places right now." The name could not be said out loud, but everyone knew what Asterisk was talking about: Mister Static. "Well, if Donna has been replaced. I guess He would know. But so far, she seems to be the same old, same old.."

...

Team Prismbow's LP: 11100 Team Gigasmasher's LP: 11800

Not just Donna; Both dueltainers acted exactly as they were expected too: loud and aggressive. "The King of the Dinosaurs! Dinowrestler King T Wrexle is here!" Scarred dark purple scales formed his hide, bloodthirsty red eyes gazed through a wrestlers mask, dinosaur bones and a skull covered its shoulders: the Dinowrestling Tyrannosaur(3000/LINK 3) {Downleft/Down/Downright} [Extra Zone 2] shifted the duel to a new level of intensity. No stronger dinowrestler existed, especially not after the King(4000 atk) received a sudden powerboost. "Since I used Dinowrestler Capaptera as a link material, my link monster got one thousand attackpoints extra! Ghahaa!" GiganotoX The Meteor flexed his muscles as he played another card.

"But the King is not alone in this fight! I activate Fossil Dig! This spell adds one level 5 or higher dinosaur from my deck to my hand! And I choose Dinowrestler Pankratops! I can special summon this card while my opponents control more monsters than we do!" While he controlled just one link monster: Crescent and Arcis controlled two monsters: Weather Painter Snow (3/0/2200) [Zone 3] and Witchcrafter Madame Verre(8/1000/2800) [Zone 6]. Therefor, he could put Pankratops the green armored triceratops fighter(7/2600/0) [Zone 3] on the field for no cost at all. "Dinowrestler Pankratops can tribute one Dinowrestler monster to destroy a card on my opponents field! And you may be thinking, what Dinowrestler monster? Is the Meteor gonna sacrifice his great king?" Giganoto's chuckle turned to full-on laughter.

"Of course not! I shall summon my tribute with Miscellaneosaurus! I can banish that dinosaur from my graveyard along with all other dinosaurs! And then I special summon a Dinosaur whose level matches the number of banished dinosaurs!" The undead dinosaur exiled itself from the grave, and added the souls of Terra Parkouria, Capaptera and Capoeiraptor to its numbers. "I summon another Capoeiraptor!" Four banished cards translated into the capoeira raptor kicker(4/1800/0) [Zone 4]. "And I tribute it to destroy the Canvas of Clouds!" Pankratops grabbed the new raptor and hurled it towards Crescents spell card like a grenade. Capoeiraptor smashed into the Weather Cloudy Canvas and dispersed it. "Now you wont be able to halve our monsters attackpoints anymore and we can have a true one-on-one fight! KING T WREXLE! Attack Madame Verre!" The greatest threat to Team Gigamasher was the effect negating crystal witch.

"Do you wish to die?" Arcis could power her monster up by showing all three spells in her hand. Madame Verre(4000/2800) gained 1000 attackpoints for each reveal. "The King was extinct once! But he came back! You gotta do better than extinction, Arcis da Vinci! My field spell, World Dino Wrestling, gives attacking Dinowrestlers 200 attackpoints!" The King(4200 atk) roared and snapped at the witch with its jaws. Her throne shattered like glass while her body got torn to magical fragments. The kings attack dropped again after the battle. "Unfortunately, only one monster can attack each turn as long as a Dinowrestler lives. That is the other effect of World Dino Wrestling." He could not lay a hand on Crescents painters, not yet at least. "I will leave it all to you, Monday Smasher!"

Team Prismbow's LP: 10900

"They two work well together. I wish I could give you the same strength, miss Da Vinci." Crescent seemed dejected. "You probably think it is unfair towards me, that you would rather be here with someone else. It is not wrong to feel what you feel, but you do not have to feel it for me. Just remember why you want to succeed." Arcis in turn seemed to know Crescent better than others would think. "Ha! You don't need a good reason to want to win!" Giganoto happily yelled as he overheard them.

"Maybe some don't. Maybe I shouldn't need one either. But.. I want one. And I want to win.. to show everyone who I am now." Before the turn really ended, Crescent revealed her trap card. "I activate Revenge of the Normal. For each monster my opponent controls, I can special summon one monster from my hand." Due to the Dinowrestler pair, Crescent could bring out the cards given to her by the Snowy Canvas: the rotund red Weather Painter Sun(4/1600/1000) [Zone 4] and the young grey Painter Cloud(3/1500/1000) [Zone 1]. "Numbers matter, it appears."

-TURN 06-

"Three monsters? No..four." As soon as the weather girl's turn started, the Painter Aurora(6/2200/2000) [Zone 2] unbanished herself. "Five." Crescent Aurora then had the Painter Cloud banished from the field for the effect of Snowy Canvas, which let her add the Weather Painter Thunder to her hand. She normal summoned the electric bratster(4/1700/0) [Zone 3] to the field. "X! She is going to go for her link monster!" Donna cringed. They could not delay the oncoming storm.

"I am. And I only need three: three Weather Painter link materials." The weather duelist concocted a tempest of hot and cold: sending the Painters Thunder, Sun and Snow into the link circuit. "The Weather Painter Rainbow." Seven paint canisters floated around the goddess of weather: the woman of white(2400/LINK3) {Downleft/Down/Downright} [Extra Zone 1] and the woman of many colors. Rainbow wore her golden crown atop her long rainbow-colored hair, while her white dress flowed in the winds. "While the Canvas sends its effects up, the Rainbow casts her power down. The Painters pointed at by her markers can banish themselves to negate any activated effect." This was the power that Donna feared.

"I will bring back The Sun now by destroying one of my continuous spells." Briefly the noise of thunder left the wrestling ring. The Sunny Painter sacrificed the Valhalla Hall of the Fallen continuous spell to special summon himself[Zone 2] back to the field in defense position. "And then Sun activates one Canvas card from my hand: The Weather Canvas Rainy [Zone 1]. Instead of making it bright, he activated a spell that made it rain down on him and Aurora. "There is always another storm. I can banish a Weather Painter in the Rain's columns, to destroy one spell or trap." She banished her very own Painter Sun to tear the jurassic jungle arena to pieces and drag the duelists back to the crystal caves of the Crystolic.

"I am sorry I had to keep you waiting. Here is my attack, mister X. Do you want to use your monsters effect?" King T Wrexle could force a player to attack with one monster first. And Pankratops could use its effect in either players turn. But if Giganoto tried to do so, Rainbow would simply shut the effects down and destroy the Dinowrestler. "If my monsters are to fall, I would rather they be destroyed! Pankratops tributes itself to destroy the Rainbow!" One way or another he would lose his monster. "It will be negated then. But not by me." Crescent gave her partner a smile. "Yes, I activate Called By the Grave! I banish Pankratops from your graveyard to negate its effect!" Arcis revealed her set quickplay spell, which removed the tributed ceratosaur and cancelled out its powers before they could resolve. "What!?"

"Sorry, I needed Aurora for myself." Crescent entered the battle phase with her Thundery Canvas effect. The storm banished the Aurora Painter, while it pushed the T-Rex Wrestler back into the extra deck. "Giganoto.. This name is for you. The Weather Painter Rainbow attacks directly with Arc de Ciel." A stream of prismatic lasers pushed the Meteor wrestler down to the ground. "Gahaha! Those were some fancy moves! I didn't expect you to save such a good card for your partner!"

Team Gigamasher's LP: 7800

"...I feel better now." Crescent said as she ended her turn. Sun [Zone 1], Aurora [Zone 2] and Cloud [Zone 3] could return to her field in attack position afterwards: protected by the Canvas and blessed by the rainbow.

...

"She seems happy. But she never looks like that!" Neo noticed that Crescent was finally smiling, which made him panic. "Maybe she is just getting her own confidence now that Wagnerok isn't there to overpower her. Her way of dueling is a real handful when people let her get away with everything." Scura grinned. This tagteam setup favored her more than anyone else. "I agree. This nothing to worry about yet..." Void said as he maintained his focus. If anything he wanted to know Arcis better, a feat he could not yet pull off. The witch duelist seemed content with her background role.

...

-TURN 07-

"Ha! Look at you! Now you are fighting without regrets! Good, Crescent! That means I can do the same!" Donna would not let a simple thing like full effect negation slow her down. "I activate Gouki Ringtrainer from my hand to revive my link monster: Gouki Thunder Ogre!" With seven cards in her hand, she could afford to be reckless. "...I will negate it." Crescent could not. She did not want to risk her getting enough materials for a link 4 Gouki. "I banish The Sun." . Its effect fell through while it fell into the graveyard.

"Of course! In that case I will summon Gouki TwistCobra! And special summon Gouki Headbatt!" Few things Rainbow could not prevent: normal summons like that of the green viper warrior(4/1600/0) [Zone 6] and being one of them. "I will negate Headbatt's effect too, and banish The Cloud." She could however negate and destroy the bat warrior, whose special summoning effect activated after the discard of Gouki Moonsault. "Heh. One to go!" The Rainbow goddess used up her second linked painter, leaving her with just Aurora. "So it is time to activate this convenient Gouki Rematch I already had!"

"Crescent!" Arcis flinched. "I know. There is no choice." The Painter Aurora took the power of the Rainbow and banished herself in its light. "Your spell is negated." She denied Donna her double Gouki revival, at a grave cost. "Now your monster is unprotected! You cant even use your Canvas on it!" The extra monster zone lied one row too far to benefit from her many spells and traps. "So lets battle! I activate Arrivalrivals!" The battle phase opened with a quickplay spell, one that would normal summon another monster immediately. "I will bring my own dinosaur king warrior, Gouki Suprex.. and he will call his friend: Gouki Bearhug!" Gouki Suprex(4/1800/0) [Zone 7] repeated its effect from the last turn: special summoning Gouki Bearhug(6/2400/0) [Zone 8] from Donna's hand after he himself got normal summoned. And thanks to the effect of Bearhug, Weather Painter Rainbow(1200/0) lost half of her attackpoints. "Your monster was beautiful, Crescent. But in a true fight, my Goukis will always come out on top! Bearhug, attack with Grizzly Punch!" And so the weakened goddess fell to the claws of the brawling Bear.

Team Prismbow's LP: 9700

"TwistCobra, the power of Gouki Bearhug is yours!" More pain would come. The Cobra fighter sucked the life and power out of the Gouki that already attacked, so he(4000/0) could strengthen his own attack. "And I have some for you too, Arcis Da Vinci! Go, attack with Venom Lashing and Tyrant Impact!" Donna divided her attacks. TwistCobra bit the Witchcrafter with its hair snakes, while Gouki Suprex elbowed Crescent. "Ah.." Though she braced herself, her rapidly decreasing lifepoints left her arms rather numb.

Team Prismbow's LP: 3900

"Now we flipped the table on you! Heheh, and since I sent Gouki Bearhug to my graveyard. You know what that means!" Donna was allowed one more Gouki card from her deck... her third and final Gouki Rematch. "Even though I can only activate this spell once per turn, you negated the previous activation. Looks like the third Rematch will be the most successful!" It could not be avoided. Gouki Rematch activated and special summoned two Gouki monsters with different levels from the graveyard: Gouki Ringtrainer(1/0/0) [Zone 9] and Gouki Moonsault(6/1900/0) [Zone 8]. The latter of which used its effect to return Gouki Thunder Ogre to the extra deck and Gouki Headbatt to Donna's hand. "Now what should I do, X? The Giant, the Destroyer, or the Master!? I know the Master can stop her cards better. But.. he wont have much, if any, materials to sacrifice." Even though Donna could add more Goukis to her hand, there was no way to summon them to the field.. yet. "Send in the Giant. Power is on the menu!"

"Then that is I will cook up! The link materials are at least three Gouki monsters! I link summon Gouki the Giant Ogre!" There could only be one champion and that was the one who wore the golden belt. Gouki the Giant Ogre(3000/LINK 4) {Left/Downleft/Right/Downright} [Extra Zone 3] lived up to his title and name due to his gargantuan size. Spiked armor covered his shoulders and knees and face, while white fur and a dark cape wrapped around his back. "Giant Ogre cannot be touched by monsters with less attackpoints! Effects will bounce right off, and that includes those effects your painters get from the Canvas cards! He cannot be destroyed as a result of battle either!" It would take a miracle to bring this giant down to his knees. In the mean time its link materials TwistCobra and Suprex would keep Donna well supplied with their searching effects. "I add the Gouki cards Octostretch and Twist Cobra to my hand! And I set another card face-down! That is it for my turn!"

-TURN 08-

"I can see why they call you the dueltainers. You are very enjoyable to watch." Arcis Da Vinci drew her card. "Then what about you, Arcis? We know so little about you! Why do you want to win?" Donna still brimmed with excitement, while Arcis went through every action calmly. "I would have liked to say my reasons were as grand as yours. But unlike you and my partner, Crescent. I have not lost anyone in this new world of dueling. Nobody but myself. And even then it was superficial damage." She placed a finger on her cheek. "You know about Imperius?" Donna's mood shifted from joy to anxiousness. "Cryotic, Cherry Anise, Wagnerok, Skylander. I know about them all, I know of their sacrifice. But that is all I know, and that is why I am here. To help you.." She drew her card, while Crescent returned the three Painters Aurora [Zone 1], Sun [Zone 2] and Cloud [Zone 3] to her field. "To understand you. To know you. And the best way to do so, is to defeat you. And see how you react to that. Donna, your fight ends here."

"My next trick! I activate the Magical Dimension!" A quickplay spell instantly left her hand to create a magical coffin on the field. "I tribute one monster to special summon a spellcaster from my hand. And then one monster under your control is destroyed!" The Weather Painter Cloud disappeared into the coffin and a witch(7/2400/1000) [Zone 6] of darkness emerged. Dark was her hair, her full leg boots, her tight leather coat and hat. "Witchcrafter Haine, destroy the Giant Ogre!" The Magical Dimension left energy behind in its coffin, energy which Haine absorbed to channel a lethal spell into the heart of the Gouki link monster.

"Geh! What a dishonorable end for a champion!" Donna cursed. "We are sorry to destroy your greatest monster so unceremoniously. But we do not play into the spectacle." Crescent explained while her tagpartner revealed another spell card. "With Witchcrafter Holiday I can summon another Witchcrafter monster from my graveyard. That shall be Madame Verre!" The dark elemental received help from the light. The Crystal Madam(8/1000/2800) [Zone 7] returned to life and returned to attack position.

"There are still two spell cards in my hand! Two to feed the magic of the Madame! Witchcrafter Haine, use her power for your direct attack!" Madame Verre could use her effect on other spellcasters as well, even the dark witch Haine(4400/1000). Now boosted twice by the Crystal witchcrafter, her magical daggers would hit twice as hard. "Power can come and go, miss Da Vinci! And I can have yours by discarding Gouki Octostretch from my hand!" In actuality the effect of the Octopus wrestler made it so that all of Haine's inflicted damage would be halved, taking the sharpness away from her attacks.

"But ours is still in greater supply! Madame Verre attacks directly!"

Team Gigasmasher's LP: 7200

"And that is what we counted on. X, it is time to use your trap!" Donna would activate the trap card that The Meteor had set for her. "This is Dances with Beasts! Since you ordered an attack while your combined attackpower exceeds 8000, I can special summon one monster from my hand, deck and graveyard!" The sound of drums filled the caves and the ears of every duelist that watched. "I call out Gouki TwistCobra from my hand, Gouki Bearhug from my deck and Gouki the Giant Ogre from my graveyard!" She and her monsters would not just roll over. TwistCobra(4/1600/0) [Zone 7], Bearhug(6/2400/0) [Zone 9] and the Ogre Giant(3000 atk) [Zone 8] were ready to fight. The Bearhugger also halved the attackpoints of the strongest still active monster: Aurora(1100/2000). "TwistCobra will sacrifice Bearhug, to give its attackpoints to Giant Ogre! And the Giant Ogre can raise his own attackpoints by another 1000 points when its attack is altered!" Donna got to show off her champions abilities after all: giving him(6400 atk) two subsequent attackboosts.

"So you got your fun. However, Witchcrafter Haine can still destroy your monster by discarding a spell." Arcis said as she danced her fingers across the two spells in her hand. "You need to jog your memory, Da Vinci! I already told you that the Giant Ogre cant be affected by monsters weaker than it! You cant even negate that effect with your Madam witch!" Donna saw nothing to fear anymore. Even if Haine overpowered the Giant, the Ogre could negate any effect that targeted him by lowering his attackpoints.

"Then all we need to do, is not be weak." Arcis gave her partner a nod. "Yes. We need 5500 more attackpoints." Crescent nodded back and activated her trap: Snowman Effect. "I have 7100." The snowball trap took every monster on their fields and piled their original attackpoints into Madame Verre(7200/2800). "What? You had that trap all this time? Why didn't you use it on Donna's turn?" Giganoto cried out in exasperation. "Because I already calculated that it would not be able to save my monsters then. It was. and is.. more useful now." Indeed all manner of magic broke free. Verre discarded the spell card, Witchcrafter Collaboration, to cancel out the powers of the Giant Ogre(5600 atk). The dark witch Haine then discarded another random spell to send her deadly daggers straight into the chest of the giant and destroy it. "Two deaths in one turn." Donna muttered. Her glorious Gouki would never get to have its death in battle.

"Now, all that is left is your TwistCobra." Witchcrafter Madame Verre could not attack directly with her great power, but she could execute the green-skinned Gouki with an almighty blast of holy magic. The attack nearly took away all of Team Gigamasher's remaining lifepoints. "Ha! Your magic is impressive. But we will not go down so softly, Arcis! Crescent! Even if it means resorting to effect damage!" Donna flipped her final card: the quickplay spell Edge of the Ring. "One final push! Since our lifepoints are lower than yours, you will take damage equal to half of your monsters attackpoints!" Just as Verre clashed with the Twister, it pushed her back all the way to the cave walls, before collapsing and selfdestructing. "But.. that spell only does damage equal to half of the original attackpower. Verre got her attackpower from other original attackpoints, but that did not become her new original attackpower." Crescent pointed it out. The spell only cost them 500 lifepoints, rather than half of 7200.

Team Prismbow's LP: 3400 Team Gigasmasher's LP: 1600

"Heh. We knew. But would not let this duel end without a final showdown." Donna and Giganoto had played their last trick. "Then let's end this." The Painters of Aurora and Sun made the last attack, erasing the remainder of the wrestling team's lifepoints. Team Prismbow won.

Team Gigasmasher's LP: 0

"Guh.. Incredible. We've been bested!" Even in defeat, Giganoto could not contain himself. "I am sorry for that. I would tell you that you fought well, but I don't really know the best way to say it." Crescent felt sympathetic to her opponents, primarily Donna. "How many ways can I tell you not to worry about such things? You won, fair and square! The whole world knows it!" The Gouki duelist took it in stride though. "She is right. You have to learn to enjoy it, Crescent. That said, a proper victory line escapes me at the moment." Arcis smiled at her partner. They had done it together. "Well, I wish you luck with your next endeavor." Crescent said in the end, to which the two dueltainers nodded. "Right back at ya. You are holding our spirit and the spirit of Wagner and Imperius now, rhahahah!"

"They won! Does that mean that Donna and Giganoto arent spies?" Neo asked. "I dunno. I'm just glad Crescent got the win." Blanche shrugged. "As am I." Asterisk suddenly rose up from his seat. "Where are you going?" Void asked. "Well it would be rude of us to not congratulate them." He said as he started walking to the corner of the stage, where the winning duelists would come through.

"Hm?" But he stopped when several dozens of admins and a handful of CID avatars quickjumped into the safezone. "Ah! They're here!" Scura immediately cowered behind Void, thinking they had come for her. "No.. " But instead they marched towards Donna and Giganoto as soon as they left the crystolic cave. "What are you doing here?" Donna grunted. "We have some questions for GiganotoX. We would like for you to come with us to a secure sector." One of the admins explained. "If you have questions, you can ask them here!" X said defiantly. "And you can ask both of us!" Donna growled now. "We know you spent time with undesirables, so please cooperate."

"X!? Undesirables. What is he talking about?" Donna did not understand. "I dont know, Donna!" X stammered. "We mean..." One CID snatched Giganoto's deck away, and pulled out a golden card: The Legacy of Millennium. "This.."

(To Be Continued in Line 043: The Streamlined Life)

**New Cards used by GiganotoX The Meteor  
**Dinowrestler Pankratops

-  
Dinowrestler King T Wrexle

-  
Fossil Dig

-  
Dances with Beasts

**New Cards used Crescent Aurora  
**The Weather Painter - Rainbow

-  
The Weather Canvas - Rainy

-  
Revenge of the Normal

**New Cards used by Grand Donna the Monday Smasher  
**Gouki the Giant Ogre

-  
Arrivalrivals  
Edge of the Ring

-  
Back to the Front

**New Cards used by Arcis Da Vinci  
**Witchcrafter Haine

-  
Called by the Grave  
Magical Dimension


	43. The Streamlined Life

**Line 043: The Streamlined Life**

"The Legacy of Millennium?! Why do you have it?" They came to take Giganoto away. "What? I dont know anything about that! Donna! I don't know how that card got there, I swear!" They caught him with the golden Legacy of Millennium card in his deck. "Whatever is going on, I believe him! Void, this has to be a trick!" Her partner did not understand the severity of the problem. And this situation was not up to them or Void anyway.

"We have to take him regardless. We only have a few questions." The admins and CIDs braved Donna's fury. "But why? Is this is your way of repaying us for what we have " She would grab this person by her collar if the game allowed her. "Is everyone a suspect?" Void added. "No, we honor your efforts. But we would question everyone involved just to be sure." The admin sounded sympathetic yet unyielding. "I know Giganoto, he would never do anything against anyone. If you are taking him anywhere, I am going with him! And I will make sure everyone hears about this nonsense!" Donna could not leave it at that. "Donna.." Giganoto did not want her to do this, but he was not in any position to say no either. "If you must insist. As for you, Void, I would suggest you not to leave the network either, we may want to ask you about this matter as well" Those were their final words, before they teleported away with Giganoto in their custody and a livid Donna following them.

"Unbelievable." Arcis finally spoke up, as soon as the judges went back to doing their regular duties. "Do they think they can get away with this?" The tournament would continue as planned, the background behind the barrier already switched to a new location. In the wide open canyon of the clifflands the team of Zettai and Veyron would have their first duel. "It is... strange." Crescent felt sorry for Donna, but could not really express it. "Is this our fault?" The Weather duelist asked her partner. "No. They would have done it whether we won or lost. This is unrelated." A frustrated sounding Arcis turned to Asterisk first. "You know more than they do, isn't that right?" She turned to Void

"Yes, that card is.. problematic. But I cant say much more about it yet. For what it is worth, I do not think Giganoto is guilty." Void trusted in Donna's judgment. "Well, i hope you can help them with whatever this situation is." That was all she wanted to say. She left with Crescent shortly afterwards. "I hope so too."

The others saw it all. "Welp. Only a matter of time before they come for us." Scura shivered in her seat, feeling the eyes of hundreds upon her. "I dunno. If they want to make a move against us heroes, they will get a lot of flak for it." Blanche said. Though that did not stop the admins from leering at them. "Great. We cant go anywhere like this." Void still wanted to see mister Static. "Thenyou will be happy to hear that I have a solution. But it requires a distraction." Asterisk stated.

"Distraction eh? I am your guy!" Neo offered. He would have to duel sooner than the others anyway. "How?" A curious Blanche wondered. "I'll think of something!" The cyberduelist got up from his seat and simply walked up to the nearest admin to immediately barrage him with questions from his streamfollowers about rulings from past duels. "That works." The agent smirked and carefully pushed some buttons the disk. "I will be waiting here too, you three should go while you can." He sat down and placed the device at his side, causing a strange wave to glitch out the area around them. "What did you do?"

"Something V and I came up with: a visual program that disguises quickjumps by copying your avatars at the point of departure. You can go wherever you like, but to anyone else it will look like you are still here, if not a bit less animated than usual. Just do not expect Neo to keep it up forever." So far the cyber duelist maintained an even pace of mindnumbing inquiries. "Right. We wont let this go to waste.." Void typed in the coordinates. "Here we... go." The arena beyond awaited. Void did not expect to see anyone else there.

...

"Sundown Mephistar?" But there _was_ someone; the magical gunslinger. "How come you are always here when we show up? I'd expect that kind of weirdness from Midsummer before you..." Scura grumbled.

"Hmph. Do I need a reason to be here? If anything it feels like I am the only one who remembers this place." There was some truth to his spiteful words, given that Void had actually not been to the arena in two days. "We had things to do, in case you hadn't noticed." An even more irked Blanche replied. "Ah yes, the tournament. The one Asterisk called a trap. If you ask me... He's right." Sundown stated 'optimistically'. "Really? Then how come your name was in the top 32? That means you at least went as far as trying out the preliminaries. Except you lost, just like me." His aloof attitude did not fool Scura. She read the logs. "Hmpf.. I had no desire to win." He tried to insist, though he looked to the floor as he said it. "Your heart wasn't in it? Suuuure.."

Void cleared his throat. "We did not come here to argue. I didn't at least." He approached the musketeer. "Have you seen anything out of the ordinary here, Sundown?" His presence could be useful in the end. "Besides the new floor? Nothing. I even tossed a few insults at Hydra a couple of times. That bastard is not talking anymore either. But I bet he still hears everything." Sundown gave it all a shrug. Though ultimately, he could not pretend to lack interest in everything. "...And how have things gone on your end? I hear Crescent won her duel. I suppose I am glad for her at least... But you did not drop by for good news, did you?" He tipped his hat up and stared Void in the eye. "No. It is a bit more complicated than that." Sundown would get the full story in a minute, if he could reach Mister Static by then. "Is it? Well what could have you guys so spooked?"

"You should have asked 'why we looked like we had seen a ghost'. Because then I could have told you.. 'exactly that'." The white-haired girl grinned, much to his bewilderment. "What?"

"Cherry Anise. We saw her avatar last night." Void clarified. "Cherry? That girl? But didn't she.." Sundown saw the immediate problems with that story. "She did. But we saw her. And that is why we're here while we still have time." Mister Static would normally show up on his own terms, especially before a smaller number of duelists in his arena. "Static! We more questions and answers!" Yet Void figured he had a knack for drawing the beyond host out through sheer annoyance. A fact Static gladly reminded him of in the past.

A flash. He still had it. "Static..." The portal opened again, and the man graced the duelists with his scrambled face. "Mister Static." He seemed to be in a good mood, only playfully correcting Void. Actually, he sounded different alltogether. "...You have changed." Gone were the visual tears and jagged edges of his 'screen', and his voice looked less distorted. They still could not spot any revealing features on the man himself however. "Thanks to you, Void. And I am glad to see you haven't gotten tired of this routine yet. I almost missed talking to you little people." On the other hand, Static's laughter had only gotten worse. "Little?" Sundown only barely withstood the provocation. "Hehe.. Now, what do you want first.. questions or answers?" It inquired.

"Questions. What do you know about Cherry Anise?" And Void put a name to the mystery. "Cherry? What do you need me to tell you, that she was one of the first to fall? Are you still in a stage of denial about that?" His gave an unexpectedly innocuous answer. "If she was the first to fall. Then how come we saw her again last night? Are you even certain that she was destroyed to begin with?"

"What did you say?" For the first time since they met him, Mister Static sounded completely mystified. "He's not crazy. We all saw her." Blanche said, further adding to the mystery mans confusion. "Did you now? That is interesting to know. I never considered such a possibility" Static withdrew into his own thoughts for a brief period. "Then it is possible?" Void did not want him to leave before hearing him out. "I admit I embellished some of my abilities. I am not the almighty god you think I am or else I would not need you. I did not see how miss Anise fell. I only know she lost the game I invited her to, because I stopped sensing her. Her avatar disappeared from the network, and her online activity ceased as well. She could not have come back, she could only have been brought back." The distinction there mattered.

"Brought back... by others. Static, there is something else. Cherry seems to be connected to a group called Millennium. They somehow have no records inside the system and all use a strange new skill card: The Legacy of Millennium. They approached Scura as well. Do you know about these people? Do you know if Cherry was a member of them before you 'invited' her?" Void probed further. "Millennium." Static repeated and emphasized the word, as if it meant a great deal to him. "Never heard of them before." An subject he danced around. "Well, they promised someone they could keep him in the game forever. Is that another possibility you never considered?" Void pressed on. "Big promises from little people. Perhaps they aren't so little after all. I know what you want to hear; you're all smart enough."

"Is this the work of another Legacy item?" So Void gave the man a question he could not misconstrue.

"I believe so, yes." Finally, he told them something important. "You believe it? Just how much do you know about these things that you aren't telling us?" Sundown snarled as he joined Voids side out of anger and impatience. "I only know the danger they can pose to STHEREA. They can take any shape, any host, any power. There is nothing they cannot do within the network. Bonding the human mind to its avatar falls well within that realm."

"So.. does that mean that they wanted to give that kind of life to me as well?" Scura came to a sudden realization. "Do they think I'd go for that?" Ulysses had not mentioned that to her specifically. However his crazy ramblings could be interpreted that way. "It makes sense, actually. This bastard here recruited us because he knows we would fight for this place. Because we like it down here." Sundown shook his head, almost out of self-disgust.

"Dont over-estimate your own obsession, Mephistar. They went after her miss Chiaroscura001 because I made her a part of my circle. Since I can no longer detect Miss Anise, she can no longer enter my arena. They merely needed a new contact. If they do not have one already. Rest assured though that I detect no strange influence in any oe foyu, and none of you have been replaced either. Some of you are just prone to chaotic behavior. But I already considered the odds of my selection resulting in some unruly contestants with their own agenda. I like it, you alll add a whole new level of fun to my game: the unseen Hydra, the uncontrollable Nightmare, the creative Scarlet Fever, the ghost Cherry Anise.. and that is not even mentioning the most unique member in your group."

"Unique? What do you mean?" Void flinched. "You can figure that out on your own. I wonder if they already know. I do, now. So enjoy that new puzzle. I give it you free of charge." The portal began to break up. "Wait! What about your rules!?" Void yelled. "What now? Why _about_ my rules? I already loosened them so you could have your tournament. Which you saw for yourself." Annoyed, Mister Static stayed a little while longer. "That is just it, I understand that the Crown made his ADIs strong enough to destroy avatars. But how did you manage the same with us?" Facts like that had stayed unaddressed for far too long, Void felt. "Because I can. And that is all I will say about that. You already have enough games to play, don't make it even more confusing for yourselves." He said mockingly and the man in static finally disappeared.

"...I don't know why we keep calling him. All he does it string us along for his damn games." Sundown cursed.

"Because he knows more than all of you combined." Said the unseen duelist. "Hydra!?" Sundown yelled back. Right after his least favorite person disappeared, the runner-up started talking. "I regret giving myself a name, if all you people ever do with it is shout it at the skies."

"Oh hey you." Blanche looked in any random direction. "Here to apologize now?" The last time they 'heard' each other was when she and him were still dueling each other for the crown. "I have nothing to say sorry for. You and I could not have touched the Legacy crown, I kept you from hurting yourself." Hydra still sounded the same as ever. "Apology accepted." She did not let that bother her. "Hydra. Why are you here now? I mean, why talk to us now?" Void figured the invisible duelist had been watching them this entire time. "Because I can only stand ignorance for so long. There is a crisis developing and all you have been doing is squabble and fight."

"Don't lump me in with them!" Sundown snarled. "And fighting is kinda the point of a tournament!" Scura added emphatically. "Yet neither of you two are a part of it. What is your excuse for mincing words?" Hydra scoffed. "Oh yeah? What else have you seen?" Sundown dared him. "Plenty. I have seen Scarlet duel the kid with the Millennium skill and talk with the man from Exeter. I have seen Midsummer reject Hansens advances and disappear from the network, I have seen Void fall from the aether after leaving together with Scarlet. Even right now I can see Veyron and Zettai as they duel their enemies in the tournament." Hydra liked to show off it appeared.

"All of that huh. What about you? Did you even meet with that Hansen guy?" Scura asked out of annoyance. "He could not find 'Hydra', which is how I wanted it to be. It would be kind of hard to join an event with a form that has no face." The answer did not shock anyone. "But if you're still watching us, then did you see Cherry Anise too?" Presumably he could hear them too as long as they talked within the arena. "You want to know what happened to her. Exactly what you believed.. I witnessed her destruction. She dueled an ADI and rather poorly at that. That did not seem out of the ordinary to me at the time, as I did not know her well. But now I wonder if she perhaps meant to lose that duel."

"Selfdestruction? She did say she wanted to get away from Mister Static. I guess that worked." If Void were to believe Static, then suicidal-looking Cherry's plan worked. "But I have not seen her since." Hydra continued. "Not even when she dueled Asterisk just last night?" Void wondered. "I am still human, mister Void. Even in here I can only focus on one sector at a time. When Static revealed that more than one Legacy item existed, I began to search all of STHEREA for signs of their existence. But if they can take any shape of form, I cannot even know what to look for. So I am going to make you an offer, Void. Because you seem to have aligned yourself with special friends." There were those he could never see, people like Vigionair. "You found Cherry Anise somehow. Give me the tools that allowed you to find her, or someone like her. And I can follow them without being detected. I can lead you to the heart of this unknown organization. I may not be able to see with my own eyes, but I can see better than a machine ever could."

"We will have to discuss it with Asterisk." Void could not speak for them. "Then I will be waiting here for an answer. You should return regardless. I believe Neo is running out of material." A bit of petty amusement seemed to come through in his voice.

"Oh, you're watching the tournament too huh? Well, is that all you have to say? No good luck? No trying to guess who is going to win?" Scura knew fully well he would not care. That did not stop her from trying to needle at him. "I clearly won that debate." She concluded once it became clear that Hydra would not respond to her. "Right." Either way the invisible duelist had a point: they wasted too much time already. At least they got one thing out of it.

...

"Welcome back." Asterisk disengaged the copied avatars when the trio jumped back in: the visual distortion masking their entrance. "And welcome, Sundown." It would be a bit harder to justify the gunslingers appearance, but nobody seemed to question it. "Hey! Sundown, you're here! Where did you go up until now?!" Neo greeted them as well, and he had not seen Sundown in days. "Far away from here. Don't take it personal. The tournament scene and I don't mix. I only came down here to see how Zettai was doing."

"Oh. Oh yeah! man, you guys missed almost the whole duel!" The cyborg duelist yelled.. "Wait? How? We were only gone for like ten minutes at best!" Scura protested. "Yeah and the duel ended in half as much time. Veyron and Zettai absolutely destroyed their opponents. The second guy didn't even get to make an attack!" If they looked out unto the field they could see Veyron delivering the finishing blow with a Motorhome machine whose attackpower almost broke the ten-thousand barrier. "Veryon won? How about that? At least Zettai did not get in his way. Then again I should have known she would win." Sundown spat. "What's got you down sunny-side?" Blanche picked up on his obvious bitterness. "Didn't you figure it out? Zettai was the one who eliminated me."

"Zettai?" Void flinched. "Why would she do that?" As far as he knew, none of the 'pandemonium heroes' had picked a fight with each other in the preliminary round. Nobody besides her apparently. "Tch, she gave her reasons. But if you ask me, she was just spiteful about me not joining her group. Not that that should matter for her now that Scarlet has gone MIA. Whatever, I am out of here. Godspeed, Neo." Sundown did what he came here to do, he quickjumped away and never looked back.

"..That's right, I am next." After the break, he would duel with Bionis.. against Alpha's team. "See you later then guys!" The duelist rushed down to prepare himself for the duel. Already the dueling area warped to another sector, swapping out the great canyon for an enclosed forest. "Okay so...Did we miss anything else?" Void did not see Donna or Giganoto anywhere yet, nor his future opponents. "I am affraid your adventures were more notable than mine." Asterisk stated. "You could say that." Void reminded himself to tell the agent everything he needed to: from Static to Hydra.

"Interesting. And it might be worth a shot." Asterisk did not mull it over for long. "It is doable. I will check with V if he could save some of the skill card's data. I will let you know." He nodded twice and warped out of the area. "Okay then. What do you want to do now, boss?" Since it would be a while before Team White Void could duel, they had time to kill. "..I want to talk to Zettai." Plenty of time for Void to satisfy his new curiosity.

The duo would have to wait for their turn. Two duelists already chatted up with Zettai and Veyron by the time they reached their side of the ring. "How did you do it Veyron? How did you get those cards?" They were not there to be friendly from the sound of things. "Well I drew them. I am sure you know how it all works." Unlike before, Veyron now spoke with an air of superiority. Likely influenced due to his recent triumph. "Don't get clever with me, cheater! How many people bet on you to win? How much did you earn from this?" Given their anger and frustration, the other had to be the losing party: Kremlore and Pharaohslayer. "What does it matter to you? All I hear is the crying of infants." Zettai did not help the situation with her manners.

Neither did the various admins in the background. "Shouldn't you do something about this?" Blanche asked one, who just stood there like a statue. "This is not our concern." He said as an excuse. Granted, duelists could not physically hurt one another inside the this situation still sounded like it was about to escalate dangerously.

"What problem goes here?" That was when a golden carpet rolled out across the safezone floor. "Oh my god!" Both duelists immediately fell silent. "Acrates!" They stared transfixed at the duelist that walked in on that carpet, surrounded by flying trumpets heralding his arrival. "Who the hell is that?" A gargantuan man in full golden knight-like armor. Yet the shape of his helmet and shoulderplates made everyone think of football players as well. "That, Scura, is Acrates.. one of the worldwide dueling champions." Blanche made clear why this was a duelist to be awed by.

"I see. It is you, the disgraced Speed duelist!" Acrates took one look at the situation and laughed. "You still cannot escape the past, can you?! However to lay such accusations at a mans foot should not be done lightly!" He shifted his massive body towards the accusers. "The burden of proof lies with you! Do you have any?" The man appeared to have no indoor voice at all, ending every sentence with loud punctuation. "..No. We don't." One duelist sheepishly told the truth. The other was still too awestruck to talk back. "Then I suggest you two leave, before it becomes a serious discussion!"

"Yes sir!" Like obedient soldiers, Pharaohslayer and Kremlore teleported out of the area. "Well. If that will be all." After that Acrates lost all interest and turned away. He did not even acknowledge Voids group. "Wait! I want to thank you!" And Veyron stammered to get a word in. "There is no need! I only did my champions duty!" The knight of gold said as he filled the place with his laughter. "So you have always been around? Are other champions near us as well? I have always wanted to meet you." The speed duelist could barely restrain his admiration. "And now you have! You may see more of us in the future, the closer you get to the finals!"

"I also have wanted to meet you, champion." Zettai said in her own decisive way. "To crush you in a duel." Everyone else cowered in this mans presence, not her. "Do you?! Hahaha! I respect your gumption, young maiden! Do your best to live up to that promise!" It did not affect him in any way. He, his carpet and trumpets all vanished as happily as he entered, perhaps moreso.

"Oof. Are they all like that?" Scura groaned. "Of course they are! All duelists strive to be like them!" Veyron gasped at her. "Speak for yourself. It sounds like a hassle to me." The veiled girl was beginning to appreciate her nonexistent part in this tournament. "Why are you here? This is not yet your moment." That mood soured when Zettai opened her mouth again. "Because I wanted to ask you about your duel with Sundown. Out of everyone, why did you pick him?" Void did not enjoy her talk much either. "I see he told you, but I see he also didn't give you the full story. By the time we dueled, most of the choices on the top 32 were us 'heroes`. If we would have to fight each other, I wanted to be the one to do it. Or did you forget what I said? I want to test myself against all of you. I can handle the hatred."

"You.. " Void did not know what to say, he could not make sense of her at all. "Just by dueling we create our own enemies, Void. You already have yours." She nudged towards the scene behind the forcefield, where Alpha stood. "I defeat mine, you defeat yours. Only then can we become better people.."

(To Be Continued in Line 044: External Fatal Error)


	44. External Fatal Error

**Line 044: External Fatal Error**

"How's it hanging guys!" The next duel was at hand. "Uh... very good. You?" Neo stood opposite of Baron Schwarzwald, a blackhaired man wearing a black uniform and hat that made him look like a nobleman and a world war pilot at the same time. "Excellent! I've been waiting for my big debut all week!" His red eyes stared at the two opponents with unbridled joy. "Hmph. Another weirdo." Meanwhile Bionis Khan only got to stare at the flame-haired and scar-eyed man, Alpha the Conquerer. "Yo. The duel is over here! Look at me!" Despite his taunts, Bionis could not get a response out of him.

Their duel would take place within the closed forest sector, in front of the Gaia power tree. "I am. Now what?" Alpha finally directed his gaze at his opponents, allowing the match to start properly. "Very funny. Lets see how long you can keep that attitude up!" Bionis drew his cards, and the rest followed suit. Alas, the algorithms of the network did not and handed Bionis the last turn instead. "Rgh, typical."

Team Black and Red's LP: 16000

Team Technorganic's LP: 16000

-TURN 01-

"Ah, sweet! First turn! Neo, are you streaming this? Lets start with a fun question for your fans! Who has the biggest brain?!" The black baron dramatically summoned his first card as his cape billowed in the wind. "The Cosmo Brain, naturally!" The queen monster(7/1500/2450) [Zone 1] that appeared on the field wore a cape just like him, along with a red dress, green and gold shoulder armor and a large spiked helmet. "But Schwarzwald, how can you summon a spellcaster like her for no tributes at all?! Ah! But I did make one tribute, from my hand! Cosmo Brain takes a normal monster away, and raises her attackpoints with that monsters levels!" Schwarzwald discarded a level 7 dragon monster, which added seven times 200 attackpoints to the Cosmic queen(2900/2450). "Red-Eyes Black Dragon?" Neo saw it right, that discarded dragon monster would be the keystone to his entire deck. "Yes, that is why they call me Schwarzwald: the Black Baron! If the best Blue-Eyes duelist can call herself Blanche, I think the best Red Eyes duelists deserves this name for himself!"

"What does this guy think he is, my rival or something?" Back in the safe zone, the blue-eyed duelist did not have a clue what to make of Schwarzwald's words. The Baron had not been a network duelist until recently, so he could very well have styled his name after her. "Well at least you have a fan." Scura smirked. ""

"Hello Black Metal Dragon! Goodbye!" For a few seconds, a tiny and longtailed jetblack dragon(1/600/600) [Zone 2] joined the duel. Yet Schwarzwald only normal summoned it to tribute it. "Cosmo Brain can, or rather has, sacrificed one effect monster to summon one effectless monster from the deck! You dont get to guess which it is, since the answer is too easy!" Now a larger black dragon(7/2400/2000) [Zone 2] appeared, with sharp scales, crooked horns and burning red eyes. "Red-Eyes Black Dragon! That is the monster I need to play this spell! Inferno Fire Blast!" Everyone knew monsters could not attack on the first turn. And yet Red-Eyes did it anyway. "Argh!" Neo took a blast of bright hellflames from the dragons mouth, and lost 2400 of his lifepoints.

Team Technorganic's LP: 13600

"Heh. Inferno Fire Blast lets a Red-Eyes inflict damage equal to his attackpower. However he cant attack afterwards. But I am not attacking this turn anyway! Hahaha! Oh and I cant forget what my Black Metal Dragon does, when it bites the dust." The Baron drew a card from the middle of his deck: Red-Eyes Burn. "He lets me take one Red-Eyes card from my deck!" He placed the added card face down along with another trap.

"Red-Eyes and more Red-Eyes. You must really want to duel Blanche. But they will have to make it to round two first, and you will have to go through us!" Bionis shouted. "Hm? Is it your turn yet? Is it? No, of course not! Not without a bang! I XYZ-summon Red-Eyes Flare Meta Dragon!" The dark duelist called for a rank 7 dragon, and used Cosmo Brain and Red-Eyes Dark Dragon as the required XYZ-materials. Spiked metallic black armor with blue lines of power encased the dragon(R7/2800/2400) [Extra Zone 2] from head to tail and its wings turned as a red as its eyes. "Now its your turn, Neo! Hope your fans had fun so far!"

-TURN 02-

The cyborg duelist gained control of the field. "Don't worry, Khan. And don't worry guys, I will give him something to talk about!" He spoke to his stream followers as he activated his own spell card. "Well start with Cyber Emergency to add a Cyber Dragon to my hand!" The spell itself allowed Neo to add one of his cyber dragons to his hand. But.. it also allowed the Flare Metal Dragon to attack Neo. "Eeyah!" His hand got burned as soon as Cyber Emergency left the field. "Oh NO, did I forget to tell you that my XYZ-monster inficts 500 points of damage when you activate a card or effect? And that's permanent too. At least as long as my monster has XYZ-materials!" The owner of the dragon laughed.

Team Technorganic's LP: 13100

"I noticed that. I just didn't think it would be that hot." Neo felt the blast through his cybernetic casing. "But It will take more than a little damage to slow me down, right guys!? Here we go!" As he controlled no monsters yet, he could special summon the original Cyber Dragon(5/2100/1600) from his hand. And summon conditions did not activate, so the Red-Eyes did not release its flames this time. "Number one and number four! I summon Cyber Dragon Vier, who counts as another classic Cyber Dragon!" An unclassified effect that allowed this new sleek serpent of metal(4/1100/1600) to be treated as just 'Cyber Dragon', did not trigger the XYZ-Dragon either. Using a fusing spell on the other hand would. "Now, its time for a good old fashioned Power Bond! Both Cyber Dragons will fuse into Chimeratech Rampage Dragon!" A spell would still burn him, but Neo did not mind taking damage to create his doubly charged two-headed rampage machine(5/4200/1600) [Extra Zone 1].

Team Technorganic's LP: 12600

"The Rampage Dragon, as expected." Alpha spoke up. "Huh?" And activated a trap card, from his hand. "Of all the heroes of Pandemonium, you are the most predictable. I activate Infinite Impermanence, and negate your monsters effect!" A rare trap at that, one that negated the effect of Rampage Dragon before it could destroy the Barons own traps. "The same card Static used against me." Donna grimly recalled her own defeat because of this move. "The fundraiser king spent his earnings well." Arcis noted. Like all other handtraps, Infinite Impermanence did not come cheap.

"But you are a team! Your teampartner has cards on his field already!" Bionis protested the use of the card, which could normally only be played from the hand when a duelist controlled nothing. Plenty of Neo's followers complained as well. "And yet I was allowed to do it. Is that my fault, or the admins?" Alpha smirked. It seemed the new complicated rulings for tagteams favored his interpretation.

"Rgh! Well, my monster is still stronger at least! Chimeratech, blow his dragon up!" Neo started his attack. "Oh boy. You'll wish you hadn't said that! But no takebacks!" Immediately upon attack declaration, Baron Schwarzwald revealed the error of Neo's ways. "Trap card: Bye Bye Damage! All the damage you do to my monster is sent back to you, twice! Oh and my monster cannot die either!" While the cybernetic dragon did overpower the metallic dragon and inflicted 1400 points of battledamage, Neo suffered 2800 points in return. "Oh what?" The fusions flames came right back for him and Bionis and the XYZ-dragon came out with just superficial damage.

Team Black and Red's LP: 14600 Team Technorganic's LP: 9800

"Oh and by the way, I can also do this. My Flare Metal Dragon will use one XYZ-material to resurrect a normal "Red-Eyes" monster! Which, obviously, is gonna be my main guy! Red-Eyes Black Dragon." It went from bad to worse. Now the Black baron controlled two red-eyed dragons, the original [Zone 2] as well. And the bad news kept coming. "Neo, please tell me you have a way to stop Power Bonds other effect!" The user of Power Bond also had effect damage to look forward to, damage equal to the original attackpoints that the spell doubled. "Ehr.. sorry. No." Neo could set two cards down in his spell/trap zone, but he could not prevent that. "I.. end my turn." The time came, and Power Bond exploded in his face to drop his lifepoints by another 2100. "Why did you even do it then? Now we are already down to half!" Bionis cursed.

Team Technorganic's LP: 7700

-TURN 03-

"So these are the heroes of pandemonium. Hmph." Without a doubt, their efforts so far had only disappointed Alpha. "At least we were there!" Bionis refused to put up with that. "As was I, at the end. Because you led me there, remember? Of course by that time your avatar was already damaged. You could not even make it to the end. Then... and now." This was his moment, his time to reveal the fiery beasts from the cyberse kingdom. "I discard Salamangreat Falco to special summon Salamangreat Meer from my hand!" And his kingdom released its first animal: an orange-plated meerkat(2/800/600) [Zone 5] with jets of flame erupting from his back. To special summon this card, one had to discard a Salamangreat monster. "Salamangreat? Wonderful, another cyberse mess." Bionis felt like he was dueling Void all over again.

Like all Cyberse, the Salamangreat were 'great' at swarming the field. "I special summon Salamangreat Falco by returning a Salamangreat to my hand!" And that discarded card turned out to have two effects for its own death, of which one could be used each turn. Alpha picked the second, forcing Meer back to his hand and placing a burning-winged and black-metal falcon(4/1200/1600) [Zone 4] to the field. "And Meer a second time!" The fire meerkat revealed its second power as well. Whenever it entered a players hand outside of a draw phase, it could immediately put itself [Zone 3] back on the field. "And finally, I normal summon Salamangreat Wolvie." A ferocious darkred cyberse wolf(4/1700/1000) [Zone 2] rounded out the trio of Salamangreats.

"Link summon!" The trio of fire effect monsters which Alpha would turn into his ace monster. "Salamangreat Heatleo!" The ruler of the animal kingdom took in his cybernetic form stood proudly: a lion(2300/LINK 3) {DownLeft/Up/DownRight} [Extra Zone 1] upgraded with golden orange armor, jaw-like claws and curved blades on its arms and head that released jets of flames. "Heatleo is summoned, one of your spell or trap cards will be returned to your deck! Your left one!" The Lion created a ring of flames with his blades and hurled towards a trap.

"Oh so that's its effect? Well if you want left, you will get it!" Before the Salamangreat king took his trap away, Neo activated it. "Cybernetic Overflow! I can destroy one of your cards for each Cyber Dragon in my graveyard!" Unfortunately, Salamangreat Wolvie prevented the destruction of the monster that used it as a link material, for this turn. So, Neo could only pick two targets. "I destroy both Red-Eyes dragons!"

"Too slow!" In the same chain, the Baron used up Flare Metal Dragons second XYZ-material and special summoned the second Red-Eyes Black Dragon(7/2400/200) that rested in his graveyard. "Bah. At least we wont take hits from your xyz-monster anymore!" The overflow of cyber energy reached the other side of the field, wiping out two of the Barons monsters. "Okay then." In response, Baron Schwarz activated his last trap. "But Red-Eyes Burn will inflict 2800 points of damage now. Since you destroyed a Red-Eyes with oh.. 2800 attackpoints!" The ghost of Flare Metal Dragon rose from the sea of cyberflames, and burned right through Bionis and Neo at the same time. "Argh!" Both dropped to their knees. "Now razzle and dazzle them, Alpha!"

Team Technorganic's LP: 4900

"I do not dazzle, Baron. I destroy. I activate Salamangreat Sanctuary, and Reincarnation Link summon Salamangreat Heatleo!" The great tree of gaia split down the middle, as a volcano erupted inside of it. "Reincarnation?" The visual presence of the field spell, Neo and Bionis could comprehend. The transformation of Heatlio, not so much. A second more fiery Heatlio(2300/LINK 3) {DownLeft/Up/DownRight} [Extra Zone 1] appeared in place of the first. "I return your other trap to your deck!" This new Heatleo could use the same effects as its predecessor.. and more. "Salamangreat Heatleo targets Chimeratech Rampage Dragon! His attackpoints will become the same as Salamangreat Meer!" In its reincarnated form, Heatleo could pass the attackpower of his fallen servants to his enemies. Rampage Dragon(800/1600) fell from the top of the foodchain to the bottom.

"Void, did you know about this?" Blanche turned to the resident cyberse expert for an explanation of what just happened. "No. At least, I cant do it myself." The process seemed to involve link summoning a monster with just one link material, another monster with the same name as the first. And Salamangreat Sanctuary enabled this kind of summoning.

"Okay, this is not gonna be good guys." Neo prepared himself for the pain. "I attack the dragon and his master!" Alpha's opponent took two blows in a row; Heatleo destroyed the fusion machine and Red-Eyes Black Dragon served its fiery breath right underneath Neo's feet. "Gah!" He could not take this much longer.

Team Technorganic's LP: 1000

"How could the likes of you have ever stopped a network wide threat? This is a bad joke. Just admit it, you were hired to cover for a bigger scheme. The Crown was a lie, they haven't even released the name of this supposed danger to the public!" Alpha ended his turn on a face-down placement of his last card. "You really think that huh? Maybe I would too, but I was there for most of it. What the hell do you know?" Bionis Khan started to wonder if this was how people saw him when he started throwing conspiracies around like candy. "I know companies, I know Exeter. I know they like to lie. Your friend did not even stream his activities, when he normally shows us everything. Explain that." It felt like talking to a wall either way. "Like you would listen..."

"And what about you, what do you believe?" Bionis asked the Baron. Perhaps he would be more reasonable. "Big Shrug. I am only in this to have fun and play games. When I heard Madam Blanche got herself a cyberse partner, I had to get my own." The baron had no idea what made Alpha so mad, and had no interest in finding out. "Well that's just great."

-TURN 04-

"But Void and I have a duel to finish, so you're not getting in my way! It is my turn! I'll use Allure of Darkness!" Two cards entered Khan's hand and one dark monster left it: the darkness spell banished the dark monster Vendread Revenants to make sure Bionis could keep his draws. Though his current hand did not fully satisfy him, yet. "More.. I also activate the continuous spell, Vendread Nights! I discard a Vendread monster to draw a new card!" The ritual duelist discarded the ritual monster: Vendread Executor. Vendread Night, a continuous spell, stayed on the field afterwards. "Good. Now I can I activate Revendread Evolution! I will sacrifice two monsters in my deck to ritual summon Revendread Executor from my graveyard!" The grave would relinquish its prisoner. Vendread Battlelord (level 7) and and Vendread Anima (level) added their stars as they left the deck: eight stars for Revendread Executor the evolved slayer mutant(8/3000/0) [Zone 3].

"And look here! I can banish Revendread Anima from my graveyard, to resummon that other Vendread monster I banished!" The mummified and half ethereal dark angel disappeared from the graveyard completely, and breathed new life into the zombie horde Vendread Revenants(4/1800/0) [Zone 2]. "I activate Revendread Origin! I sacrifice Revendread Slayer in my hand, and Vendread Revenants.. to ritual summon Revendread Battlelord from the graveyard!" Bionis dipped down one level, as the levels of the two Vendread tributes more than sufficiently payed for the cost of the bone-armored demon Vendread Battlelord(7/2700/0) [Zone 2] "Since Battlelord used Revenants as a sacrifice, he can destroy one special summoned monster each turn. And if I banish a spell card from my graveyard, he can also negate the effects of your spells for the rest of the turn!" Khan quickly removed Allure of Darkness from the graveyard.

"That is still not good enough! I activate Salamangreat Circle before that effect resolves! Its secondary effect makes my Salamangreat monster immune to your monsters effects!" A ring of fire surrounded the cyberse lion king. No zombie matter would survive that kind of heat. "I wasn't talking to you! Baron, I destroy your dragon!" Instead, Bionis directed the Battlelord's destruction effect towards Red-Eyes Black Dragon. The last red-eyed beast fell, consumed by the ravenous undead mutations. "Gnarly.."

"It's gonna get even worse! With Preparation of Rites, I can take my ritual spell from the graveyard and get a ritual monster from my deck to boot!" Khans handsize crawled back up, as his previously final spell reclaimed the other spell Revendread Origin. And from his deck he managed to draw another Revendread Slayer. "I Ritual summon Revendread Slayer!" The ritual magic of origin banished the first Slayer from the graveyard, and surrendered its flesh and soul to the second Slayer(6/2400/0) [Zone 1]. "Destroy them all! Let the carnage begin!" Those that still lived would join the dead, because they were not immune to physical destruction. The Executioner grinded and minced Salamangreat Heatleo to a cybernetic pulp with its scorpion claw-wings.

Team Red and Black's LP: 13900

"Thanks to Vendread Nights, Vendread Executor can attack again when his first attack kills your monster! So have some gore on the house!" He pointed his gunfinger at the Baron and Alpha. "Executor, Battlelord, Slayer.. direct attack!" Each ritual monster delivered violent justice to the enemies, striking with claws, swords and pincers. "Yowza. Those monsters play rough." The Barons clothes were littered with digital tears. Avatars were not used to handling such large amounts of damage in one turn. "So you are at least competent duelists." Alpha could not deny that an attack like this would have defeated him in a one-on-one duel.

Team Red and Black's LP: 5800

"Alright! we are making our comeback guys! Way to go, Bionis!" Neo felt a rush of energy thanks to his second wind. "Tch. Now all we need to do is survive. I end my turn." Khan remained cautious. He did not have much of a choice with just 1000 lifepoints. Thankfully, they had depleted their opponents of most of their resources.

"...Oh you aren't going to like this. You really wont." The only thing that could wreck their chances, was a lucky draw. And the Baron pulled it off. "I activate Red-Eyes Insight! I send a Red-Eyes card to my graveyard to add another Red-Eyes card to my hand!" The baron discarded a Red-Eyes Wyvern from his deck and added a spell to his hand. "See this? This is Red-Eyes Fusion. Once I play it, I can fusion summon a monster that has a normal Red-Eyes as one its fusion materials. You don't have to believe how bad this is for you. I will show you!" The spell of Red-Eyes Fusion played out exactly as he described it: fusing the last Red-Eyes Black Dragon in the deck with a level 6 dragon monster: Meteor Dragon Red-Eyes Impact. "I fusion summon Meteor Black Comet Dragon!" The meteoric impactor caused the normally pure black dragon to become a devil with scales cracked like magma. Meteor Black Comet Dragon(8/3500/2000) [Extra Zone 2] burned brighter than the sun; with horns, wings and talons wrapped in solar flames.

"I dont know what that is supposed to do, but its outta here! Vendread Battlelord, destroy it!" Bionis did not take any chances. The effect of Vendread Revenants would kill the dragon before it could even attack.

"Still too slow!" Schwarzwald put on a nasty smirk. "!?" Schwarzwald did not need to attack to win. "When Meteor Black Comet Dragon is fusion summoned, I can send one Red-Eyes monster from my deck to the graveyard! Why? To do damage equal to half of that monsters attackpoints! And half of Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon, is 1400!" Too late, the effect of the Revenants came too late. The fused Red-Eyes had already transformed into a blazing meteor that came barreling down towards Neo and Bionis. "Are you kidding me!?" The ritual duelist cried out. "!? Ah that's no good at all!" Neo could only look away. The meteor with two red devils eyes slammed into the ground and wiped out the forest with a single wave of extinction. "Uwaaahhh!" Bionis and Neo were thrown clear across the battlefield, only saved by the safezone forcefields behind them. The match was over..

Team Technorganic's LP: 0

It happened so quickly that many could not even see how or when it al went wrong for Neo and Bionis. "They're good. But they havent beaten our record yet." Veyron, still intoxicated from his previous victory, did not feel threatened. "This is not about records. Their methods are undeniably effective. Yet something feels off." Zettai chided her partner. Though their team would not be facing the winners tomorrow anyway. "Because they used burning tactics? There is nothing foul about that." Arcis spoke up, as she admired their performance on some level. "Not because of that. Because it was all so easy for them.. They were always one step ahead " The ace duelist did not have any concrete reasons for feeling this way, she just did. So did Void and his group.

"I told you not to use Power Bond, Neo! And why didn't you use that trap earlier? You streaming this distracted you too much!" Understandably, Khan did not feel good about his loss. And he took it out on anyone he could. "I didn't think that would slow him down! And how was I supposed to know they could negate my monsters effect?" Neo fought back, though the damage he took robbed his voice of his strength.

"_Or_ you could have just talked to each other, maybe. Or am I wrong and was this not a tagteam match?" Baron Schwarz interrupted their little argument. As did his partner. "You two were ill prepared. There was no teamwork or cooperation to speak off. Everyone can see you only joined each other because others forced you to. You lost because you became the puppets of the company." Alpha turned his back on the two. "And you're different? Didn't you join that fundraiser for their benefit too?" Bionis snarled to no avail. "That money raised did not go to them. And everything I do, has a purpose. Had you won, I would have been forced to reveal it. But you failed, heroes. Perhaps tomorrow will be different." The Salamangreat duelist scoffed and walked away from the forest stage. "Bah! Hypocrit!"

"I already hate having to duel that baron guy. And we havent even won this round yet." Madam Blanche did not know if Schwarz was trying to flatter her with his act, but it did not work. "..." And Void remained fixated on Alpha, the opinionated duelist. Despite the barrier in between him and the duel, he could swear the man looked straight at him several times. "If I did not know any better, I would say this guy seems to have it out for the company." Blanche said out loud, unsure of what it meant. "Can you blame him? They've done all kinds of sketchy stuff. Also that Hansen guy is a creep." Scura still shuddered whenever she flashed back to her meeting with the CTO. Ï guess we will get a chance to ask him about it, if he knows more than we do... And if we make it to him." Just one tagteam match for the day remained. "Our turn."

(To Be Continued in Line 045: A Buried Corpse Cannot Discuss the Great Forest)

**Cards used by Baron Schwarzwald  
**Cosmo Brain  
Red-Eyes Black Dragon  
Black Metal Dragon  
Meteor Dragon Red-Eyes Impact  
Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon

-  
Red-Eyes Flare Metal Dragon  
Meteor Black Comet Dragon

-  
Inferno Fire Blast  
Red-Eyes Insight  
Red-Eyes Fusion

-  
Bye Bye Damage  
Red-Eyes Burn

**New Cards used by Neo  
**Cyber Dragon Vier

-  
Cyber Emergency

-  
Cybernetic Overflow

**Cards used by Alpha**  
Salamangreat Meer  
Salamangreat Falco  
Salamangreat Wolvie

-  
Salamangreat HeatLeo

-  
Salamangreat Sanctuary  
Salamangreat Circle

-  
Infinite Impermanence

**New Cards used by Bionis Khan**  
Revendread Anima

-  
Allure of Darkness  
Vendread Nights  
Preparation of Rites


	45. Buried Corpse Cannot Discuss the Forest

**Line 045: A Buried Corpse Cannot Discuss the Great Forest**

"Hello Asterisk." The man who could not be investigated met with the investigator. "Ah, Hydra. Here I was starting to think you had forgotten about our arrangement." Asterisk had to wait at the arena for quite some time before Hydra made himself known again. "I never forget. I was merely making sure that we were alone first." The invisible man claimed. "Fair enough. This area did use to be a lot smaller and easier to navigate." The agent simply chuckled.

"Did you bring what I asked?" Hydra grunted, wanting to get down to business. "But of course; my friend V still had plenty to work with. A firmware update to scan for illegitimate cards like the skill of Millennium or the World Legacy Crown. It is all in here. And I am most curious to see how you will receive it." Asterisk tapped the side of his dueldisk and waited some more. "If you were expecting me to transfer it in person, you will come out disappointed. I can download it without showing myself." Hydra proved as much when the data left Asterisk dueldisk in mere seconds. "Your friend does good work. But if I find out you added anything else.."

"We would not dream of it. Though he is dying to know how your 'cloak' functions. I suppose that's a story for another day." Asterisk took a step back. "I wish you luck with this new tool. We have not had much of it ourselves." Whenever they homed in on a possible signal, it disappeared in the middle of their quick-jump. "I wont need luck, I already have everything I want. Concentrate more on those that could be lurking inside the tournament, agent." The unseen duelist fell silent after that. "Delightful fellow." The agent sighed.

...

The scene of the tournament shifted once again, it would be the last location of the day. Where once a forest rested, now stood a great city with skyscrapers and towers. The duel would take place on its periphery, in front of a golden pavilion temple and next to the virtual sea. The Kyoutou waterfront they called it. "If Himiko requested this sector, all the cliches are gonna make me start wondering if she's even really from that country." Blanche and Void would face Yoro-Himiko and Zanbatou there. "So are you nervous?" One of the two had never dueled publicly before. "Slightly." Void felt his hands tremble, despite the fact that his avatar showed no such movement. The network could only visualize so much. "Eh, dont pay any attention to everyone who is watching us. I never do. There's got to be like what... thousands of them? Ten thousand?" She shrugged. If one could not even put a face to it, why bother?

"It is not them I am concerned with. It is our opposition.. a team that has always dueled as a team will always have an advantage." One way or another they would find out how well prepared they were. They could not go back now. Team White Void walked through the forcefield amidst cries and shouts of duelists he did not even know. He could not see Neo anymore, and Scura had did not stand out among the crowd. It was just him and her now, on the docks in front of the large cityscape modeled after the famous cities of japan.

"Welcome, Hero of the void and Mistress of the White Dragon. Can we begin?" Yoro-Himiko and her bodyguard stood on the opposite side, separated from the pair by the lake of water. "What? Did we skip the trashtalking stage?" Their dueldisks active, their cards in hand: Team Yoro-Himiko looked ready. "Words do no matter now, do they Zanbatou?" The zombie princess looked at her partner, who agreed with her statement without saying a word. "Oh I get it. Well, now is as good a time as any!" Blanche drew her cards as well. "Yes. Let's have a good duel, lady Himiko and sir Zanbatou." Now that he stood here, Void did not want to be anywhere else. "Duel!"

Team Yoro-Himiko's LP: 16000 Team White Void's LP: 16000 -TURN 01-

"Stay cautious, Zanbatou." The first turn fell on the silent warrior. "I will, milady." Zanbatou did little more than set up the first line of defense: two face-down trap cards and one face-down monster. He placed that monster [Zone 5] as close to Himiko's field as he could. "Ho? You sure you wanna leave it at that, Zanny?" Blanche took the turn after that. "Zanny? Please do not call him that." Himiko shook her head.

-TURN 02-

"Fair enough. But I gotta say, going defensive against my dragons? Not a good idea." Blanche started by sending dragons from her deck to the graveyard, with the Dragon Shrine Spell. "If my Dragon Shrine sends a normal dragon first, it can also send an effect dragon monster afterwards. I'll pick Blue-Eyes White Dragon, naturally. And Kabuki Dragon!" Her second discard took on a rather peculiar name. "Kabuki?" Void was not sure what that monster added to the rest of her deck. "I figured I might as well honor my opponents with a little culture." The blue-eyed girl laughed. "You are closer to offending me than anything, miss Blanche." The zombie princess hissed.

"Geez, no nicknames, no visual gags jokes... You're taking away my best stuff here." Blanche sighed and played another spell from her hand: Silvers Cry. "I intend to give you nothing at all." And the princess retaliated with a handtrap. "You want to special summon your Blue-Eyes. But when I activate Ghost Belle and the Haunted Mansion, you cant move anything out of the graveyard at all." A small ghostly girl with long white hair and a black gothic dress started haunting the field. Her presence distorted the Silver's Cry spell, blocking its revival effect. "Well that stunk. I guess you are as rich as you act." Blanche certainly did not know a lot of duelists who could afford the infamous ghost girl cards.

"Buuuut, I am glad you did that." The duelist continued and played another continuous spell: Pinpoint Landing. "Because now I can still do this... I activate Chaos Form!" The third spell opened a portal to a galactic chaos dimension, where a ritual would take place. "You would use a ritual summon?" Chaos Form took its sacrifices from the graveyard: banishing the original Blue-Eyes White Dragon. "I think I just did, yeah! I summon Blue-Eyes Chaos Max Dragon!" A powerful dark-elemental and enormous blue-eyes dragon(8/4000/0) [Zone 2] pierces the chaos portal with its brilliant white light. Countless of glowing plates, scales and blades covered its pristine body. "Anyway, since I special summoned a monster from my hand, I can draw one card with Pinpoint Landing! Oh and what's that? Chaos Max Dragon can inflict double piercing damage? Well how about that?"

"And it is awfully tempting to just burn through Zanbatou's set card. But I know a thing or two about you and your partner, Himiko." Blanche normal summoned a monster to her field as well; Assault Wyvern(4/1800/1000). "The first monster you set will have the higher defense!" And she activated her field spell: Luminous Spark. It created a blinding burst of light behind her back, nearly enveloping herself and her monsters. The light empowered all monsters of the same element like the Wyvern(2300/500) by 500 attackpoints, though it drained their defensepoints by 400. "My deck is a little oldfashioned maybe. But now lets see what yours is like!" Now strengthened, Assault Wyvern made quick work of Zanbatou's defensive monster: a ninja samurai(2/200/1800) [Zone 2] in purple garb and red-glowing armor. "A Six Samurai? I am shocked, shocked I say!"

"It is the Secret Six Samurai - Fuma." Zanbatou said, while clearing his throat. "And Fuma summons the Secret Six Samurai Kizaru." The effect of the samurai of the wind forced another Six Samurai out of hiding, allowing Zanbatou to special summon the samurai of the earth: Kizaru(4/1900/1000) [Zone 5]. "And Kizaru adds the Secret Six Samurai Hatsume to the hand." The next effect, belonging to the darkhaired dark-clad samurai trainer, searched the deck for any type of Six Samurai whose attribute differed from Six Samurai currently on the field.

"More of a show than tell kind of guy huh." Blanche's attack would not hurt as much now, as Kizaru showed up in attack position rather than defense position. "But ah.. I came prepared. Assault Wyvern special summons one of my dragons when he gets a kill! And I am bringing back Kabuki Dragon!" With the destruction of Fuma also came the selfsacrifice of the Assaulter, replacing himself with the white-haired red dragon(6/2800/1700) [Zone 2]. "Now when my monster attacks another guy, Kabuki Dragon can switch its targets position! Soooo... Blue-Eyes Chaos Max Dragon, you know who to kill!" The attack came from two sides, physically and magically. While the ritual dragon fired lasers of chaos energy from every part of his body, Kabuki Dragon spread its painted neckfrills and glared right into the eyes of Kizaru. The mesmerized samurai fell back in defense mode, just in time to take a barrage of lasers.

Team Yoro-Himiko's LP: 10000

"Kabuki Dragon, direct attack!" After those 6000 points of piercing, Kabuki added a smaller but still lasting impact with its breath of black and white flames. "Well, now I am spent. But if this'd been a normal duel, I would have won already. Me thinks you werent careful enough, Zanbatou. That must be why you always duel as a team!"

Team Yoro-Himiko's LP: 7200 -TURN 03-

"You assume an awful lot, mistress of the white. But how much do, and can you, know about us?" At the start of the next turn, Himiko's hand emerged from her long sleeve and drew her new card. "Oh? Do I get to guess? Shouldn't be too hard to figure out. Your big pal is a bodyguard, you admitted that. And he has to always keep an eye on you, even when you're in a virtual game-world. So you're probably from a rich family. That also fits with how you threatened you-know-who at you-know-where. But seeing as how he said your family wouldnt want to hear about that whole ADI mess, maybe they dont approve of you coming down here? I picture you as someone who wants to win the tournament so you can prove to your dad, or mom, that you can be on your own after all... So, did I get close?" Blanche looked at Himiko with curious eyes. "I did not say I would verify your admittedly entertaining stories." Himiko dashed her hopes with a flat dismissal. "Heh. I was close wasn't it?"

"You have had your fun. Now you and your fables and your dragons will have a taste of my world. I shall activate the spell of Mayakashi Return, and send one of my Mayakashi monsters from the deck to their grave." An eerie mist emerged from the waters, and traveled across the field. The moans of the undead accompanied the spell that chose to send Dakki the Graceful Mayakashi to the graveyard. "And now I summon Hajun, the Winged Mayakashi." A dark spiritual priest(1/600/400) [Zone 9] with feathered robes rose from the fog, holding a prayer staff in one hand and a shell horn in the other. "When Hajun is summoned, a Mayakashi can be called from my deck. I choose the Wheeled Mayakashi, Shafu." Hajun blew his horn and waved his staff around, performing a ceremony of his own to summon the spirit of the rickshaw driver(3/1200/400) [Zone 7]. "And when Shafu appears, one Mayakashi is reborn. He summons the Graceful one, Dakki!" Shafu opened his carriage and revealed the resurrected Mayakashi, Dakki the nine-tailed consort(2/1000/0) [Zone 8]

"Here we go." Void winced. He'd seen this combo in action before. But this time it would be used against him. "Yes, so it goes. Two Mayakashi shall become one, as Yuki-Onna!" Dakki and Shafu vanished into the obscured field, which started to feel rather cold. Ice covered the entire lake behind the Kyotou docks because of the link summoned Snow Mayakashi Yuki-Onna(1900/LINK 2) {Downleft/Downright} [Extra Zone 3].

"And whenever a Mayakashi is summoned from your extra deck, the Graceful Dakki will be re-summoned." Void said with trepidation. That part allowed the princess to start her endless loop. "Do not tell me what I already know, Void...I synchro summon Oboro Guruma the Wheeled Mayakashi!" Once Dakki [Zone 8] came back from the graveyard, it could be tuned with Hajun. Their three stars left a trail of flames. "?" The icy mist parted as a living and demon-faced ox-cart(3/800/2100) [Zone 8] rushed through on flaming wheels and linked with Yuki-Onna. "This is only the beginning." Just like with the link Mayakashi, the synchro summoned Oboro Guruma awoke Dakki from her grave once more.

"Tsuchigumo, the Poisonous Mayakashi!" So her turn proceeded. Each time the lesser Graceful Mayakashi [Zone 2] came back, it used the current synchro monster as the non-tuner to synchro summon a monster two stars above the previous level. Dakki and Oboro Guruma became the spider Tsuchigumo(5/2000/1800) [Zone 8]. "Tengu, the Winged Mayakashi, Yoko, the Graceful Mayakashi!" Dakki used its third rebirth to join with Tsuchigumo and create the wind-elemental Tengu(7/2600/1500) [Zone 8]. Tengu and the fourth incarnation of Dakki transformed into Dakki's fiery male counterpart Yoko(9/2900/2400) [Zone 8]. Finally, both Graceful Mayakashi spirits reached the end of the Mayakashi cycle. "Gashadokuro, the Skeletal Mayakashi!" The great skeleton Gashadokuro(11/3300/2900) [Zone 8] crawled out of the ground and roared breathlessly at the dragons in front of him. Meanwhile the final reincarnation of Dakki [Zone 1] chose to special summon herself in defense position. "Whoa.." Those that had never seen the full Mayakashi loop before were in awe.

"Blanche, Void.. There are now seven Mayakashi monsters in my graveyard. I shall stir their restless souls.. with my spell, Mayakashi Winter!" With the continuous spell now blessing her powers further, Yuki-Onna could spread her ice from the lake all the way to the opponents side of the field. "Brrrr... What's going on here?" The frost affected both Kabuki Dragon(2100/1400) and Blue-Eyes Chaos Max Dragon(3300/0), causing their bodies to become stiff and pale. "Mayakashi Winter drains all monsters attack and defense points by 100 for each dead Mayakashi monster. Which now makes us equals, Madam Blanche. But only while they live." She entered the battle phase, and ordered Gashadokuro to attack. "Death is another story." Even if her synchro monster could only achieve mutual destruction against Chaos Max, its death would cause Yoko the Graceful Mayakashi to be reborn.

"Well, that makes it easy for me then to decide who goes under and who doesn't.. Kabuki Dragon activates his effect again! When my monster is attacked, he can switch it to defense position!" The Kabuki monster took another dramatic pose, and made the Chaotic ritual dragon lower its head. "Oho?" Gashadokuro sliced through its negligible defense in seconds flat and destroyed Blue-Eyes.

"An interesting sacrifice. I did not think you would see it through, mistress of white." At this point she could not keep attacking anymore. Her resurrection cycle had been thwarted and Yuki-Onna was too weak to overpower Kabuki Dragon. "You will have to forgive me for seeing you as a fool at times. Your act is quite convincing." Her focus instead returned to her spell. "I sacrifice Mayakashi Winter and one other Mayakashi, Dakki, to draw one card." All winter in a day: the layer of ice cracked and fluttered into the sky like cherry blossom petals. Dakki left for the other world as well. "...I set one card and end my turn." Her eyes turned towards the duelist in front of her. "Your move, Hero of the Void. Do not disappoint us."

-TURN 04-

"I did not come all this way to fail now." Void told her and himself at the same time. That was about the extent of his speech. "Since I control no monsters, I can special summon Linkslayer from my hand!" Dueling came easier after all. "And since he special summoned a monster from his hand, he can use Pinpoint Landing to draw a card!" Especially with a partner like Blanche. "Can you now?" The rules of tag matches also allowed players to each their teammate's spell cards as they were their own, as long as it did not contradict other effects on their field "Yep. We prepared that move for this exact occasion!" A lot of Cyberse like Linkslayer(5/2000/600) [Zone 8] tended to have special summon effects. So too did the monster that Void drew.

"Backlinker! This monster can be special summoned since we do not have any monsters in the extra zone, but you do!" The presence of Yuki-Onna drew out the cybernetic dishtail lizard(3/1600/0) [Zone 9]. Pinpoint Landing only activated once a turn. But if Void wanted to, he could make the Ice Mayakashi flee back into the extra deck with Backlinker's effect.

"Unfortunately, I will have to shatter the fruit of your labor here and now.. hero of the Void. I activate Mayakashi Metamorphosis! This trap discards one card from my hand to resurrect a Mayakashi monster!" If her enemies would not bring them back to life, she would do it herself. The zombie princess discarded a Necroworld Banshee to target one of her dead synchro monsters: the Graceful Mayakashi [Zone 1]. "Yoko is special summoned! Its revival means your monsters death!" The nine-tailed fox warrior looked at the Linkslayer and created a five-starred blast of fire in the palm of his hands. "Burn, destroyer of spells!" Yoko's flames reduced the lynx to ashes, and then to nothing.

"Linkslayer?! Why him?" Void had not even considered using its destruction effect. There were too many unknown traps to choose from before. "I activate Necroworld Banshee from the graveyard! By banishing the spirit of the dead lands, I can set Zombie World on the field and change all monsters to zombies.. living or dead!" Yet now he saw a good and terrifying choice. "Ugh!?" Despite the hindrance of death, the piercing cries of ta colorless ghost maiden reached his ears and that of the audience just fine. The Banshee's wails announced the activation of Himiko's necrotizing field spell: Zombie World. From the moment it infected the waterfront, everything withered. The cyberse Backlinker and the draconic Kabuki Dragon turned into zombie-type monsters, as did every monster that slept inside the graveyard.

"Uh.. How bad is this for you, Boss?" Blanche could hardly imagine. "'Bad' doesn't quite describe it." Half of his link monsters demanded cyberse monsters as materials: powerful cards like Encode Talker or critical starting points like Link Disciple. "That was a clever move. But.. you haven't disconnected me from the extra deck completely, Himiko! I activate my spell, One-Time Passcode to summon a security token!" He could always make more link materials, like the security drone(4/2000/2000) [Zone 10]. Though it too zombified on the spot. "My next monster only needs two monsters as link materials: I will use the token and Backlinker to link summon Lanphorhynchus!" This link summon resulted in an angular-faced and longtailed cyber-pterosaur(1200/LINK 2) {DownLeft/Downright} [Extra Zone 4].

"That is it?" Alpha said with scorn as he observed the match. "If he is brought down to this level, he will not even make it passed the first round." He and everyone else in the audience could see that Lanphorhynchus possessed no effects or special qualities. "Actually there are ways he could make it useful." Baron Schwarzwald disagreed. "Hmph. We will see if they are as smart as you keep saying they are." The Salamangreat duelist scoffed.

As it turned out, Void indeed had one idea. He did not summon Lanphorhynchus out of necessity but to implement a multi-step plan. Step two took the form of a normal summoned hardhat-wearing ferret(4/300/100) [Zone 8] "Himiko, this is Rescue Ferret! When I tribute him, I can summon monsters to zones my link monsters point too! But their combined levels may not go over six and their effects will be negated! The two monsters I will summon are.." Void looked through his deck. He could not be rash with his choices; monsters like Stack Reviver would not function well in this zombified world. "Cyberse Gadget and Swap Cleric!" He settled for the living gadget-droid(4/1400/300) [Zone 10] and a cyberse cleric(2/500/1000) [Zone 8]. The latter looked like a purple robed mechanical priest with a spherical legless body, metal mustache and red goggle eyes.

"This monster also only needs its link materials to be effect monsters! So I can use my partners monster!" Now the link circuit spanned two fields, taking Kabuki Dragon and Cyberse Gadget as the link materials. "I summon Underclock Taker!" The cone and dish droid(1000/LINK 2) {Left/Down} [Zone 10] spun around in the left-linked zone of Lanphorhynchus. "Underclock Taker can reduce one monsters attackpoints with the attackpoints of a monster he points at! Which means I will have to put one down next to him!"

"And while a lot of my Code Talkers need cyberse monsters as materials, this one just asks for three monsters total!" Because Cyberse Gadget had been turned into a link material, it could leave a gadget-token(1/0/0) [Zone 6] behind. Void extended his arm and clenched his hand to remove the token along with Lanphorhynchus and Swap Cleric. "I summon Powercode Talker!" Through the grid of flames the crimson knight(2300/LINK 3) {Left/Downleft/Right} [Zone 9] descended and co-linked itself with the Underclocker. Golden rims and green orb crystals outlined its red armorm, while a golden disc framed its helmet. "Powercode. That one is new." Himiko did not have any data on this card, at least not from Voids previous duels. "I am not often forced to use it, Himiko."

"When Swap Cleric is used as a link material, the link monster is created will lose 500 attackpoints. However, I can also then draw a new card." His code knight(1800 atk)'s power dropped slightly, while Void added a trap to his hand. "But Powercode can raise his own attackpoints again, to double his original value, by sacrificing a monster he points at! And that is not all!" He dramatically pointed his finger at Yuki-Onna. "My Code Talker can negate one cards effects for a whole turn!" Both his link monsters unleashed their effects upon the icy ghost maiden. Underclock Taker subtracted the current attackpower of Powercode from Yuki-Onna(100 atk) and Powercode himself shut down her ability to avoid attacks while she pointed towards Synchro monsters. "You are getting the hang of showmanship, Boss." His partner grinned. "Thank you, Blanche. But the best part has yet to come! Underclock Taker, attack the Ice Mayakashi!" An electric current ran from the Underclocker towards Yuki-Onna, and destroyed her icy body in an explosion of diamond dust. At last the cool air dissipated.

Team Yoro-Himiko's LP: 6300

"Himiko! Since you special summoned Yoko to your field already, there wont be anything to revive when I destroy your other synchro! Powercode Talker, take Underclock Taker as a tribute and destroy the Skeletal Mayakashi!" Rather than swords or shields, the Code warrior of fire used two launchable claws on its gauntlets as weapons. One pincer claw it fired at his co-linked partner, destroying Underclock Taker for a powerboost. The second claw snapped along the ribcage of Gashadokuro, and pulled Powercode Talker(4600 atk) forward like a slingshot. "!" Powercode blazed through the air and sliced clean through Himiko's strongest Mayakashi as if it were made of paper. To add further insult to injury, Voids monster posed right in front of her while Gashadokuro exploded in the background. "I set two cards face-down on the field! That was my turn. What did you think of that?" Void smirked. "I dunno about her. But I liked it." Blanche was glad they only had one more monster to deal with now.

Team Yoro-Himiko's LP: 5000

"You should not be asking me what I thought about it, duelists of the void. It is not my turn." Himiko gave her partner a deadly glare. "You were right about about a few things though, about my mother and father. They may be watching us right now in fact, as they know a lot more about STHEREA than you'd think. Yet they were not the ones to introduce me to dueling. Their bodyguard was... He may be my defender in life, but in a duel he is my _executioner_. It will all be over.. once dear Zanbatou takes his turn.

(To Be Continued in Line 046: Different Elements for Different Folks)

**New Cards used by Madam Blanche  
**Blue-Eyes Chaos Max Dragon  
Kabuki Dragon

-  
Chaos Form  
Pinpoint Landing

**New Cards used by Void  
**Rescue Ferret  
Swap Cleric

-  
Lanphorhynchus  
Powercode Talker

**New Cards used by Zanbatou  
**Secret Six Samurai - Fuma  
Secret Six Samurai - Kizaru

**New Cards used by Yoro-Himiko  
**Ghost Belle & Haunted Mansion  
Hajun the Winged Mayakashi  
Necroworld Banshee

-  
Oboro Guruma the Wheeled Mayakashi

-  
Mayakashi Winter  
Zombie World

-  
Mayakashi Metamorphosis


	46. Different Elements for Different Folks

**Line 046: Different Elements, Different Folks**

"Oh. Its you again." With Asterisk gone, Scura had no one to sit with her as she watched White Void's duel from the safe zone. "Sorry, I was.." Until Neo came crawling back halfway during the duel. "Wallowing in despair? I know the feeling." She'd not seen him since his loss to Team Red and Black. "No. Not that. I mean.. A little. A lot. A lotta lot. I am not used to losing. Half of my fans are kinda upset too, and Bionis wont even talk to me." The cyborg duelist finally admitted how bad things were.

"Eh. Once you start accepting how easy it is to lose, you wont hurt as much." The hooded girl chuckled bitterly. "Well yeah, everyone loses some time!" He said, to convince himself as much as he wanted to convince her. "Meh. I don't mind, honest. I like to watch more than play." She nudged towards the duel in front of them. "Well I guess my fans can be his fans too." Neo did not normally stream other duels, but Blanche did save his life.

"I am kinda jealous of them. Well besides what I am usually jealous off." Scura confessed out of nowhere. "Huh? How come?" Neo blinked. "Because he still has confidence." She shook her head. "I guess he just doesn't think as much..."

...

Team Yoro-Himiko's LP: 16000 Team Yoro-Himiko's LP: 5000 -TURN 05-

Zanbatou's turn began. "I activate Gateway of the Six and Six Samurai United." Two new spells appeared. The Gateway would gain Bushido Counters for each summoned Six Samurai. United created just one for each summon. "I normal summon the Legendary Six Samurai Kageki. And special summon the Secret Six Samurai - Hatsume!" And the effect of his four-armed thunder sword wielding samurai(4/200/2000) [Zone 5] allowed Zanbatou to special summon a Six Samurai from his hand. By the time the female ninja samurai of the water, the redhaired Hatsume(3/1600/1500) [Zone 4] showed up, Zanbatou had procured six Bushido counters in total. In addition to that, Kageki(1700/2000) gained 1500 attackpoints as long as another Six Samurai stood besides him. Their bodies looked decayed due to the field spell of Zombie World,but that would hardly slow them down.

"If he removes four Bushido counters from the field, then that Gateway spell can add one more Six Samurai to his hand." Void told Blanche. Zanbatou tended to skip over explanations in favor of direct action. "I guess this will hurt then." His partner muttered.

Because the effect of the Gateway could be used as many times a turn as one desired. "I add the legendary Secret of the Six Samurai to my hand. And I shall draw two cards!" Fortunately, the samurai duelist removed one of his counter suppliers early on. Tributing a Six Samurai United with two attached Bushido Counters initiated a double draw from the deck. He gained two spells, one of which he activated on the spot. "Asceticism of the Six Samurai! With this card I special summon The Secret Six Samurai Dobi." The spell of the ascetic samurai chose one samurai on the field and called out an equally strong samurai from the deck. Though it would be destroyed during the endphase. In the shadow of the thunder samurai Kageki, the dark sniper samurai Doji(4/1700/1200) [Zone 3] emerged.

And when one of the Six samurai summoned him or herself, the Legendary Secret could follow. "I special summon Legendary Secret of the Six Samurai from my hand!" A suit of red bushido armor crawled up from the misty soil, alive and dead at the same time. The Legendary Secret(4/500/2000) [Zone 2] was nothing more than armor possessed by ghostly flames. "Doji sends a Six Samurai to my graveyard, Secret Six Samurai Genba!" The samurai of darkness used its own effect whenever a new samurai appeared on the field, and sent a fellow samurai, Genba of the Flames, from the deck to the graveyard.

Next, Zanbatou reactivated the Gateway of Six and removed all of its Bushido Counters. "I add the Legendary Six Samurai! Kizan! And I special summon it!" The darkly-armored swordsman of the earth: Kizan(4/1800/500) [Zone 1] could be special summoned to any field that already had Samurai waiting for it. "Five in one turn? Are you done now?" Blanche tempted fate, now that all of his monster zones were filled. "Of course not." Himiko laughed, as Zanbatou revealed that he could do more with the Samurai than simply summoning them.

"I fusion summon the Secret Six Samurai Rihan!" He did not need a fusing spell. Simply having three elements of the Six Samurai sufficed. The earthen Kizan fused with the light-type Kageki and the dark-type Legendary Secret: creating the long brownhaired and masked samurai warrior in glowing green armor: Rihan(5/2900/2000) [Extra Zone 2]. With it being a light-type monster, it also gained an attackboost from Blanche's Luminous Spark field spell. "That cleared up some room, wouldn't you agree?" Himiko chortled while her relentless partner removed the newly added Bushido counters from the Gateway spell and claimed the Grandmaster of the Six Samurai from his deck.

"Let me guess.." Blanche groaned. The grey-haired eye-patch wearing Grandmaster(5/2100/800) [Zone 1] could be special summoned while its owner controlled other Six Samurai. "I special summon the Grandmaster, yes. My moves may be predictable, but they are what the lady desires. And what she desires next is me special summoning Kizaru from the graveyard!" Hatsume took the next part in the grand masterplan. Her effect involved three dead Samurai: two (Genba, Kizan) to banish from their graves and a lucky third to revive. Kizaru the earthen ninja samurai(4/1900/1000) [Zone 4] got his second chance on the battlefield. "Remember what it does?" Himiko teased as Kizaru's effect searched the deck for a Samurai with a different element from all samurai on the field. The only element Zanbatou missed so far was fire, so he claimed another fiery assassin Secret Six Samurai Genba from his deck.

"Now, we shall strike! The Secret Six Samurai Rihan banishes one Six Samurai from my hand, to banish your card from the field: your Powercode Talker!" Just one monster stood between team White Void and complete obliteration: Voids code talker of power(2300/LINK 3). Rihan took the flames of Genba to smother the flames of Powercode with a flash of green light. "You will have to catch him first! I activate Recoded Alive!" If they wanted to banish his monster, he would do it for them. "This trap banishes a link 3 monster to summon another Code Talker! Excode Talker!" Instead of a red knight, Void controlled the green knight(2300/LINK 3) {Left/Up/Right} [Extra Zone 4]. "It appears I missed, my lady. I should have gone after his traps." Zanbatou apologized. "Do not blame yourself, Zanbatou. These are the same moves that helped me defeat the Crown." Void explained with a smile.

"Then all I have left is brute force. I return another Samurai to my field!" The samurai duelist unveiled the first of two traps: Return of the Six Samurai. As its name implied, it could special summon one Samurai from the graveyard and he chose the wind-swordsman Kageki(1700/2000) [Zone 5]. "And I empower Rihan!" The Gateway of the Six could use another effect: trading two Bushido counters for 500 attackpoints. Zanbatou exchanged all six of them to boost his fused Samurai(4400/2000) three times. "My lady, shall I?"

"Destroy them."

So she commanded, so he acted. "Battle! Yoko the Graceful Mayakashi attacks and destroys Excode Talker!" There was no doubt that his samurai's blade could finish off Excode Talker now. But Zanbatou wanted to start the battle phase with Himiko's synchro monster: Yoko(2900/2400) [Zone 3]. The nine-tailed warrior gathered spirit energy in his hands and hurled the energy ball towards the enemy. "I am sorry, but you are only halfright." Void flipped his second trap card. "I activate Parallel Port Armor! Oof.." Yoko's spiritual blast struck the knight square in its armored chest: its extra-armored chest. "That card?" Himiko recognized the trap from the duel between Imperius and Hydra. "Yes. Now my link monster cannot be destroyed by attacks or targeted by card effects!" The armor ports connected with Excode to nullify all damage from Yoko. Void on the other hand still lost lifepoints with each blow.

Team White Void's LP: 15400

"Are you mocking us now, hero of the Void? Zanbatou, keep attacking!" Once again the bodyguard obeyed to make use of that weakness. Rihan swung his blade against the indestructible cyberse, and caused Void to take more overflowing damage. Fortunately for Void, the rest of Zanbatou's monsters could not face Excode in a straight up fight. "You're getting cocky Void. I like it." Blanche noted that Void seemed to be enjoying himself more than usual. "This is my element I suppose." For once he could forget about the rest of the world. Only this duel mattered, and soon it would be their turn again to lash out.

Team White Void's LP: 13300

"Zanbatou. It is time. My time." Himiko's voice turned cold, colder than Void thought possible. "Yes, my lady." Zanbatou apparently knew exactly what she meant. He played his final spell card: Secret Skills of the Six Samurai. "I remove Kizaru for Genba!" With it, a duelist could sacrifice a Samurai and unbanish another. The earth-type Kizaru retreated and gave his zone over to the firecracker throwing ninja samurai Genba(2/500/2100) [Zone 3]. "Genba of the flames, Hatsume of the water, Kageki of the wind, Doji of the darkness, Grandmaster of the earth and Rihan of the light: I control one Six Samurai of each element! Under these conditions, I can activate this card: The Six Shinobi!" Six joined as one, casting their symbol across the sky. "My enemy's turn is skipped!" Zanbatou declared before the end of his turn. At this point Rihan(2900/2000) lost its attackboosts and Doji would have been destroyed. But Zanbatou could banish a Secret Samurai (Fuma) from the graveyard to negate Doji's destruction.

"Skipped? Uhm.. what?" Meanwhile Blanche got to find out she could not draw any cards.

-TURN 06-TURN 07-

Because Himiko drew one instead. "Correct, white mistress. We will be spared your mockery, because your turn does not exist anymore. We proceed with mine." The princess wasted no seconds of her stolen time and summoned the card in her hand: a skeletal ninja(2/800/0) [Zone 7] wearing a black garb and a long bloodred scarf. "One might say this monster, the Shinobi Necro, symbolizes a perfect union between our forces. I am fond of symbols, but the truth is far simpler. Even if my executioner fails, he leaves my opponents weakened enough for me to have the final say. When the dead rise then Shinobi Necro draws and discards one card." For someone like Yoro-Himiko, there would always be a monster in the graveyard waiting to be special summoned. "I banish Mayakashi Winter from my graveyard to banish one dead Mayakashi monster and bring back another!" Winter returned for a brief moment. Her spell banished the Wheeled Mayakashi Shafu, in order to resurrect the Winged Mayakashi Tengu(7/2600/1500) [Zone 8] "Tengu, destroy Parallel Port Armor!"

"Argh." Since Tengu had been summoned from the grave, one spell or trap would have to face its final fate. The skull-faced ninja also performed its own duty and discarded a card, Nine-Tailed Fox, to draw another. "Now be gone, Excode Talker!" Rihan the Secret Samurai turned on the cyberse whose extra armor got destroyed. Himiko took over Rihans effect and banished the Six Samurai Genba on Zanbatou's field to disintegrate Excode Talker. "We do everything together. A union like yours could never compare!" Eight monsters against an empty field, the duel seemed all but decided.

"When you say everything. Do you mean you go on dates as well and stuff? This is important data." Even so, the blue-eyed girl did not act like defeat loomed around the corner. "Be quiet. You will not get a rise out of me. You may think everything is a joke to you, mistress white. But from the beginning we were duelists with a purpose. If we are not taken seriously, then dueling as a whole faces the same threat! Therefor, you will not be laughing at the end of this turn! I synchro summon Gashadokuro once more!" Dakki was not the only tuner monster in her deck. The tuner Shinobi Necro took Yoko from the field and recreated the second giant skeleton Gashadokuro(11/3300/2900) [Extra Zone 3]

"And now we are back where we started. I special summon Dakki the Graceful Mayakashi!" They no longer needed to hear the why, Dakki would always rise as long as Mayakashi monsters kept appearing from the extra deck. And the nine-tails consort(2/1000/0) would always evolve alongside the synchro monsters to reach the highest levels. Though all her extra monster zones were locked off for now. Nevertheless: Tengu, Gashadokuro and Zanbatou's six samurai together shared a massive 16800 attackpoints: enough to end any team that dared to defy her. "This is it, the moment where your fame passes over to us. Do you have any last words?" The fused samurai attacked first, leaving her Mayakashi to finish the job.

"Just one, miss Himiko."

"Lockout Gardna." Void countered it all with one monster from his hand. "Lockout?" Rihans blade slammed into a red lock-shaped robot(3/1000/1000) [Zone 8]. Though the Samurai should have overpowered it, instead the Gardna caught his weapon with his adapter hands. "Lockout Gardna responds to a direct attack and special summons itself in attack position! And during the turn it is summoned, it cannot be destroyed as a result of battle!" Void could draw a new card as well, as he had summoned a monster from his hand while Blanche controlled Pinpoint Landing. "But it is still in attack position!" Lockout Gardna might have survived, but Void still lost lifepoints as a result of their battle.

Team White Void's LP: 11400

"Is this why you were confident in your mockery? Because you knew you would get your next round? You've only prolonged your suffering!" Himiko unleashed her fury upon Lockout Gardna. Dakki stayed back while the Six Samurai Grandmaster, Kageki, Doji and Hatsume, along with Tengu and Gashadokuro, visited the cyberse with attacks from all remaining elements.

Team White Void's LP: 4600

"Ugh..." Each hit pushed Void back a little further, closer to the edge of the fogged up lake. He guessed he would have been knocked right into the Kyotou water if he'd lost 4000 more lifepoints. "I don't want to tell you you're wrong, Himiko. But this is not about fame." He said as he managed to stand properly again after the barrage of attacks ended. "Not for you maybe.." Madam Blanche interjected.

"Point is! I never thought about becoming famous. I don't even care now about how people call me the hero of Pandemonium. We were all there, I was just lucky." The undead princess seemed to cool down a little as she heard his words. "Then why are you here, hero of the void? Why enter this tournament which can only lead to more fame?" She placed one trap card down and waited for a good answer. "Because I wanted to see what it would be like to duel you and Zanbatou. People lie all the time. They only show their honest face when they are fighting for something. I realized... that a duel counts for that as well."

"It sounds more like you only wanted to be here because everyone else was. Because you do not want to fade away again. Well, you have your chance now. But I will do everything I can to smother that chance! Appear, Yuki-Onna!" The need for power lost to the need for security. For that reason Himiko replaced Gashadokuro Mayakashi along with the graceful Dakki, to link summon a second Ice Mayakashi: Yuki-Onna(1900/LINK 2) {Downleft/Downright} [Extra Zone 3]. As long as she pointed at her synchros, she could not be attacked.

"Return Dakki!" The rest of the mayaskashi cycle played out its familiar pattern. The tuner Dakki [Zone 7] revived herself three times, once from Yuki Onna's summon, again after she tuned with Tengu to create another Yoko(9/2900/2400), and a third time after she and Yoko synchronized into the last Gashadokuro(11/3300/2900) [Zone 8]. "Then I can sacrifice two monsters to special summon Nine-Tailed Fox from my graveyard!" The earlier discarded ghost of the nine-tailed fire fox(6/2200/2000) [Zone 10], dragged Hatsume and Doji to the grave to bring herself to the field. "This is not about fame for me either, but respect! Respect from my peers, from those who belittled me for all my life! And the fallen do not earn respect!"

-TURN 08-

"I didnt think you were just after glory, Himiko. You and Zanbatou have been a formidable adversary. There aren't many ways one can break your loop of endless revival." Himiko had learned from her mistake; this time she did not have more than one synchro monster on the field. Even if Void managed to destroy Yuki-Onna, one of the Skeletal Mayakashi in the graveyard would come back to start the cycle all over again. "But that just makes me want to win more and more." Void activated the trap Recoded Alive a second time. "I banish this trap from my graveyard, to special summon a banished Code Talker: Power Code!" If he could get the red knight [Zone 6] back on the field, he would at least have one problem settled. "The same trick wont work for you twice, Hero of the Void." She nipped it in the bud immediately, with her trap Infinite Impermanence. The trap negated the effect of Powercode for the rest of the turn, and negated every effect in its column too. "I suppose not. I suppose everyone will want something new." His deck did not have many ways out now.

"I activate Mind Control, Himikol! And I take control of your link monster!" The one he drew this turn would do. "My Yuki-Onna?" The Ice Mayakashi fell for the brainwashing spell, abandoning her extra monster zone and floating over to Void's side. "Thanks to her I now have enough materials.. Two effect monsters to link summon Decode Talker!" He made his three-marker ace from Lockout Gardna and the twice-marked Yuki-Onna. It did not matter if they were zombified by Zombie World, they served Decode Talker(2300/LINK 3) {Up/Downleft/Downright} [Extra Zone 3] just fine.

"He summoned it to her extra zone!?" Scura's gasp was heard from the audience. "Of course! Since he took her monster from it, he could use it himself!" Neo gasped with joy. As soon as an extra monster zone lost its monster, it stopped being a part of one players field.

"Decode Talker gets 500 attackpoints for each monster he points at!" Fire no longer linked with ice. Instead Dakki the graceful one, and Powercode Talker, linked up with the Decoding swordsman(3300 atk). "So we're going with the classics eh?" The blue-eyed girl laughed. "Yes. I also normal summon Digitron!" Last turn Void considered himself unlucky for drawing into his normal cyberse monster, Digitron(2/1500/200) [Zone 3]: the upgraded and more offensive form of Bitron. But now it proved invaluable, as it completed the link triangle around Decode Talker(3800 atk).

"Fear not my lady. He wont be able to do enough damage with those cards." The undead princess looked so vexed that Zanbatou felt driven to break his silence and reassure her. "..No. Look at him again, Zanbatou. He is confident. He may be foolish, but not a fool enough to take hope from minor victories." Somehow she knew.. This turn would end them both. "You are right, Himiko. I always summon my link monsters for a reason. And this spell is Decode's reason. I activate Decode Destruction!" He spoke the words and let the spell do its work. "!?" Decode's powerboost doubled; the aura of purple energy extended from his sword to cover his body. "Decode Destruction offers one effect to Decode Talker for each monster he points at! If he points at one, he gets 500 attackpoints for each monster he points at!" Void charged ahead with his souped up cyberse(5300 atk). "If he points at two, he can also banish the monster he battles!" The sword cut cleanly through Gashadokuro.

Team Yoro-Himiko's LP: 3000

"Tsk." As the attack banished the giant skeleton, it did not awaken any lesser Mayakashi synchros from the graveyard. And the graveyard would be even busier soon. "And when he points at three monsters, Decode Destruction will destroy all your cards at the end of the damage step!" A blast of lightning broke out across the bay of Kyoutou, like a storm that nobody could escape from. Every Secret Six Samurai died in the explosion, as did the Mayakashi Dakki and the Nine-Tailed Fox. "But when my Nine-Tailed Fox dies, it special summons two fox-tokens!" Himiko refused to expose herself. She hid behind two tiny foxes(1/0/0) [Zone 8 & 9] of flame, left behind by the destroyed Fox zombie. "I saw that coming too, Himiko!" He destroyed both tokens with an attack from Powercode Talker and Digitron. "But I am not out of attacks! And you know why!"

"...Parallel Port Armor." Himiko cursed. She wished she had banished that trap back when the opportunity provided itself. "Yes! I can banish this card and two link monsters from my graveyard, to give a link monster on the field two attacks during this battle phase!" He banished the three ingredients for victory: the trap, Underclock Taker and Lanphorhynchus. "Decode Talker, attack lady Himiko and sir Zanbatou directly!" White he did lose one link, Decode(4300 atk) still was the best choice for the Parallel boost. The duel had been decided. "We yield." And Zanbatou accepted it by placing his hand on his deck. "Zan?"

Team Yoro-Himiko's LP: 0

"My lady. I could not bear to watch you take the damage. I would not be doing my duty otherwise." Zanbatou apologized, though he did not regret his choice. "It matters not. The outcome is the same regardless. Our journey stops here." The woman sighed and looked down at the water. She had lost.

"Aww.. I was kinda hoping to knock you into it." And they had won. "Is this amusing to you, mistress of white?" She snapped back at her. "What? No, not really. I mean yeah I'm glad we won. But I was just saying.. it might have been fun to take the plunge. I dont know if you would even get to do it anywhere else." If anything at least the water was safer here. If anyone fell in, they would respawn elsewhere within moments. "No, I suppose I wouldn't." Yoro-Himiko sighed again, she could almost agree with her. "You were right often today. My family might have seen me in a different light if I won here today. I might have been able to get their support for our other causes." She no longer saw any reason to hide that fact. "Whoa.. You are not a member of the yakuza or anything are you?" This family business started to sound dangerous. "Of course not!" Zanbatou growled.

"Heh. Aheeheehe.." Yet Himiko began to laugh. "My lady?" Zanbatou almost never heard her like this. "You finally got me, Madam Blanche. Maybe you had to weaken my defenses first, but I can finally laugh at you." Tears even formed under her eyes. "Hrm.. Somehow I liked you better before..." Blanche shivered.

"But you have earned it, both of you. You truly are the heroes." Himiko tempered herself and turned to look at Void. "I already said I would not be here without your help, or hers." He gave a nod to his own partner. "Hey, you did most of the legwork. Since they stole my turn and all." Blanche still sounded bitter about it. "But what will you do now? Will this cause problems for you?" Void did not want that on his conscience. "My family will adjust, even if they not see the threat for a reality." She smiled at the duelists. "We still have pledged ourselves to a great task, sir Void. We will not abandon you and the others as long as threats like the Crown exist. And now we have nothing to distract us from that." Zanbatou stated dutifully. "Thank you, thank you both."

"No more distractions.." Void thought to himself. If only he could say that about himself as well. He still had an entire company to impress... _"Hansen.. when will he be satisfied?"_

(To Be Continued in Line 047: Uneven with Your Heart)

**New Cards used by Void  
**Lockout Gardna  
Digitron

-  
Decode Destruction

-  
Parallel Port Armor

**New Cards used by Zanbatou  
**Legendary Six Samurai - Kageki  
Secret Six Samurai - Hatsume  
Secret Six Samurai - Doji  
Legendary Secret of the Six Samurai  
Legendary Six Samurai - Kizan  
Grandmaster of the Six Samurai  
Secret Six Samurai - Genba

-  
Secret Six Samurai - Rihan

-  
Gateway of the Six  
United Six Samurai  
Asceticism of the Six Samurai  
Secret Skills of the Six Samurai

-  
Return of the Six Samurai  
The Six Shinobi

**New Cards used by Yoro-Himiko  
**Necro Shinobi  
Nine-Tailed Fox

-  
Infinite Impermanence


	47. Uneven with Your Heart

**Line 047: ****Uneven with Your Heart**

The day came to a close. Team White Void basked in the aftermath of their victory. Though Void preferred the time before. Some duelists came to congratulate him, even Scura in her own melancholy way. And those moments he appreciated. But they lasted for just a few minutes and left him with nothing else to look forward to but anticipation. "Hey. You look kinda lost. Want me to come over again? Or do you wanna see my place?" Blanche, as per usual, bumped him out of his stupor. "What? No. No that wont be necessary. I just have a lot of thoughts." Anything he could say now he would rather keep private, he already said too much to Asterisk and Hydra anyway. "Well the offer is still standing..." She did not seem disappointed, also per the usual.

"I just feel things are too quiet. Anders caused chaos apparently within hours of finding a legacy item. If others exist, shouldn't we have heard something? Anything? What about Giganoto? We havent heard from Exeter either yet!" He hated the quiet now, when before he reveled in it. He would even prefer Alpha's mudslinging over nothing at all. "Well, all we can do is wait. We got a lot of coals in the fire, we just need to see how they turn out."

"...I don't think that's how the saying goes. But I get your point." Void sighed. "Well, see you tomorrow then."

...

And so Void returned to the world of Charles, earlier than he would have liked and far away from the eyes of the world. But not too far to be entirely removed. Their applause or disparagements still reached him directly and indirectly via his inbox or through forums. The network tried to pull him back in without actually doing anything. _"There has to be something I can do.."_ He had almost everyone's chat username now, so he could talk to them if he wanted too. But mostly he wanted go back online, except he had no reason to. Hydra was already looking out for signs of the new threat, a fact that Asterisk reminded him off with a discrete personal message. "Nothing so far from H." The agent wrote. At least the unseen duelist tried to help, only by himself.

_"If I.. No. I would just get in his way."_ He could not be as hidden as Hydra, he would give too much away if he tried to look for Ulysses or Cherry. He could not go to the arena, Mister Static proved to be of little help. Talking would not help since everyone either knew as much as him or, like Donna, did not respond to messages yet. Even dueling would affect nothing; there were no points to win outside of tournament points. At best he could spend those points on better cards. But for the rest... he would have to wait, out here.

_"One of us..."_ And here his thoughts prevailed. Void... Charles... kept going back to what he heard at the Arena. Not the part about the legacy items, he lingered on the topic of 'the most special one`. _"Why would He say that? To get us to not trust each other again? What does he mean with 'special'?"_ He could not have been talking about whoever tipped the Crown off all the time, how would Static know? And whoever that was, must have been working through the thunder entity. It could not be Cherry Anise either, she left before they even knew about the Crown. Static called one of them unique for a different reason, a reason that person him or herself might not even know about. _"Could one of us be... not human? Just a machine like the ADIs?"_ No such advanced artificial intelligence existed. Before this month, he would have called that an undeniable fact. _"Could it be me?"_ Now Charles could not be sure about anything._ "No. That's nonsense. I am here, I am a part of this world.. and there is nothing special about me."_ What did it mean? _Who_ meant something more?

...

While some waited for the sun to set, duelists on the other end of the ocean already experienced a turbulent night. "I told you. I don't want to be a part of it anymore." El Veyron GT owed a great deal of his luxuries to his life as a speed duelist. And yet he would find no peace in spite of the comforts his suite offered him. "You have to do it. One more time, it will solve all our problems!" He was not alone, he spoke with another in the dark. "She wont allow it. If you knew Zettai like I did, you would not put me in this position. I cannot do it!" Veyron refused to look at the man in his room, who sounded both desperate and condescending. "You talk like you're still being watched! This is the real world, nobody can hear us! And still you wont do it? Not even for me? Who gave you all this?! I did!" The other gestured at the riches in his room. "And I was the one doing the dueling." Veyron sniped back. "You only won make-believe scraps! I turned that into something material. And I'm.. going to lose it all at this rate. Veyron, you know you can trust me. Just help me out..."

...

The night passed uneventfully. Void returned to STHEREA the next day, it having not been turned upside down in his absence. "Yo, Void!" He met Blanche and Neo again, outside the next battlefield chosen for the tournaments semifinals. "Where is Scura?" He saw a lot more admins hanging around, but no veiled duelist. "Dunno. She doesnt seem to be online right now. I'm sure she's safe tho." Blanche didn't know what could be dangerous for her outside the network.

"I see.. And what about Asterisk and Hydra?" He inquired. "Cant even go one minute without business talk huh? Fine, here's some boring data for you. Me and Neo went by their place in the morning. Vigionair was in a cranky mood." The girl half-smiled. "Let me guess; they still have nothing?" Void had expected as much. "Yeah. Nothing more than just the usual modders." Neo sighed. "Asterisk didn't even want to report them with how gung-ho the company has been lately. Apparently Giganoto's avatar has been suspended by them already. They cant prove that he accepted that skill card, but he is not allowed to log back in until they finished their investigation. Who knows how many other duelists they have brought in for questioning. I heard that from Donna. She's so mad she refuses to endorse this event."

"Hmph. They're looking in the wrong places." Bionis Khan announced himself with a grunt. "Hey. Since when were you two on speaking terms again?" Blanche snickered.

"Since who cares. This tournament wasn't important anyway." He ignored her and looked at Neo. "And maybe I did overreact a little yesterday. I am sure it wasn't all your fault." A better apology you would not get from Bionis. "Eh its okay." Neo already left that in the past anyway. "In any case. Exeter is wasting its time and ours. They should be listening to us, but they don't. People who try to mod the game aren't dangerous, people why make illegal bets are." The ritual duelist finally explained himself.

"More gossip?" Blanche merely rolled her eyes. "It is as good as true. There's an underground circle that makes a lot of money on antes, wagers and match fixing." He spelled it out further. "Well, is that important to us though? Dont we have enough to worry about?" The girl quibbled again. "It is all connected. I am telling you! I bet this all ties back to the legacy items somehow. Even if they arent, they could be making money off us as we talk! Doesn't that make you angry?" Bionis looked at Neo and Void for some validation. He already gave up on convincing Blanche.

"I guess? I mean, I dont know if I can judge them. I make money of my own duels as well. My fans give me donations just because they like me.. But that never feels wrong, I dont make them do it." Neo also never broke the rules either. "We can judge them.. They are breaking the law, if Bionis is right." Void was not naive enough to assume the dueling world was free of such violations, or that they would let the digital age stop them. "But who are 'they'? If there is one thing I learned by now, it's that I cannot control everything. We should stick to the enemies we want to find, not make more than we can handle." They did not even know what they were dealing with currently. "And still doing this tournament is gonna help us get answers?" Bionis Khan scoffed.

"Maybe, maybe not. Some of us probably care less than others." Void stated as he looked down at those who would kick off the semifinals. _"Veyron, Zettai, Crescent. Could one of them.. Ugh, stop it."_He did not want to think about it anymore, about who could be more special than the rest. He focused on the match instead.

...

For this round Exeter changed things up, just slightly. Instead of a random sector, they generated a unique new stage. Another treat from the company to keep the duelists entertained. Team Prismbow would face off against Team Absolute in the depths of the ocean, on top of the sunken ruins of Atlantis. Fish and sea monsters of all kinds swam through the breathable water, while thousands of eyes stared through the blue from behind screens and barriers. "Is this a good day for you, Zettai and Veyron?" One one side Crescent tried to say hello to her opponents in her own way. "It also would have been better if Wagnerok were here. I had wanted to face him as well. Alas, fate is cruel." Zettai only rebuffed her, while Veyron nodded meekly.

"Are you trying to get a rise out of us, Zettai?" Arcis seemed annoyed that she would use Wagners name. "I do not need to stoop to such lows. I merely speak the truth. You are strong without Wagner as well, Crescent. You have proven me that. But.." Zettai activated her dueldisk. "Only one of us can be the strongest!"

Team Prismbow's LP: 16000 Team Absolute's LP: 16000 -TURN 01-

"Well, we will see how strong you are." Arcis smirked. Zettai may have talked big, but the game still awarded her the last turn. Arcis would go first. "Let's create magic!" She unveiled the first spell of the duel: WitchCreafter Creation. "With this I can take a Withcrafter card from the deck. I choose Witchcrafter Schmietta!" She turned up the heat with her fiery spellcaster(4/1800/600) [Zone 5]. Schmietta took on the form of a young redheaded blacksmith witch in shorts and shirt, wielding an oversized red hammer-sword.

"And she has her own choice! I can discard one of my spells and tribute the witch to summon a Witchcrafter from my deck. I of course choose Madame Verre!" The spell Witchcrafter Draping disappeared from her hand into a forge of flames, which also consumed Schmietta. The magical fire poured out the crystal witch Madame Verre(8/1000/2800) [Zone 3]. "Schmietta's other effect lets me banish her from the graveyard to send another Witchcrafter monster from my deck to the grave. This time she chooses Pittore!" The fire Witchcrafter exiled herself even further, and gave her former resting spot to the Witchcrafter of water. "Do you recall Pittore, miss Zettai and mister Veyron?"

"Of course. You can banish that monster to trade a spell in your hand with a card on top of your deck." Zettai'd been paying close attention to her duel against the dueltainers. "Seems like I caught your interest. Very well." Arcis activated that effect now, discarding Witchcrafter Bystreet in order to draw again. "Before the end of my turn, I activate Magicians Right Hand!" A disembodied long-nailed hand magically appeared, right behind Madame Verre. The witch duelist also placed a trap card face down. "And now for my famous magic trick! During the endphase I can activate all Witchcrafter spells from the graveyard, as long as their field effects were not used this turn! One returns to my hand and one returns to the field: a spell by the name of Witchcrafter Street!" Whereas normal witch spells like Witchcrafter Draping would always find their way back to their masters hand. Continuous spells like Witchcrafter Bystreet could be reactivated on the field instead.

"And now your spellcaster is immune to one destruction each turn." Zettai noted the Bystreet's effect. "Veyron, it is your turn."

-TURN 02-

"Oh. Yes." Meekly he started his turn and normal summoned F.A. Sonic Meister(4/1200/1200) [Zone 3] in attack position, letting it race circles around the battlefield. "I activate my field spell too. Formula Athlete Off-Road Grand Prix and.. ah!" The speed duelist flinched when the Magicians Right Hand suddenly shattered the field spell with a snap of its fingers. "Uhm.. Veyron, Magicians Right Hand negates the first spell you use, as long as we control a spellcaster." Crescent explained to him.

"..I.. knew that." He mumbled and looked for a spell card in his deck. "But Off Road Grand Prix still hit the field. And when it is destroyed, I can add one other Formula Athlete spell to my hand. I choose Test... no." Veyron shook his head. "I choose Pit Stop! This spell takes two levels away from Sonic Meister to draw one card!" He forced his hyperfast Sonic Meister(3/900/900) to come to a complete stop in front of him. While his racecar gained a level whenever an F.A spell activated, it also only gained 300 attackpoints for each of its levels. It would not be doing much damage in its current state. "Then I set three cards... and end my turn." Neither would the driver.

...

"What!?" The crowd of duelists all reacted with shock and disgust. "What is he doing? Did he draw a bad hand or something?" None of them understood. "Did he duel like this last time?" Void wondered. "No. Not at all. Last time Zettai went first though, so maybe he cant make his best moves without her." Neo reasoned. "Hmph. Or maybe his fixer is making him throw the match." Bionis Khan saw a different possibility. "You're on that again? I thought he said he'd quit. And why would Zettai go along with that?" Blanche groaned. Surprisingly, the ace duelist stayed calm throughout. If anyone would have started yelling over signs of weakness, it would have been her.

...

"Maybe this is part of their plan." Crescent suggested as she talked with her teammate. "Perhaps. We should not take any chances. Veyron!" Arcis flipped her trap card. "Before your turn ends, I would like to use this card: Withcrafter Masterpiece! It allows me to take a spell from my deck, whose name matches a spell in my graveyard!" She used the trap to take another Witchcrafter Creation and added it to her hand. "Go right ahead." Veyron could not stop it and Zettai made no attempts to interfere either.

-TURN 03-

"Then it is your turn, Crescent." The two duelists nodded. "And I will use this spell once more, Valhalla the Hall of the Fallen." The realm of angels opened up for her once more, allowing the special summon of one fairy monster to her field bereft of monsters. "Valhalla special summons the Weather Painter Cloud. And when it does that, call out a monster with 1500 or less attackpoints, I can use another spell: Inferno Reckless Summon!." Yet things took a sharp turn downwards. The grey painter Cloud(4/1500/1000) [Zone 8] descended from the heavens.. to hell. "Inferno.." Zettai's eyes lit up: a card like that brought back a lot of memories to duelists worldwide. Since Crescent had summoned Cloud, she could summon two more(4/1500/1000) [Zones 7 & 6] of the same monster from her deck.

"Veyron, summon them." But in return the speed duelist could special summon as many copies of his own monster to the field as his deck carried. "Yes..I only have one more unfortunately." The duelist summoned a second Sonic Meister(4/1200/1200) [Zone 2] in defense mode.

"Did you have to be told to do so, Veyron?" Arcis smirked while she made her own play. "Regardless, let me show you something new." Arcis waved her hand across her field and caused the Bystreet spell to vanish. "Instead of discarding one spell, Witchcrafter Bystreet can be used as the cost for a Witcrafters effect! Now, Verre! Negate their effects!" The Crystal madam could negate the effects of both Sonic Meisters, which caused them (3/0/0) (4/0/0) to lose their attackpower alltogether.

"And that brings us to our next trick! When I have spells in my graveyard, I can banish them along with the Witchcrafter Masterpiece trap, to special summon a Witchcrafter monster from my deck with the same level as the number of banished spells!" As Arcis could banish up two 2 spells (Bystreet, Creation) she could summon the witch of the earth: the little girl with blonde bun-hair: Witchcrafter Potterie(2/0/2000) [Zone 5]. "Potterie has the same _quick_ effect as her sisters. So I shall spare you the details." Arcis discarded Witchcrafter Draping. Subsequently Potterie performed her act of selfsacrifice to special summon another Witchcrafter from the deck: Haine(7/2400/1000) [Zone 4] the witch of destruction. "Now where were you, Crescent?" Both witches would obey the painter's attack orders.

"I was here." Crescent herself normal summoned the bearded painter of orange: Weather Painter Sun(4/1600/400) [Zone 9]. "Link summon." The recklessly summoned cloudy painters mixed with Weather Painter Sun, miraculously creating the most powerful color. "Weather Painter Rainbow!" The color of one and all: the goddess of the rainbow(2400/LINK 3) {Downleft/Down/Downright} [Extra Zone 3] took her place within the hall and linked up with the initially summoned painter of clouds.

"The Sun also comes back, by sending my continuous spell to the graveyard." Crescent gave her link monster a second link partner, the Weather Painter Sun [Zone 6]. And though this effect destroyed the hall of Valhalla, the special summoned Sun could also activate a new Weather Canvas trap or spell directly from Crescents hand. "The Sun activates the Auroral Canvas... And I will destroy it, with Magic Planter." Crescent sacrificed the northern lights continuous trap for a spell, Magic Planter. All so she could draw two cards. However, the painter of clouds saved Auroral Canvas from a rather ignoble debut, and returned it to the field with his continuous spell/trap resetting effect. "Veyron. I will attack now."

"Then I activate my trap card, Formula Athlete Dead Heat! If you try to attack me directly, I can negate that attack!" With a sudden intensity, the racing duelist reached for his trap cards. "But I can negate that effect." Crescent of course countered with the power of Weather Painter Rainbow. She gave Cloud the effect to banish himself and cancel out the activation of Veyrons trap. "That was chain link 2." Matters grew even worse for team Absolute. "On Chain link 3, I can special summon Winged Kuriboh LV9." The painter duelist called out the crimson armored kuriboh angel(9/1000/1000) [Zone 9] in attack position. It gained 500 attack and defense points for each spell in the opponents graveyards. "You prepared that monster just for me?" Zettai commented on the Kuriboh's other effect, which banished any activated spell after its resolution. Zettai's playing style depended on the number of spells or traps in the graveyard, meaning this could easily ruin her. "We respect you, Zettai. Someone like you deserves every precaution possible." Arcis replied.

"Ugh! I activate Pulse Mines!" In the mean time, Veyron attempted a second deflection. "I feel like I should be apologizing." Crescent negated that trap too, banishing Weather Painter Sun from the field for the rest of the turn. "Don't bother. He used to be faster than this. I have no idea as to what happened, but it happened." Arcis used her own monsters effect as well. Madame Verre took magical power from the last spell in the witch duelists hand, and added it to Haine(3400/1000) for the rest of the turn.

"But it worries me." Crescent murmured. One trap remained and she was out of Painters to banish. Nevertheless, Crescent saw no other option but to continue the attacks. Haine blasted the F.A. Sonic Meister in attack mode, while Verre blew up the defending Sonic Meister. After that Weather Painter Rainbow and Winged Kuriboh LV9 bombarded the speed and ace duelists with rays of prismatic light and fuzzy claws. "Perhaps I was held back. Perhaps I do have other things on my mind.. I will admit it." A despondent Veyron looked at the duelists and let an uncomfortable silence fall.

Team Absolute's LP: 9100

"And yet, this is also what I wanted." Zettai's voice pierced the silence. "Now that you are as far ahead as you can be, I will even the tides! I activate Evenly Matched from my hand, since I control no cards!" She gestured at her enemies with an open hand. "Crescent, Arcis! The two of you will now banish cards from your field face-down until you control as many cards as we do! You may choose what stays and what goes, but the number is already decided!" Evenly Matched counted itself and Veyrons last trap among the cards on their side. "Arcis.." So the two elemental duelists could only keep two cards of their own. "Keep the Rainbow, and I will keep Haine. They are all that matter." Arcis was willing to let go of everything else. "Okay." Crescent removed her Auroral Canvas and the Winged Kuriboh LV9, while Arcis got rid of Magicians Right Hand and Witchcrafter Madame Verre. On the plus side Crescent managed to hold on to one card, which she placed face down in the spell/trap zone. "You surprised me, Zettai. Even though I thought I was being careful."

-TURN 04-

"You were, Crescent. You are a clever duelist. I realized that much when I saw you duel the Crown's puppets. But there are only so many bricks you can put in a wall. The same applies to you, Veyron. I know what ails you, but you cannot let him bother you now. He does not matter to us.. to our future." The turn passed to Zettai, the Weather Painters Sun [Zone 6] and Cloud [Zone 7] special summoned themselves back to zones covered by the light of rainbow. "And no wall can withstand storm after storm! First Spell! Sky Striker Maneuver Afterburners! Since I control no monsters in the main zone, I can destroy your monster!" Her custom animations were at full display now. The spell of the afterburner lit up the ground beneath Zettai's feet.

"I have to..." Crescent immediately doused the flames with the rainbow effect of Weather Painter Sun. If she did not, Zettai would likely have burned her link monster to death. "Second Spell, Sky Striker Maneuver Widow Anchor!" Zettai did not let up and forced Crescent to banish the Weather Painter Cloud as well. Otherwise, the widow spell would have anchored itself to Rainbow and negated her powers.

"This is what I mean, Crescent. You have done well to summon your greatest monster in one turn! But now you are out of sacrifices! Third spell! Reinforcement of the Army! Fourth Spell, Sky Striker Mobilize Engage!" Like a machine Zettai kept pumping out her spells. The Reinforcer placed the warrior Sky Striker Ace Raye in her hand, while the Engager allowed Zettai to claim another Sky Striker card from the deck: a second Widow Anchor. "I also draw a card, because I activated Mobilize Engage while I had three spells in my graveyard already!" After all of that, she still wound up with four cards left to use. "Fifth spell, Jamming Waves!" The ace duelist created a virtual forcefield generator; large enough to protect her entire body. "One set trap or spell is destroyed, and one monster along with it! I choose your two cards, Crescent Aurora!" The jamming waves pulsated towards the weather duelist and shattered the face-down Storming Mirror Force with its soundwaves.

"...Ah." Weather Painter Rainbow succumbed to the waves shortly afterwards.

"I know your Rainbow held back one last trick: a selfsacrifice that would destroy my special summoned monster. But I will not let her turn herself into a martyr. That is not her fate or yours!" Finally Zettai normal summoned the Sky Striker Ace Raye(4/1500/1500) [Zone 10] and immediately used her effect to upgrade the monster.. and her own avatar, with the red armor of the sky striker of fire, Kagari(1500/LINK 1) {Upleft} [Extra Zone 4]. The effect of the burning sword maiden returned the spell Sky Striker Mobilize to the ace duelists hand. "I am the storm, Crescent. Do not fight it!" And then, with a manic grin on her face, she activated Sky Striker Mecha Modules - Multirole. "Just let it wash over you, and purge all!"

(To Be Continued in Line 048: Monochromatic Resolution)

**New Cards used by Arcis Da Vinci  
**Witchcrafter Schmietta  
Witchcrafter Potterie

-  
Witchcrafter Creation  
Witchcrafter Bystreet  
Magicians Right Hand

-  
Witchcrafter Masterpiece

**New Cards used by Crescent Aurora  
**Winged Kuriboh LV9

-  
Inferno Reckless Summon  
Magic Planter

-  
The Weather Auroral Canvas

**New Cards used by El Veyron GT  
**F.A. Pit Stop

-  
Pulse Mines

**New Cards used by Zettai  
**Reinforcement of the Army

-  
Sky Striker Mecha Modules - Multirole


	48. Monochromatic Resolution

**Line 048: Monochromatic Resolution**

"Uh.. Hey." The cracked voice reached Voids ears. "Huh? Scura?" The subterror duelist had managed to sneak up on them again and she sounded rather stressed . "Is everything alright? We didn't see you for a while." The girl also refused to make eye contact with Void. "Oh just the usual morning feeling of ohgodwhydoIhavetoevengetup? Yaknow. And uh.. thanks for asking." She giggled nervously. "But don't stare. I think someone is looking at me, or at us. Or at me. Could be one of those guys again." She seemingly gestured to the upper ring of seats.

"Who?" Neo tried to look. "No! Don't stare!" She cursed softly. "Oh you mean that guy with the mustache?" Blanche also caught a glimpse. "Yes! I mean don't look! I don't want him to know we know! Gah, I shouldn't have logged in." Scura pulled down her hood even more. "If he is stalking you, you can filter him out. Cant you?" Neo never used the function himself, but unwanted duelists could be blocked if another duelist did not want to talk to them. "Don't you think I know that? But I would have to ask an admin, and I would have to know his name. I'm not gonna go over there top ask the guy!"

"I don't know if you have to. Pretty sure he was looking passed us." Blanche assured her. If anything caught that mans eyes, it would be the duel going on right now. "..We will keep an eye on him. And if anyone else bothers you, we will defend you then as well, Scura." That was a promise Void intended to honor. "Don't say things like that.. ahh.." The veiled girl wheezed nervously. "Heh. Isn't that exciting, Scura?" The white-haired girl laughed. "No! Shut up!" Scura yelled and curled down to the floor.

"..Leave it be, Blanche." Void said as he took another quick look at the man behind them. From that alone he could tell that this unknown mans stare burned with an intense passion. Did it mean nothing, or...

...

Team Absolute's LP: 9100 Team Prismbow's LP: 16000

The duel continued as Zettai, merged with Sky Striker Ace Kagari(1500/LINK 1) {UpLeft} [Extra Zone 4], wanted it. "That spell is dangerous." The Skystriker Multirole card was the latest in a long line of activated spells. Arcis could destroy it with her monster: Witchcrafter Haine(7/2400/1000) [Zone 4]. Only she knew what she would get if she tried, a wasted spell and an effect-negated witch. Zettai could chain with Widow Anchor at any moment. "..Go on." She would have to let Zettai take that lead. "I will. I activate Sky Striker Maneuver -Mobilize Engage!" The Seventh spell was also the fourth. The Engager added a Sky Striker Maneuver card to Zettai's hand... a third Widow Anchor. "That accursed card?" Haine's power no longer mattered. She could not fire off a destruction spell in between two anchors. Doing nothing was Arcis' best option.

Zettai also drew yet another card, as there were three spells in her graveyard by the time Mobile Engage activated. "Eight Spell! Sky Striker Maneuver Widow Anchor!" With a weapon attached to her wrist, Zettai fired an anchor wire that clamped itself around the leg of the witch. Zettai controlled the dark mage [Zone 10] now.

"The stage is ready! Now all I need is the proper element! One Sky Striker Ace becomes the link material for another! I link summon Hayate!" Zettai unleashed her battle cry as her armor transformed. She no longer exuded red but green energy, as her avatar merged with the Sky Strike Ace Hayate(1500/LINK 1) {Downleft} [Extra Zone 4]. Floating discs and long blade-heeled armor protected her legs, a large scanning device got strapped to her back while a glass eyepatch covered her right eye. "I see you, Arcis." Her grin grew wide again, she felt overjoyed. "Have a taste of my power! I, Hayate, will attack you directly!" She took to the skies, much to the amazement of all watching duelists. A gargantuan double-edged blade of green metal formed in her hands as she swooped back down to directly attack Arcis Da Vinci. "Ugh!" The witch duelist fell to the floor as the swords flat side struck her down.

Team Prismbow's LP: 14500

"Now be witness to the Sky Strikers endless might! Since Hayate, me, has inflicted damage this turn; I can send one Sky Striker spell card to my graveyard!" Zettai took the spell Sky Strike Maneuver Eagle Booster, and moved it to the grave. "And Crescent, brace yourself!" Zettai then made Haine directly strike the weather duelist with her magical knives. "Ah.." The blade tore through her avatars arms, temporarily disrupting them.

Team Prismbow's LP: 12100

"Then, during my endphase.. the effect of Multirole activates!" The ace landed back on the ground and placed the last two cards in her hand face-down. "For each Sky Striker Maneuver that resolved this turn after I activated the Mecha Modules, I can move one unique Sky Striker card from the graveyard to the field in face-down position!" Both Eagle Booster and the second Widow Anchor returned. "Again!? And she can use that effect every turn?" Shouted someone in the crowd. Those that were not yet familiar with her playstyle could not believe their ears. The only downside to this continuous spell involved its revived spells banishing themselves when they left the field again. "My turn has ended." And her hold on Haine [Zone 4] severed at this point as well, though her magical powers remained sealed until Arcis could draw her card.

-TURN 05-

"That does not mean you are free!" Zettai howled to the skies. Nothing changed. Once Arcis finished her draw phase, Zettai could use her quickplay spells all over again. "Widow Anchor! It targets Witchcrafter Haine!" Again, the witch of destruction would fall under her control. "I think you will find that not everything follows your carefully laid plans, Zettai! Let me show you a new trick! Courtesy of Witchcrafter Golem Aruru!" A pair of scissors appeared and cut the cord of the Widow Anchor. And the owner of those scissors materialized right besides Haine: a purple witch-doll(8/2800/0) [Zone 3] with glass hair and glass wings. "When an effect targets my Witchcrafters, Aruru can summon herself and return one cards on your field to your hand.. or one Witchcrafter spell in the graveyard mine!" Arcis chose the latter gift and retrieved Witchcrafter Creation.

"But that should not have stopped my Anchor." Zettai objected. "She didn't. My other card did!" Arcis chained her own quickplay spell to the Anchor, the Spellbook of Wisdom. "This spell makes my spellcaster immune to your spells and traps, Zettai! And while I control Haine, none of my other spellcasters can be targeted by your card effects!" The Widow Anchor fully fizzled out. "Then you caught me off guard. I commend you for that. But I have seen what your future moves entail, and they will not break me!"

"And I have seen yours..." Arcis placed the reclaimed Witchcrafter Creation spell face-down. "But you are not alone. Veyron, this explanation is for you. When I have no cards in my hand, that is when Potterie the Witchcrafter can be banished from the graveyard to take back another witchcrafter spell." She turned her focus on the motionless speed duelist, an odd sight on its own, and moved Witchcrafter Draping back to her hand. "But before we get to this I activate Witchcrafter Creation.." She flipped the face down spell face-up. "... so that I may add one Witchcrafter spell of my choice to my hand." Arcis settled on a normal spell, Withcrafter Collaboration.

"How about this trick next? Witchcrafter Collaboration lets my spellcaster strike a second time! Haine is too wise right now to be affected by other spells, so Aruru shall have the power!" The golem witch performed the greatest spell yet, one that created a magical duplicate so that she could effectively attack two times. "Aruru attacks Sky Striker Ace Hayate now! So what will you do, Zettai? Will you let me destroy her, or will you protect her!?" Destroying the Sky Striker Ace had its own share of consequences. Raye could be special summoned whenever the link Skystriker monsters died, and after that she could still tribute herself to special summon a new link Skystriker in her place. But to do so would expose her to the effects of Haine, who could break the cycle.

"You wont catch me on this twisted path. I will make you choose instead!" Zettai responded with the face-down Eagle Booster. "Will you attack, or will you destroy?" Arcis only got one chance to counter the quickplay spell. Once Eagle Booster resolved, Zettai/Hayate would be indestructible. "Ha. No matter what fork I take in you road, I cannot bring the duel to an end in this turn. So I take the path that costs me the least!" The witch held on to Witchcrafter Draping and finished her a full scale offense. Aruru blasted Hayate twice with divine light, Haine unleashed a curse of dark magic. Indestructible did not mean untouchable after all.

Team Absolute's LP: 5600

"I should be doing more." Crescents weather painters: Sun(4/1600/400) [Zone 6] and Cloud(4/1500/1000) [Zone 7] sat the battle phase out. Without a Canvas to paint on, they were just powerless angels. "You did all you could. We are a team, even when we are separated due to our own cards. At least we understand each other." Arcis switched those two monsters to defense mode for her, once the fight ended. "You presume much, Arcis Da Vinci." Zettai did not take that comment lightly. She turned off her boosters and landed back on the dueling grounds. "A team that needs to exchange words is weakened due the information they share with their opponents. I already told Veyron what I wanted and needed to tell him."

"But did he do the same for you?" Arcis countered while unveiling her spell. "Witchcrafter Draping. For each spellcaster, I can return one spell cards on the field to the players hand. Now tell me, El Veyron.. should I go after your trap or hers?" She could bounce back at least two cards, and her mind had only been made up halfway. "What?" Veyron reacted like he did not even know he still controlled a trap card. "Or perhaps you can tell us whatever is eating at your mind, speed duelist."

"I..." Veyron turned to Zettai for help. "You told me, Veyron. You can tell them too." She already hear the full story. "All of them." Whatever he said now, would be broadcast to the whole world.

".. Eheh. Perhaps speaking my mind will also clear my head. Very well. I have nothing to hide." He cleared his throat. "To keep it short.. I am El Veyron GT. But I am also Juan Colombo, just an ordinary man like most of you out there. I did not get this new name and fame until my manager pulled me into the world of speed dueling." Veyron eyes lit up as he pictured those days of glory in front of him. "But like all good things can, it eventually turned to corruption. Or perhaps it was always that way, perhaps he made deals with the wrong crowd from the start. Whatever the case, he started fixing my duels, arranging their outcomes to maximize profits for the right betters. And we kept a share of it. I didn't know then, that is the gods honest truth. And when I learned, I cut ties. Or so I thought. But he always came back for more, and he came back last night as well."

"I knew it!" Bionis shouted so loud he could be heard through the barrier.

"And what did he do?" Arcis ignored the outcry and continued the interrogation. "He asked me to throw this match. We were the favorites, and losing would make his accomplices very happy. Winning would make them unhappy, and he would suffer for it. Even so I told him under no uncertain terms that I would not do it! The admins will know, this duel has not been tampered with in any way! And if he is watching right now, he will know it too! I struggled with these thoughts, but I had to do what was best for me.. and for my team." Though he shouted his words at nobody in particular, he did seem to draw a reaction from someone in the crowd. "!? Huh?" Scura noticed that the stalker from before quickjumped out of the area. "Wait.. was _he_ here for Veyron?"

"People are betting on our match.. They are using us." Crescent took thew news rather hard, though her expression remained the same. "I am sorry, that is just the way of life." Veyron sighed. "But what about you? You didn't want your manager to be hurt? Is that why you were lost in thought?" Arcis asked a surprising question.

"He brought it upon himself, but I cant help but feel sorry for him. Still, I intend to win today." Veyron stated with renewed vigor. "And if you win, you can say you deserved it. But we want to win as well, even if it means lining the pockets of others." Witchcrafter Draping resolved and dismissed the Skystriker Mecha Modules from the field, along with Zettai's facedown Maneuver spell: Jamming Waves. "Aha, you stopped her from getting back her spell." Crescent was glad that they made progress there at least. "Yes. Now we can safely end our turn. And when we do Witchcrafter Golem Aruru returns to my hand. So feel free to target Haine again, you will only trigger Aruru's effect again."

-TURN 06-

"I know the risks! Zettai allow me to use your gift!" Veyron drew his next card. "Go right ahead." The ace wondered how he would take it. "I activate, Sky Striker Maneuver Afterburners!" Even without the custom mods, the last skystriker spell made Veyrons hand made shake with a burning force. The flame blast blazed out of the spell and across the ocean floor in a cross pattern and purged the Weather Painter Sun from the field once and for all. "He is avoiding Haine?" Arcis did not see that coming.

"What a rush!" Veyron enjoyed every second of it. "I can see the finish line! I activate Powerful Rebirth and bring back my level 4 monster with more power!" The final trap on Veyrons field revealed itself as the reviver of level 4 monsters. F.A. Sonic Meister(4/1200/1200) [Zone 5] returned in attack position and it(5/1800/1500) gained 300 attackpoints and one level star from the trap. "We're not slowing down! I normal summon Formula Athlete Auto Navigator!" While the non-tuner spun around the ocean in circles, the tuner and holographic navigation assistant(1/0/0) [Zone 3] got projected into the middle of the sunken ruins. She had a new destination in mind. "When Auto Navigator is summoned, the field spells of the Formula Athletes enter my hand! I take Circuit Grand Prix!" Veyron dropped the new course on the seabed, a pure mechanical road surrounded by a large stadium. Sonic Meister (6/2100/1800) gained another level as a F.A. spell card had been activated.

"It's time to show you the purest racer! I synchro summon Formula Athlete Dawn Dragster!" The sonic athlete crashed into its own navigator, purposefully. "The dawn.." Bright light filled the underwater arena, as if the sun itself rose before their eyes. A brand new car drove over the shining horizon, a largely white formula one racing car(7/2100/2100) [Extra Zone 1] with seven jet engines on its wings. "Is this the brother of your dark dragster?" Crescent pondered out loud. "Brother? Heh. You could see it that way. And I am glad you brought him up. Because when I control a level 7 Formula Athlete, I can special summon the Dark Dragster from my hand!" A great light would cast a great shadow. The darkness behind Dawn Dragster gave life to the shadowracer: F.A. Dark Dragster(7/2100/2100) [Zone 2]. "You are the ladies of the elements. You will know that darkness and light are never far apart!"

"Finish it.." Zettai grew impatient. "Not yet! This circuit can hold one more! If I banish my Pit Stop spell, I can special summon another Formula Athlete from the graveyard. Or the same one in this case!" The pitstop spell did not have a better target than the Sonic Meister(4/1200/1200) [Zone 3]. Both Dragsters gained 300 attackpoints for each of their levels too, which made them(8/2400/2400) stronger as well every time a F.A. spell or effect activated around them.

"This is my field spell's effect, all my athletes gain two levels during the battle phase!" Faster and faster, on this course there were no limits to the speed of Sonic Meister(6/1800/1800), Dawn Dragster(10/3000/3000) and Dark Dragster(10/3000/3000). "And Sonic Meister attacks Weather Painter Cloud!" The circuit race claimed its first casualty. Sonic Meister drove alongside the grey painter and scattered him across the field in a shower of clouds. "And here is where it all ends up! Once per turn, when my Formula Athlete destroys a monster, the Circuit Grand Prix will draw a card! I have no idea what it is going to be, lady luck decides!"

"...!" Arcis held her breath as Veyron took the card from his deck. No matter what he drew, Sonic Meister(7/2100/2100) and the Dragsters(11/3300/3300) already benefitted from Circuit Grand Prix activating at all. "Well.. I am still lucky." He grinned and stroked his mustache. "It is not luck, Veyron. It is strength." Zettai saw what destiny gave Veyron; a spell that could be played during the battle phase. "Whatever it is, it is unfortunate for you two. I apologize, Arcis and Crescent.. I activate Limiter Removal!" Instantly the spell doubled the attackpoints of all machines: Sonic Meister(4200/2100), Dawn and Dark Dragster(6600/3300), even Sky Striker Ace Hayate(3000 atk). "Incredible.." Crescent gasped. "The road ends here..." Now Arcis understood why Veyron avoided Haine. He was saving the witch for last. A level 7 or higher Sonic Meister could attack two monsters in one turn. "Go, my machines!" Her witchcrafter of darkness got run down by the Meister, while the Dragsters finished their remaining lifepoints with the dragging forces of dark and light energy. "Finito!"

Team Prismbow's LP: 0

"Agh.. It's over already." Arcis Da Vinci stared at the empty field in front of her. "I learned a lot, but there were still..." She did not seem upset about the loss, but about something else. "It was inevitable. Zettai depleted all our resources, and Veyron finished it off. It was a clean victory. It is like you said, we did all we could." Crescent took comfort in the facts. And gave Veyron a modest smile. "You must be happy now, at least." The weather girl could not find any negative feelings in her heart, not after what he told them.

"I suppose I am. It doesn't feel real to be honest.." Veyron got one step closer to becoming a champion; a true one. Though he would to have share that title with another at first. "It is real, and it is ours. You two fought well, there is no shame in losing here. But someone always loses. If you want to learn more, you can always just watch us." Zettai halfgrinned. "I suppose we can." Arcis sighed and deactivated her dueldisk.

And so the four duelists left the ocean stage to make room for the next semifinal. "Veyron. Can we talk?" Void spoke as soon as Veyron and the others crossed the safezone barrier. He stood there with Scura, Blanche and a rather disgruntled Bionis. "What is it?" Veyron had expected a confrontation, but not this soon. "It's about a person.. Scura thought he was watching her, but we think he might have been watching you instead." Void explained.

"A person? Shouldn't you take this to the judges?" Arcis asked as she could not help but listen in. "I am not gonna talk to them. They'll just interrogate me instead!" Scura hissed. "I could have done that for you." Blanche said and shook her head. "Not that it matters now, the guy dropped out a few minutes ago." Scura did not see him come back either. "Then why does this matter to us?" Zettai demanded to know. "..Did this man have a mustache, purple eyes and black hair?" Veyron described the man to a tee. "Yes. How did you know?" Void nodded. "Because that was my older brother, Victor Colombo. And also the manager I spoke off."

"Brother?! So that is why." Void understood why Veyron would be so protective of his manager, of his family. "But why would a brother do this to you?" Crescent did not understand. She grew up as a single child, always assuming brothers and sisters were the best thing one could have. "Sometimes you cant stop what you started. And he is in deep. He followed me all the way here." Veyron could hardly believe it himself as well. "So wait. He was the guy you wanted to show the beyond arena too? Didn't you think that part was important to say back when we dueled?" Bionis growled. "I did not want to give out his name, least of all to the whole world! Please, you have to keep this between us!" Even inside the safe buffer zone, there were too many who could overhear.

"I am affraid we cannot." Including the admins. "And so they show up again." Arcis stated with barely restrained contempt as they walked in on the conversation.

"Ah! No, we were just.." Veyron winced. He feared it would come to this. "We know it is not your fault, but we have to pursue this lead. Hansen ordered us to contain any suspicious activity, and your brothers actions fall under those terms. He might have ties to the Millennium organization. Even if not, stopping another illegal gambling circuit is a prime directive by itself. So please cooperate with us, mister Veyron. Tell us what his avatar handle is." The admin clicked on her dueldisk. "What? As if he's still online." Scura did not even want to find out how exactly these people were going to track the avatar down in the first place. "No, he will be online. He has to meet with the contact, the link between STHEREA and their world..." Veyron relented with a deep sigh. "His handle is just VictorF150. And I want to be there when you approach him."

"That is acceptable."

...

"We are displeased, Colombo. You promised us a defeat, you promised them a defeat. They will not accept this." In a private room inside the sewers of the royal castle, the shifty-eyed brother of Veyron lurked. Few duelists ever entered low reward starting areas like this: nobody enjoyed sewer levels. The private forcefield would keep everyone else out as well, even quickjumpers. "But this is great for us! Now that Veyron has won, the odds will be even higher for him in the finals! If you make your bets again then, you can win a lot more then you would from the semis!" Here Victor pleaded and groveled before a faceless pure-black avatar, his contact. "If you failed us before why would you succeed later? You swore Veyron would comply and they based their wagers on that. But you cannot control your brother, can you? Or is this what you wanted? Did you make a bet of your own to collect the money my employers lost?" His very unhappy contact. "Why would I do that? Check my account, it is empty! Even if I had done it, how would I spend it? They would all know!"

"!?" The light within the walls flickered. "Is his your doing?" Their room started to expand, taking up more of the sewer. "I am not doing anything!" They were locked in. "Then you can fix this by yourself!" The faceless man tried to log out, only to be rejected by his dueldisk. "Ugh too late." Neither duelist could exit the game, or quickjump away. "What is going on? How can they keep us down here?" Victor banged on the walls of light, which would neither budge nor bend.

"An elimination box. They challenged us to a duel over a long range." His contact stayed in the same spot. Running would get them nowhere. "You know much." Admins surrounded them from all four sides. "Ah! How?!" Victor backed up. He could not hide anywhere. "You are a fool. They followed you here." Private rooms did not matter to the judges of the law. "But how did they know to come after me? How.." They even brought `friends` along: including dear old brother. "Victor."

(To Be Continued in Line 049: Run for Their Money)

**New Cards used by Zettai  
**Sky Striker Ace Hayate

-  
Sky Striker Mecha Modules - Multirole

**New Cards used by El Veyron GT  
**F.A. Dawn Dragster

-  
F.A. Circuit Grand Prix

-  
Powerful Rebirth

**New Cards used by Arcis Da Vinci  
**Witchcrafter Golem Aruru

-  
Spellbook of Wisdom


	49. Run for Their Money

**Line 049: A Run for their Money**

"You just had to involve them, didnt you?" Victor would not give his brother any warm welcome. Because of him he got trapped here, surrounded by people he did not even know: other duelists that called themselves Heroes. "I think you brought this upon yourself. By working with these... people." Void; who had more interest in Victors contact. "Why would you keep using your own family like this?" Crescent; who simply wanted to understand yet could not. "It takes one to know one." Bionis Khan; who did not mind placing the blame on both sides. "..." And Zettai, who refused to do anything but scowl at the whole situation.

"So these are your new friends? Do you think they can help you like I did?" Victor did not have kind words for them either. "Be quiet, Victor. You are only making it worse." Veyron did not feel much for a heart-to-heart here either. They were surrounded by admins eager to arrest Victor along with his contact: the unknown faceless avatar behind him. "Ha! You have it so easy, you don't even know! I did not come here to listen to your moralizing, Juan!"

"Neither did I." The faceless man interrupted the family squabble he could not escape from. So Veyron turned to him. "We know what you came for. But you are not leaving with it." He could hate his brother for his foolishness, but he loathed this man for being the cause of it all. "Is that so? I know how your rules work in this game world. You judges cannot hurt me. You caught me off guard with this pretty box, but it will open again as soon as I defeat the man who decided to set the challenge." Nothing would keep him from logging out once the forcefield fell. "What? We have to duel to get out?!" Victor did not feel good about his own chances.

"Do you not know how to duel? And yet you decided to be a part of this world?" Zettai scoffed. "He was always the duelist! Not me!" The man pointed an accusing finger at Veyron. Victor'd never had to actually play the game before now. His own deck consisted of whatever he could find in starting packs. "It is not you they want, Victor." Not that Veyron cared. He was done talking to his brother. "And I don't know who is going to fulfill the challenge either."

"That would be meeeeee!" The one who responded made absolutely sure that all attention drew towards him. He broke into the elimination box through waves of green light, each of which played a different musical note. And the avatar himself glowed brightly due to the many lights strapped to his coat. "It's.. It's you!" Veyron recognized him on the spot. He called himself Sigment; one of the worldwide dueling champions. "It is? Oh yes it is!" Sigment toned down his radiance and took a look at the duelists around him. "I remember seeing you, the hero of pandemonium. I never forget a face." He pointed a gunfinger at Void first. "I suppose these are your comrades? Acrates had a lot to say about you. Good, excellent, wonderful! Friends make the world go round!" Neither Void nor the others got much of a chance to say anything back, he spoke far too quickly. And while Veyron stared at him with wondrous awe, Zettai and Bionis felt more like they were watching a fool in motion. "I would love to get more acquainted, but now is not the time."

"A champion? You brought a champion?" Victor cursed his luck. "Nobody brings me. I invited myself to this discord." Sigment laughed and activated his dueldisk, an older fold-out model painted azure blue. Exeter took great pains to replicate the disk he used to win the championship three years ago. "Sir. We can handle this." The judges did not expect this kind of assistance either. "Now what kind of duelist would I be if I allowed this kind of scum to do as they please? Nobody gets to besmirch or defile or corrupt the name of dueling!" He waded through the crowd of judges and approached his opponent. "Scum am I? Well I am not affraid of you." The faceless duelist activated his own dueldisk as well; a simple featureless black disk. "Good. Excellent. Do you have a name I can call you by?" Sigment drew his cards first, getting the first turn. "You would want that. But my lips are sealed."

"Heh. Alright then. I will just call you the Contact. And once we're done, we can learn more about you. Let us have our duel!"

Sigment's LP: 8000 Contact's LP: 8000 -TURN 01-

"Let us get rid of this drab stage and welcome the starlight parade! I activate Starlight Junktion!" A champion deserved a champions field. His spell erased the dungeon walls from everyone's view and replaced it with an interstellar highway raised above a cosmic dimension. "Junktion? So he uses synchros.." Void could have figured as much, each champion covered their own era.

"Lets strike a pose and go right to left! I normal summon the Righty Driver, whose effect special summons the Lefty Driver in my deck!" A tiny robotic woman(1/100/300) [Zone 1] with long blue hair materialized while the champion sang his lines. Righty Driver stabbed the deck with the screwdriver on her right arm and pulled out her counterpart: the shorthaired yellow robot girl: Lefty Driver(2/300/100) [Zone 2]. Lefty(3/300/100) could raise her level to 3 whenever another effect special summoned her to the field. "And now we go into hyperdrive! Each turn the Starlight field spell can tribute a tuner to special summon a Synchron monster from my deck! Hyper Hyper Hyper Synchron!" The tuner stood on the right, Righty Driver flashed away into the graveyard and left behind a new bulkier blue synchron robot(4/1600/800) [Zone 2].

"He's gonna do it!" One tuner and one non-tuner: Veyron could not wait to see what Sigment would make from those materials. "Starpoint to signal! I tune Hyper Synchron and Lefty Driver to synchro summon the Signal Warrior!" At first it looked as if a sleek red car drove up to the starlight highway. But the synchronic light transformed it further, creating a red robot warrior(7/2400/1000) [Extra Zone 1] with signal lights on its arms. "Signal Warrior will place signal counters on the field during each standby phase! One on itself and one on every field spell!" Sigment ended the turn and let his synchro do its work. One of its lamps lit up, and Starlight Junktion gained a counter along with it.

"Is that it?" Bionis felt underwhelmed. "Signal Warrior cannot be destroyed as long as it has signal counters." Crescent saw it as at least a passable defense.

-TURN 02-

"How will you get rid of it?" Its presence worried Victor at any rate. "I do not have to." The contact started his turn. "You know it is funny that you would come after me for fixing duels, when your kind has been doing it from day one." He chuckled and drew his card. "They would never cheat!" Veyron objected. "Stop being naive, Juan!" Victor shouted back.

"Be quiet! This is not about you anymore! And I can play his game too! Lets see how much you like your hand now! I activate Card Destruction!" The contact's first spell forced both players to re-arrange their hands, sending everything they had to the graveyard and drawing the same number of cards from the deck. "Heheh, now we are talking.. champion. I summon the Time Thief Regulator!" A flat metallic dog(4/600/200) [Zone 1] leaped out of the faceless duelists hand and barked at the champion. "I can tribute the Regulator to special summon two different Time Thieves from my deck! But why am I telling you this? Surely the champion would already know everything!" The machine dog turned its near 2-dimensional body forward and split up into two three-dimensional shapes of darkness. One emerged as a silverhaired thief(4/1800/1300) [Zone 4] who wore a fancy purple suit and a long blue scarf. The other summoned Time Thief took the form of a needle-like timeship(4/1000/2000) [Zone 3] with two golden gears around its jet engine. "These are Time Thief Winder and Time Thief Bezel Ship!"

The effect of Time Thief Winder allowed its master to add a new Time Thief card to his hand: the Time Thief Hack field spell. "Heh. Once I activate this, you wont be able to target XYZ-monsters." Time Thief Hack appeared on the field as a symbol on the floor: a red clock. "My XYZ-monsters! I summon Time Thief Redoer!" A cosmic and temporal portal opened and swallowed Winder and Bezelship as beams of light. They now swirled around the XYZ-summoned Time Thief Redoer: a younger silverhaired rogue(R4/2400/2000) [Extra Zone 2] who wore the coat and cloak of a nobleman but also the cybernetic belt and gauntlet of timetravelers.

"How fitting, a thief deck for thieving duelist." The fact that this duelist appeared to be creatively bankrupt as well did not shock Bionis.

"Ha! Let's see how you feel about that once I fix this champion!" One of the cards orbiting the thief suddenly dispersed into nothingness: swallowed by the re-appearing Time Thief Bezelship(4/1000/2000) [Zone 2] "I detached one XYZ-material and that makes Bezel Ship come back to life." The Card Destruction from before did more than ruin Sigments hand, it placed various cards with grave-effects where the fixer wanted them to be. "But Redoer still has a material left, which I will take from him as well! I activate Oni-Gami Combo!" His next spell demanded all of an XYZ-monsters attached materials. In return it would give that monster two attacks for the next battle phase. "And now I will take from yours, champion! I activate Time Thief Flyback from my graveyard too!" Time seemed to be flowing backwards, an effect caused by the banished Flyback trap. All the cards that went to Sigments graveyard before made a second appearance, and the Contact could pick one. "I want your Jet Synchron!" Time Thief Flyback claimed the tuner and placed it underneath Time Thief Redoer as an Xyz-Material

"Are you happy now? I doubt you will be satisfied with just one card. I have so many. Quilbolt, Righty Driver, Lefty.." Sigment began the headcount, much to his opponents ire. "I know what I want!" He tributed the Bezelship from his field, which triggered its effect to turn another card from Sigments graveyard into Redoer's XYZ-material. "I would have been happier with a trap. But I can make do with your Lefty Driver!" The screwdriver robot fell into the dimensional timeship and came out as an orb of energy that encircled the time traveling thief. "But what I want most of all.." One more spell followed, Overlay Regen. Time Thief Redoer added a third material to his collection, the spell regenerated itself into one. "And now I activate Time Thief Hack! Once it targets my monster, I can give it 300 attackpoints for each of its XYZ-materials. And since it holds one of your cards as an attachment, Time Thief Hack will also let me attack you directly this turn!" Redoer absorbed all three materials into his body and he(3300/2000) started to give off an intense golden glow.

"6600 points of damage.." Crescent winced. Currently the XYZ-monster could inflict two direct hits, due to the Oni-Gami spell. "Ha! No. I will not be satisfied with anything less than a full blow-out! I activate my skill card now: Power Loan! I can double my monsters non-original attack. But during the endphase he will have to pay that power back, with interest." 900 boosted attackpoints became 1800, giving Redoer(4200/2000) more than what he needed to end the duel. "Redoer attacks the champion! Twice!"

_Power Loan, Skill Card  
__Target 1 face-up monster you control whose current ATK is higher than its original ATK. It gains ATK equal to the difference.  
__During the end phase of this turn, it loses ATK equal to his original ATK._

"You know I miss the old days. Back then you had to work for your ace monsters, you had to keep an even pace with your opponent as you went back and forth exchanging blows. Now everyone is so hasty, trying to perform one turn kills and break records." In the face if impending doom, Sigment merely yawned. "This is the present, old man! This is how duels are done in STHEREA!" The faceless one did not plan to stop and listen, he planned to crush the synchro duelist with a temporal blast.

"But do you speak for all duelists in the world now? Scratch that question. You have a different problem. When you put all your eggs in one basket and all your love in one baby.. not even heaven can help you when that baby gets lost." Sigment never faced the blast, he dispelled it completely. "What!?" The battle phase ended before a single attack landed. "Swift Scarecrow. I can discard this card from my hand to negate your direct attack and end your battle phase." His entire plan got thwarted by one monster card. "You.. you drew that? Even after I destroyed your hand?" The Contact refused to believe such luck. "I did draw it, thanks to you. I guess you doomed yourself."

"I thought you knew how to duel?" Victor cursed. His fate depended on this duel as well. "You would not be in this position if you cared about what your brother was doing to begin with. But you only used him!" Surprisingly it was Crescent who seemed the most angered by Veyrons brother's remarks. "We all have our talents! Just being good at dueling does not get you anywhere! Just ask the champion over there!" Only one duelist could call himself the most successful in this battlefield. "There is a difference between selling your name for a label and selling your name for criminals." Void started to get frustrated with his view of the world as well. "But his was the name to sell. It was all I could sell!"

"Victor, shut up. The more you say, the more they learn about us. Just stay put and watch the real duelists." The Contact still had moves to make. "I activate Time Thief Redoer's effect!" The time traveler grabbed one of his xyz-materials, Overlay Regen, and absorbed it inside of his belt. "He can use up to three materials each turn, and depending on what card he detached.. I get an effect. If its a spell, I draw a card." The faceless duelist inspected his newly drawn card, made a smirking noise and placed it face-down in the spell/trap zone. "Now its your turn, which means my monster loses his attackpower. But he can also attach one card from your graveyard to himself during each standby phase!" This time he took Hyper Synchron, and placed it underneath the now depowered Redoer(900/2000).

-TURN 03-

"All very well and good. But you shouldn't forget what I can do." Sigments monsters could activate effects during his standby phase; Signal Warrior placed another set of signal counters on the field. One for itself and one for both Starlight Junktion and Time Thief Hack. "And here is my skill card for this particular duel: Counter Opinion. Each counter on the field now counts for two! That works on A-counters, Spellcounters, Preda counters and even Signal Counters!" One became two and two became four, the field gained a total of ten Signal counters. "Wait.. that means.." Victor might have been new, but he could read the text on the cards. And he could see that a Signal Warrior wuth ten Signal counters would be a significant problem. "That is right. If Signal Warrior removes ten counters from the field, it will destroy one of your cards!"

_Counter Opinion, Skill Card.  
__For each counter on the field, place 1 counter of the same type on the field on cards that can old those counters._

"Too bad you are too late! I activate another Time Thief Flyback!" The faceless man fought back. Instead of taking cards from Sigments graveyard, a field-activated Flyback trap would take a Time Thief card from its controllers deck. "I attach Time Thief Flyback to Time Thief Redoer! And then I can use his effect again!" This time he detached as much of the Thiefs XYZ-materials as he could: two monsters and one trap. "Redoer will banish himself from the field for one turn when he ditches a monster-material. But when he loses a trap, like Time Thief Flyback, I can return one card you control to your deck!" That way he would get his monster back at full power during the next turn, and he could get rid of Sigments synchros.

"Quite unfortunate. But then Signal Warrior was not my only favorite." The red warrior of the speed world rushed back in reverse, all the way to the bottom of the extra deck. "Yet that leaves you unprotected, doesn't it? A clear road ahead, and all monsters you took have been sent back to their graves... So I can activate the effect of the left. Banishing Lefty Driver allows me to add a new Righty Driver from my deck to my hand!" The synchro duelist took his second driver out and normal summoned it(1/100/300) [Zone 1]. The Righty Driver then summoned a second Lefty Driver(2/300/100) [Zone 2]. "I can also discard a card, to resummon a monster you 'Card Destructed'. Jet Synchron!" Sigment discarded his Sonic Warrior card. Flames of a jet burned through the floor to release the Synchron from the graveyard: the fiery engine robot(1/500/0) [Zone 3] with a face in its turbine.

"Then I activate the effect of Starlight Junktion again! The same way as before! Because repetition makes perfect!" Righty Driver drove off in opposite direction of the extra deck. It got tributed to special summon a Synchron monster: a crane lifting orange robot(2/0/1000) [Zone 1]. "Synchron Carrier! While I control this card I can normal summon again if it is a Synchron monster." He did just that as he normal summoned the orange-hatted and white-scarfed pilot droid: Junk Synchron(3/1300/500) [Zone 4]. "Junk Synchron summons one level 2 monster from my graveyard when it is normal summoned: Sonic Warrior!" There was absolutely no room left after the transformed car robot(2/1000/0) [Zone 5] emerged from the graveyard.

"How many monsters does he have?" Void could not exactly say he fared any better with regards to monster hoarding, but the synchro champion could give him a run for his money. "What are you going to do with such small fry?" The contact did not look impressed either way. "Oh, I can do so many things. But time is not on the menu for you, is it? I tune Junk Synchron and Sonic Warrior! Together they can become Junk Warrior!" The synchron tuner pulled the cord on the front of his body to initiate the synchro summon. It dissolved into synchronic rings and added the two stars from Sonic Warrior. But he had set more things in motion than just the creation of the scarf-wearing, blue metal and red-eyed fighter(5/2300/1200) [Extra Zone 2]. "When Synchron Carrier witnesses the union between a synchron and a non-tuner, it leaves a synchron token behind! And when Sonic Warrior is used as a synchro material, all level 2 or lower monsters gain 500 attackpoints! Aaaaand! Junk Warrior himself gains the attackpoints of all level 2 or lower monsters when he is synchro summoned!"

"Come again?" The contact could barely follow Sigments breathless hyperfast explanation, Victor understood even less. First the Carrier dropped down a self-propelled engine synchron-token(2/1000/0) [Zone 4]. Then the Sonic Warrior added power to that token(1500/0), to Jet Synchron(1000/0), Lefty Driver(800/100) and to Synchron Carrier(500/1000). And all of that empowered Junk Warrior(6100/1300) beyond the brink.

"Amazing!" Veyron jubilantly cried out. "And I could do so much more! But I don't need to.. do I?" The fixer did not have a way out, Time Thief Redoer would come back far too late. "Just goes to show you that you should never under-estimate the little guys! Now, go get him for me!" One by one the machines and warriors rushed across the starlight course. Sychron Carrier and the token, the Drivers, the Junk Warrior: the damage all added up and shattered the black shell of his avatar piece by piece. "Ugh!" The opponent could not give out any more lifepoints, or hide himself. "Now I believe the kids call that a one turn kill. Hope you liked it!"

Contact's LP: 0

"Get him!" The judges quickly surrounded the no longer faceless duelist. A pale bearded grimace emerged from underneath the identity-concealing armor. "Yeah! Now we can ask him about Millennium!" Bionis cheered. "Millennium, what are you talking about?" But the Contact gave them no reason to cheer. "Don't pretend you're not in on the scheme!" The ritual duelist did not believe his ignorance. "I am not saying anything! I demand a lawyer!" But the man only screamed and struggled as much as an avatar could. It did not stop the authorities from teleporting him away to parts unknown. "So this was a waste of time then." Zettai muttered.

"Thank you for the assist, sir Sigment." Some admins stayed behind and expressed their appreciation for the synchro duelists interference. They had not counted on it. "Do not mention it. Send mister Hansen my regards. And as for the rest of you, I hope to see some honest skill today and tomorrow. I wonder which of you will make it to us." The champions work was done. He snapped both his fingers and teleported away in a flash of lasers and a crescendo of brass sounds.

"He did it, so easily." Crescent were pleased by the outcome. "Was there ever any doubt? You should not have tested your luck against a champion, Victor." Only the brother remained now, enraged and bitter. "Our luck, Juan. It used to be ours.." His contact would not talk. "You cant fight it, Victor! You cant run either! They know who you are now!" but perhaps Veyron could make him listen to reason. So Veyron pleaded. "You would turn on me, your big brother?" Nevertheless Victor looked for an opening. But the admins still surrounded him and could challenge him if they wanted. "I have heard enough." Bionis Khan even prepared his own deck.

"No!" Unfortunately that made Victor panic. He vanished from the sewers without explanation. "He got away? How? Why?" Bionis grunted.

"No clue. His hand was nowhere near his dueldisk." Neither Void nor the admins could not explain it, it did not look like a normal quickjump. "Why did you do that!?" Veyron meanwhile yelled at the ritual duelist for causing Victor to flinch. "He was going to run anyway!" Khan retorted. "You don't know that! You don't know him! I..." He wanted to say that he could have talked his brother down. He couldn't. "He's changed.." He did not know Victor, not like this. "He cannot go far in the real world. We will find him, and we will go easy on him." One admin assured the speed duelist. "I hope you do. Lord knows where he is going now that he is desperate."

...

"They betrayed me. All of them! After everything I said!" Victor paced back and forth on the unseen floor in the middle of a dark endless meadow, a place where nobody could follow him. "You knew Juan would do the opposite of what you wanted. I told you he would, and he did. It is in their nature to cling to the law, to morals. They do not see that none of it matters." And there he spoke with another man familiar to some, a silver-masked in a grey waistcoat. "That does not mean I can forgive him! It matters to me! And don't talk to me about things that matter... What about the money you earned, Ulysses?" Victor stopped to scoff at the millennium duelist. He lost his good standing, his contacts lost the bet: all so this man could profit. "_We_ earned it, and we will not forget who lead us to it. The money has no value to us, true. But it does hold value for our enemies." Thanks to Victors tip, Ulysses knew to bet in favor of Team Absolute. "But now I cannot go back." Victor sighed. "Going back? Why would you?"

"Victor, you can join us. Once you are with Millennium, nobody can touch you. Not even your own brother."

(To Be Continued in Line 050: Always Burning)

**Cards used by Champion Sigment  
**_COUNTER OPINION_

-  
Righty Driver  
Lefty Driver  
Hyper Synchron  
Swift Scarecrow  
Jet Synchron  
Synchron Carrier  
Junk Synchron  
Sonic Warrior

-  
Signal Warrior  
Junk Warrior

-  
Starlight Junktion

**Cards used by the Contact  
**_POWER LOAN_

-  
Time Thief Regulator  
Time Thief Winder  
Time Thief Bezel Ship

-  
Time Thief Redoer

-  
Card Destruction  
Time Thief Hack  
Oni-Gami Combo  
Overlay Regen

-  
Time Thief Flyback


	50. Always Burning

**Line 050: Always Burning**

"Finally. I was starting to think you'd forgot about your own duel." Madam Blanche greeted her partner luke-warmly when he returned with everyone besides Veyron. She and Arcis da Vinci had been waiting for a while. "Sorry. I am not too late am I?" Void admittedly did lose track of time during the whole champions duel. "Nah. You have a few minutes. They had to air some commercials or something. You're good." Behind her the stage was already set for their own battle: on top of two flat skyscrapers that faced each other.

"So what happened to Veyron and his creepy brother?" Scura only came out from behind the seats when she noticed Victors absence. "I am curious as well. Did everything go smoothly?" Arcis asked, looking specifically at her partner. "A champion appeared to take down his contact, it was all rather unexpected. But Veyrons brother got away.." Crescent recapped the story somberly. "I see. I suppose that explains why Veyron is not here." Arcis sighed. "However I am sure Exeter wont do anything too disruptive."

"Of course they would not. Victor's brother is one step away from becoming a champion himself. Alongside me." Zettai cleared her throat. "And you two still need to make your way there as well." The noise of the crowd picked up in volume. Alpha and Baron Schwarzwald were walking to their spots. Breaktime had ended. "Aww, you want us to win, Zettai?" Blanche appreciated the ace duelists implied favoritism.

"Hmph. Who doesn't." Bionis Khan scoffed and sat down with his arms crossed. "You can pretend I am taking revenge for you and Neo, if you want." Void chuckled. "Ha! As if you mean that! You're lucky I don't like that Alpha guy at all." Meanwhile the outside got louder and louder, and the admins in the corner were gesturing for the two to come down. "I hope you win too. That may not be fair, but I know you two better." Crescent nodded. Everyone else also stepped aside to let them through. "Well, I don't want to let you down then." Void smiled. "Blanche. Lets go say hello to the world."

The two crossed the barrier, standing atop the flat roof of STHEREA's tallest skyscrapers. No building could be this high up in real life. "Madam Blanche. It is so good to finally meet you face to face! You have no idea how long I have waited for this moment! Veeeeeeery long." Immediately the black baron showered the duelists with praise and idolization, although it was largely one-sided and one-directional. "Aw that's nice. But _technically_ we havent met face to face. For all you know I hacked my avatar and I am just a sweet, if not amazingly witty and skilled, old granny." She did not mind it either way and poked back with some jokes. "It does not matter what you look like! What matters is how you duel! Your beautiful white dragons, I had to see them up close! Ah, and you must be the Hero of Pandemonium! I shouldn't sell your heroics short! Void, welcome! Should I introduce me and my teammate?" He pointed with open hands towards the flame-haired duelist next to him.

"We have met." Said Alpha, as surly as ever. "These two tools are just another step towards the finals. Don't waste your time on them." Alpha scoffed as he activated his dueldisk to signal the beginning of the duel. "Not a lot of fun, your partner." Madam Blanche and Schwarzwald would have to cut their introductions short. "I apologize on his behalf. Not all rivalries can be built on a foundation of admiration... That was a lot of words I used just now. Tired myself out!" Now everyone waited for the turns to be dealt. "If there is one thing I will make sure, Alpha. It will be you knowing that we are not puppets, when this duel is over." Void spoke, just before it was revealed that Alpha would be last...

Team White Void's LP: 16000 Team Red and Black's LP: 16000 -TURN 01-

"Hm." And Madam Blanche would go first. "Ah. We noticed you like to go second. I am really curious to see how the great lady of white will do when she has to let someone else attack first?" The black baron seemed rather pleased with this 'event of turns'. "If you say so. I am down for whatever. Just dont try and steal my turns away like the last team. It didnt end well for them." Blanche played her spell card: Cards of Consonance. "Anyway, I'm gonna discard White Stone of Ancients here to draw two new cards." The card simply allowed her to trade in a dragon tuner with 1000 or less attackpoints.

"And now, how about her?" Then she summoned her first monster, a silverhaired woman(1/0/0) [Zone 1] in a long native dress. "Take a look. Its the Maiden with Eyes of Blue. Allthough really my eyes are bluer." Blanche winked at the duelist in black before placing a trap card down. "I am sure they are. But no blue can survive the fire of red!" He countered. "Tell that to the water of the ocean! By the way, its _almost_ your turn now." Blanche relinquished control, in some places. "But during the end phase, the White Stone of Ancients effect activates from my graveyard. I can special summon a Blue-Eyes from my deck!" The pure white stone cracked to release a brilliant light and a powerful monster. Its effect, summoned the Blue-Eyes Alternative White Dragon(8/3000/2500) [Zone 3]. "Looks like white beats black as well! Eh Void?"

-TURN 02-

"Technically?" Void was not sure if Blanche could relax around this guy. Schwarzwald's act hid a more calculating intelligence. "Technically, yes! You cannot have one without the other. But once you paint something black, it cannot go back!" The Baron nevertheless did not stop laughing. "And I have my own special rocks! I summon the Black Stone of Legend!" Schwarz did not deal in white stones. He summoned a black egg-like rock(1/0/0) [Zone 3] which released crimson light through its cracks. "I can tribute this card to summon one Red-Eyes monster from my deck: Red-Eyes Black Dragon! Dont get very attached to it though, I didn't!" The egg burst open in a shower of hellfire, and brought out the infamous black dragon(7/2400/2000) [Zone 3].

"But that is not enough for my lovely rival! I have to summon a monster that will match yours: Red-Eyes Alternative Black Dragon!" A new dragon could be special summoned through the sacrifice of a Red-Eyes monster: a black dragon(7/2400/2000) [Zone 3] with more intricate spiked scales and red veins burning across its body. "Now, my dragon attacks yours!" Red flames spewed from the dragons maws. "You know your rivalry act kinda loses impact when your dragon will always be weaker than mine." The white dragon duelist pointed out, while the Blue-eyed Dragons counter burst tore through the flames and blew the attacking Red-eyed Dragon to piecesl.

Team Red and Black's LP: 15400

"Will it?" The Baron gasped as he took some battle damage, only to bounce back and dramatically pull a card from his graveyard. "Or _will_ it?! My Alternative Dragon works a little differently from yours! Destroying it only brings back the original with twice as much power!" Schwarz triumphantly special summoned Red-Eyes Black Dragon(4800/2000) [one 3] to his field and continued his battle phase. This time the flames of black and red overpowered the burst stream of blue and white. "

Team White Void's LP: 14200

"Awww no, not my irreplaceable beautiful white dragon." Blanche moaned about as sarcastically as a human could. "Whatever will I do?" And she flipped her continuous trap card: Castle of Dragonsouls. "Maybe I will summon another one, eh Maiden with Eyes of Blue? You can do that, if I target you with this!" The Castle banished the White Stone of Ancients as a cost and selected the Maiden for its effect. The silverhaired woman(700/0) gained 700 attackpoints and also awakened her inner power. The first time the Maiden would be attacked or targeted by an effect, she could special summon the Blue-Eyes White Dragon(8/3000/2500) [Zone 3] from the deck. "Of course. No blue eyes master can be satisfied with just one copy!"

Schwarzwald applauded her move, much to the evident chagrin of his partner. "Stop fooling around, Schwarz. End your turn already." Alpha snarled as he waited for his turn. "Yes yes yes." The baron shrugged and placed a trap card down. "But before we start with you, your own rival gets a turn! Show us what a hero is made of, Void!"

-TURN 03-

"I'd be careful, Baron. That word might lose its meaning if you say it too much... I special summon Bitlooper by discarding one card from my hand!" For his first turn the cyberse duelist would give the audience the first appearance of Bitlooper: the tiny-proportioned white robot knight(4/1500/2000) [Zone 6] who held a lance in one hand and a loop energy shield in the other. "Since its a level 4 cyberse monster, It can be a link material for Link Disciple!" Void exchanged the lancer for the more familiar cyber disciple(500/LINK 1) {Down} [Extra Zone 4]. "Once per turn, when I control a link monster.. I can special summon Link Infra-Flier to its marker!" A cybernetic kite(2/0/1800) [Zone 9] with robotic hands floated down towards the zone beneath the disciple. Even its body was shaped like a link marker. "And I will use that monster as a link material for Link Devotee!" The Disciple formed a co-link, once Infra Flier transformed itself through the circuit and link summoned the radial drone Link Devotee(500/LINK 1) {Up} [Zone 9].

"Oh, I think I know what you're gonna do." Blanche smirked. She remembered this combo from the early days. "Actually, I am gonna mix things up! I normal summon Ram Clouder! He will be the one to tribute Link Devotee!" A perfect combination of powers: the cyber-horned ram(4/1800/1000) [Zone 8] tributed cyberse monsters to revive cyberse monsters and a tributed Link Devotee created two link tokens as long as it formed a co-link with another link monster. "Ram Clouder revives Stack Reviver! The card I discarded for Bitrooper!" Void lost only the devoted link monster, and gained his stack droid(2/100/600) [Zone 10] and two drone tokens(1/0/0) [Zones 6 & 7] in return.

"Its time for a double link summon! With the two tokens, two Cyberse monsters, I can create Flame Administrator! And I will use Stack Reviver and Ram Clouder, two non token monsters, to link summon Binary Sorceress!" He was done with the first link, now he opened two double-marked circuits. The Administrator of flames(1200/LINK 2) {Left/Downright} [Zone 9] linked it with the Disciple. And on the Admins left a cybernetic wizard(1600/LINK2) {Left/Right} [Zone 8] appeared with long data strips as hair and rollerblades on her feet.

"So the hero has some skills after all." Alpha mused as he saw the fruits of Voids labor. Flame Administrator added 800 attackpoints to all link monsters on the field (Flame Admin: 2000 atk, Binary Sorceress, 2400 atk, Link Disciple: 1300 atk) and Stack Reviver revived one of of the monsters used in the link summoning of Binary Sorceress: Ram Clouder. "I am sure you got a good look already when I dueled Yoro-Himiko." Void fired back, feeling he had already proved himself yesterday. "I did. But now I know for sure, since you are dueling someone I can trust. Me." The scar-eyed duelist said bitterly. "Save your grades for when I am done, Alpha."

"I have one more monster in my hand: SIMM Tablir! I can summon this card to a zone my link monster points at, if I reveal a level 4 or lower cyberse in my graveyard!" Void revealed the Link Infra-Flyer card, so he could special summon the memory module cyber tapir(5/0/1800) [Zone 7] next to the Binary Sorceress. "Then I can add that monster to my hand. So I have two more materials, two monsters, for Proxy Dragon!" One could call it an equivalent exchange. The grave returned the Infra kite while SIMM Tablir and Ram Clouder turned into link materials. Immediately afterwards Void link summoned a winged dragon(2200/LINK 2) {Left/Right} [Zone 7] of cybernetic white plastic. Proxy Dragon lacked talons and flew in the air at all times. A broken blue ring formed the horns on its face.

"Uhm excuse me. I hate to tell you how to do your job. But my dragon still has all of his power-ups!" The Baron tried to warn his opponent, simply because he did not understand what Void planned. "Oh silly me. I almost forgot to add this. I activate Cynet Storm! Now all linked monsters gain 500 attackpoints!" Void's link monsters formed a perfect co-link, allowing a current of electricity to pass through Flame Administrator(2500 atk), Binary Sorceress(2900 atk), Proxy Dragon(2700 atk). "Time for the battle, Schwarzwald!"

"And I am still here too! Where do you want it, Void?" Blanche's Castle of Dragonsouls worked on any monster that stood or hovered on top of their tower. "Use it on Binary Sorceress!" Void yelled. "Alright." The Castle banished another dragon, the original Blue-Eyes Alternative, and gave the attackboost to its new cybernetic friend(3600 atk). "But that is still not enough!" The baron protested. "Not for long! When Binary Sorceress is co-linked with two monsters, it can share half of a monsters attackpower with another!" Void ordered the first strike and transferred half the power of the still living Blue-Eyes(1500/2500) to the Sorceress(5100 atk) herself. "Ah! My Red Eyes!" Void's sorceress fired a spell from her hands and blasted a hole in the chest of the black dragon.

Team Red and Black's LP: 15100

"And now three direct attacks!" The opponents winced as they took a beam attack unleashed from the Proxy Dragons halo. "Do not get ahead of yourself!" Alpha would accept that strike, but not the next. "I can summon Salamangreat Parro from my hand when an attack is declared!" A burning parrot(5/2000/1000) [Zone 10], with steel feathers of red, green, yellow and blue, intercepted the Link Disciple's charge, preventing it from using its attack this turn and minimizing some of the incoming damage.

Team Red and Black's LP: 12400

"But you had to summon it in attack position!" Void moved on to the third attack,; the Flame Administrator burned the parrot to the ground. "And I will take some lifepoints back too, Alpha! When my monster co-linked to Binary Sorceress does damage to your monster, we get healed by the same amount."

Team White Void's LP: 14700 Team Red and Black's LP: 11900

"And I can still attack directly with the Blue-Eyes White Dragon!" The dragon targeted the Black Baron. "Oof! I always wondered what that would feel like." Schwarz wheezed. A burst stream of destruction at half power still left an impact like a truck. "Well, glad to have helped out out there." The white-haired duelist snickered.

Team Red and Black's LP: 10400

"Well, I think I have done enough for now. I link summon Secure Gardna!" The link 2 threshold could not be exceeded in the same a duelist link summoned Link Devotee. But Void did not plan to go up. He used a link monster, Link Disciple, as the material for his shield-wing robot(2300/LINK 1) {Right} [Zone 6], extending link chain. "Your move, Alpha. Show me what the first flame of STHEREA can do." If they were going to throw nicknames around, so would he.

-TURN 04-

"You're a cocky one, aren't you? You're practically imagining yourself at the top of the foodchain already. But what will you do once you get there? I wonder.." Alpha left the question with his opponent while he moved through his phases. "I didn't really think about it." Blanche answered him honestly. "I was not directing that question at you! Void, I want to know what you gain out of this!" Only to get rudely silenced. "Knowing that I could do it? Why does it matter to you?" Void did not really look for any material rewards either. "Bah. You are lying to yourself then. And someone who does not listen to the truth does not deserve the truth!" More angered than before, the duelist drew his card.

"Hey, Baron. You know what he is on about?" The blue-eyed duelist was beginning to get curious. "I wish! I was the one to approach him, but he did not tell me anything about this." Schwarzwald claimed.

"It is not time yet, Schwarzwald! Now be quiet about it! I normal summon the monster, Salamangreat Foxy!" The fire of creation released a mechanical blue fox(3/1000/2000) [Zone 6], whose lower body consisted of armor plates around a long bony tail that ended in a bright flame. "Now I can excavate the top three cards of my deck, and add one Salamangreat in that pile to my hand!" Alpha quickly revealed the trio of cards; Salamangreat Wolvie, Salamangreat Meer and Lady Debug. "I choose Meer! Because I can summon that card when it is added to a players hand!" The fire-spiked meercat(2/800/600) [Zone 2] leaped out of his hand and joined the cyberse Fox.. on the field and in the graveyard. "I Link summon Salamangreat Sunlight Wolf! The materials are two Salamangreat monsters!" Alpha collided both monsters in a burning grid that spewed fire left and right. The heat came from a grey cyber wolf(1800/LINK 2) {Up/Down} [Extra Zone 1] with long claws and a mane of sunfire. "This is as far as you got, I will go further!"

"When I discard a Salamangreat monster, I can special summon Salamangreat Foxy from my graveyard!" He tossed a Salamangreat Emerald Eagle to the fiery cauldrons, lighting the flames of transmigration and bringing the fox [Zone 2] back to a specific part of the field. "To do so, I have to also destroy one spell or trap card that I can see. So get out of my sight, Cynet Storm!" The reborn fox glared at the field spell of the cyberse and burned it down while Blanche looked on disappointedly. "Yes I know what you want, here and now. If I destroy your trap, you can summon one of you banished dragons again. But do not worry, you will get my attention." The duelist clenched his hand. "When a monster is linked with Sunlight Wolf, I can add a fire monster in the graveyard to my hand!" Alpha explained why he rapidly re-drew his Salamangreat Meer card. Though Meer could not be special summoned again this turn.

"I link summon Salamangreat Heatleo, using 2 fire effect monsters as the materials!" Foxy and Sunlight Wolf left for the fiery depths, and from their ashes arose the king of the Salamangreat: Heatleo(2300/LINK 3) {Up/Downleft/Downright} [Extra Zone 1] "I can return one of your cards to the deck when I summon Heatleo! And your Castle of Dragonsouls cannot use its effect once it is in the deck!" His salamangreat lion let out a roar and spiral of flames that could intimidate dragons and beasts alike. The fire reached the castle and turned it to dust.

"Are you done yet?" Blanche prodded. "Not even close. I can still activate this spell: Preparation of Rites! I choose a ritual monster and its own ritual spell to add to my hand!" Alpha drew two cards from his deck: Salamangreat Emerald Eagle and Rise of the Salamangreat. "A ritual?" Void did not anticipate this. "Yes! When I control a Salamangreat Link monster, I can sacrifice monsters in my graveyard to ritual summon Salamangreat Emerald Eagle!" His spell drew a magical circle on the rooftop, and set it on fire with the eight stars of the already discarded Salamangreat Emerald Eagle. The circle spun faster and faster until it opened to a portal to the field and put forth the cybernetic silver eagle(8/2800/2000) [Zone 3] with a body of emerald and crystal. "Since I sacrificed Emerald Eagle for Emerald Eagle destroys all special summoned monsters on the field! Which means all of your monsters are destroyed, Void!" An inferno of green and gold exploded from one skyscraper and spread to the next.

"A reincarnation ritual summon? That is a thing?" Bionis let out a gasp in the crowd.

"I don't think so, Alpha! Proxy Dragon can redirect the destruction of my cards to just one monster! I destroy Secure Gardna!" Voids Proxy monster flew forwards to catch the emerald blast before it could reach everyone else. It deflected a portion of the destruction to Secure Gardna alone, canceling out the rest of the ritual monsters effect. "Hmph. You are a typical cyberse duelist. But without your Gardna, you cannot nullify battle damage anymore!" Alpha set his sights on the silverhaired maiden and her white-haired master. "Heatleo attacks the Maiden with Eyes of Blue!" What happened next also did not surprise the fire duelist.

"If you say so. But she can block your attack and summon another Blue-Eyes from my deck at the same time." Heatleo's attack bounced off of the tough scales of the newly summoned second Blue-Eyes White Dragon(8/3000/2500) [Zone 4]. "But you can only use that effect once per turn! It will not survive Emerald Eagle!" The winged Salamangreat took to the air and launched itself downwards like a comet to atomize the lady with eyes of blue. Though at the last second Binary Sorceress transferred half of a Blue-Eyes Dragons power to her(1500/0), so she would let less damage through. "A poor save. You should not have left her in attack position in the first place."

Team White Void's LP: 13400

"Or maybe we left it in attack position on purpose, because we knew you would want to attack it? You are typical too, buddy." Blanche and Void discussed that possibility well before this duel started, among a dozen other strategies. "Call me what you want. You know nothing, and you will never know anything!" Alpha switched phases and placed one trap card behind his ritual monster. "You clearly want to say something, or else you would not be here. So why aren't you?" Void did not have much patience left for this. "No. Not here, not while I can still duel! I have to know the whole world is watching before I reveal it all. The finals, that is when the most eyes and ears are upon me. They wont be able to shut down the finals and they will not be able to stop me before I reach it. Neither will you!"

-TURN 05-

"Oh really?" The white dragon duelist drew her next card and took another look at the field. "Hmm. Two traps. And I know what kind of traps you like." She glared at the black baron. "Someone once told me 'better safe than sorry'. Dont remember who that was, but here we go. I fusion summon Blue-Eyes Twin Burst Dragon!" Rather than using polymerization, the two Blue-Eyes White Dragons on the field performed an automatic fusion to special summon the two-headed destroyer dragon(8/3000/2500) [Extra Zone 2] from her extra deck.

"You think you are safe? You are not!" Alpha barely gave the dragon a moment to shine before he activated his trap card. "Salamangreat Rage! I send my Salamangreat monster to the graveyard to destroy yours!" A sudden and powerful fury possessed Salamangreat Heatleo and drove it into a suicidal frenzy. Heatleo rammed its body into the Twin Burst Dragon, dropping both to the city far below the duelists. "Man, that was a bummer." Blanche let out a soft groan.

"Wait a second.." Schwarz flinched. "What are you doing?" The Baron noticed his white opponent used a spell card: Burial From A Different Dimension, to return the banished Blue-Eyes Alternative White Dragon and White Stone of Ancients to the graveyard. "And _you_ could have stopped his trap. Why didn't you?" He turned on Void as well. He still controlled Proxy Dragon and his effect could also save cards owned by his partner.

"At least _you_ noticed. But we planned that too. We are teammates so we can see into each others hand." Void saw a very good reason not to save Blanche's dragon. "Yeah, see there's this dragon that only shows up when you make it mad. When you kill one of my Blue-Eyes." At the exact same spot that Blue-Eyes Twin Burst Dragon disappeared, a beam of impenetrable white light ascended. "Because that is what teamwork is about and stuff. So _we_, mostly me, special summon Deep-Eyes White Dragon! I think you'd better prepare your speech now, Alpha! Because you are gonna go nowhere. Just like your cards

(To Be Continued in Line 051: A Threat to Harmony)

**New Cards used by Madam Blanche  
**Maiden with Eyes of Blue  
Deep-Eyes White Dragon

-  
Cards of Consonance

-  
Castle of Dragonsouls

**New Cards used by Void  
**Bitlooper  
Link-infra Flyer  
SIMM Tablir

-  
Binary Sorceress  
Proxy Dragon

**New Cards used by Baron Schwarz  
**Black Stone of Legend  
Red-Eyes Alternative Black Dragon

**New Cards used by Alpha  
**Salamangreat Parro  
Salamangreat Foxy  
Salamangreat Emerald Eagle

-  
Salamangreat Sunlight Wolf

-  
Pre-Preparation of Rites  
Rise of the Salamangreat

-  
Salamangreat Rage


	51. A Threat to Harmony

**Line 051: A Threat to Harmony**

Team White Void's LP: 13400 Team Red and Black's LP: 10200

Already the odds weighed heavily in the favor of Team White Void. Void still maintained a powerful co-link between his Flame Administrator(2000/LINK 2) {Left/Downright} [Zone 9], Binary Sorceress(2400/LINK 2) {Left/Right} [Zone 8] and Proxy Dragon(2200/LINK 2) {Left/Right} [Zone 7]. And Madam Blanche turned the destruction of her dragon into a reason to special summon a better one: a thinner silver-white dragon(10/0/0) [Zone 3]. Feather like blades extended from its spine and stardust dripped from its five wings: three of which grew from a ring that connected the two bigger wings. "Deep-Eyes White Dragon! This big guy gains the attack of one other dragon in my graveyard, and inflicts 600 points of damage for each unique dragon in my graveyard!" The deep dragon raised the spirits of her already fallen dragons: Blue-Eyes, Blue Eyes Alternative, Twin Burst and White Stone of Ancients. Each one fired their own beam of pure white light at the skyscraper of the opposing duelists.

Team Red and Black's LP: 7800

"Gah!" Alpha yelled. "Whoa! And I thought effect damage was my specialty!" Schwarz winced. "Well I was here first. Too bad." The blue eyed duelist entered the battle phase. "And I am having fun!" Deep-Eyes(3000/0) took the power from the fused Twin Burst dragon and channeled it into a destructive ray that utterly incinerated the ritual monster: Salamangreat Emerald Eagle(8/2800/2000).

Team Red and Black's LP: 7600

"You think were are not a team? Just because our motivations differ, does not mean we get in each others way." Alpha seemed to explode with rage. In actuality he summoned a new monster to his field. "Cataclysmic Scorching Sunburner! You destroyed my fire monster, so I can summon this card and inflict damage equal to half of Salamangreat Emerald Eagle's attackpoints!" A demon-faced and four-armed fire god(8/2600/200) [Zone 10] split the flames of destruction with his great sword and snarled at the enemies. The ring of fire spiraled out of control and burned the white-haired duelist. "Eeesh. Rough customer.."

Team White Void's LP: 12000

"We are a team. Alpha! We've been working together for some time! And you know why!" Void took this moment to activate the power of the twice co-linked Binary Sorceress. She shared half of the Deep-Eyes White Dragons attackpoints with herself(3900 atk). After all, Blanche could use his monsters for her attacks too. "Yep. He's the boss! And I am the sidekick!" Binary Sorceress launched an orb of magic from her great hands. "Ah, but what was that about summoning your monster in attack position?" This time Schwarzwald intervened. "Oh yeah." He flipped the trap Bye Bye Damage, negating the destruction of the Sunburner. "Oh. You left it in attack mode on purpose huh?" Blanche winced as well. Bye Bye Damage also reflected the damage back to her at double its original strength. "Of course! I learned from the best!" The baron laughed.

Team Red and Black's LP: 6300 Team White Void's LP: 9400

"Well I guess we're not winning this turn then." The rest of Voids monsters would not make it past the Cataclysmic one. "Little by little, we will regain what you took." Alpha grunted. "Yeah yeah yeah. Whatever." Blanche placed two cards face down and ended her turn.

...

"I am curious. What do we know about this Alpha fellow?" Asked Asterisk back at V's lair. "Do you really want to add a third query to the queue?" Vigionair grunted. He already disapproved of his partner using his own equipment to monitor the tournament, now the agent had to distract him as well? "It could be that this man clearly knows something about Exeter that they wouldn't want anyone to know." The agent said. "I assume you base that hunch on Alpha's more than obvious telegraphing of that fact?" The encrypter chuckled. "Well, they cant all be clever hunches. Nevertheless, Anders was a former disgruntled employee of Exeter. He might have gone off the rails, but he seemed to have plenty of reason to do so. If we know who else Exeter has wronged, it might lead us to more of the legacy items." That was his reasoning at least. "Leave it to you to see an enemy as just another victim. Fine. I will..." A loud blinking light cut off the rest of the sentence. "Oh? Speaking of unlikely sources.."

"It seems your three-headed snake caught a fish."

...

-TURN 06-

"What about you anyway? How is this rivalry thing working out for you?" Back at the duel, the lady of white decided to talk to the baron in black instead. "Quite well. You see I did not have a purpose or identity at first. Some people might question me being here at all, calling me a new upstart! But it's not true! I have been dueling for longer than I can remember. I may joke around, but I earned my way in the top 32! And it was your visage that finally gave me enough inspiration to don this virtual skin and attire! I had to know more about you! Even now I feel like I have only skimmed the surface!" He said more than she bargained for. "You poor sap. I guess you fell for my irresistible charms. Too bad I kinda like to keep holding on to my mystique." Blanche took it all in good spirits anyway. "Naturally! I did not bother my own partner for his drive for that very same reason! And since I am on a poetic streak, let me add this... Sometimes the darkness can do just fine without light! Sometimes you dont want to see everything there is! Your dragons light is beautiful! But I have to smother it before it blinds us all!"

"The Black Stone of Legend has another effect. While the stone and a level 7 Red-Eyes are in the graveyard, it can send that other guy back to the deck to put itself back in my hand!" Schwarzwald did just that with his Red-Eyes Black Dragon, putting that card back in the deck. "Then I activate Allure of Darkness, and draw a whopping two cards!" After Schwarz redrew the DARK attributed black stone from the graveyard, he could banish it with Allure of Darkness to keep his two new cards.

"Heh. I like what I see! But I can make it even prettier! Cards of the Red Stone is my next spell!" The barons deck glistened like a red jewel. "I will send a Red-Eyes monster to my graveyard, from the hand and from the deck, to draw two new cards again!" In this case Schwarz tossed away another regular Red-Eyes Black Dragon and a skull-faced demon by the name of Red-Eyes Archfiend of Lightning. His rewards: another spell and a ritual monster. "And I activate my spell, Red-Eyes Insight! Now we can do business!" The last spell took two Red-Eyes cards from the deck, one Meteor Dragon Red-Eyes Impact to send to the grave and one Red-Eyes Transmigration ritual spell to add to his hand. "I might actually start seeing red and black at this rate." Void groaned. "Hey, that would have been my joke!" Blanche muttered.

"Lighten up, Alpha! Here is what we will do!" The red eyes of the duelist locked on to the enemies as he played his fusing spell: Dragons Mirror. "I fusion summon Archfiend Black Skull Dragon!" The fusion materials were the Red-Eyes Archfiend of lightning and the Red-Eyes Black Dragon still in the grave. Dragons Mirror banished both to create a mixture of their dragon and demon bodies: the hellfire spewing and crimson winged Black Skull(9/3200/2500) [Extra Zone 1]. "Also, I too have this spell. Burial from a Different Dimension! We are so alike, Madam Blanche!" The Dimensional spell returned his three banished monsters (Red-Eyes Archfiend, Red Eyes Black Dragon and Black Stone of Legend).

"But I am also much like you, Alpha. So how about this: Red-Eyes Transmigration!? I am gonna ask for your monster, so I can do this!" Schwarz appeared to disappear behind blue and red flames. The truth was less brutal, his ritual spell sacrificed the Cataclysmic Sunburner to summon a draconic knight. The Lord of Red(8/2400/2100) [Zone 3] appeared as a knight in winged black armor made from the red-eyed dragon's scales. "Playtime! And I gotta warn you, Void. As long as Black Skull Dragon battles, you wont be able to use any effects!" The Skull Dragon leered at the cyberse trinity. Such a warning Void could not ignore.

"Then I will save what matters!" Binary Sorceress used her attack transfer powers before the first attack came and Proxy Dragon(3400 atk) took half of her(1300 atk) own attackpoints. "Ah but you shouldn't have done that, Void! Twice per turn, when a card or effect is activated, the Lord of Red will chain with its effect. And he can smite a monster and a spell or trap as well! What does that look like? Well.." The Red Lord wrapped himself up in fire like a living comet. "Like this! I destroy Proxy Dragon first!" Schwarz sent the comet after the cyberse legion. "Then Proxy Dragon will destroy Binary Sorceress to negate his own destruction!" Proxy Dragon intercepted the flames of the lord and once again decided who would die instead of it. "Then Lord of Red will just have to use its power again: Void! This time he will destroy a card in the spell/trap zone!" The ritual monster's effect chained again as it circled back around the skyscraper to come in for another target: Blanche's trap card.

"Oh you guys. always going after my face-downs." Neither Blanche nor Void made any attempt to save the trap. "?! Baron, wait!" Alpha realized what they were up against. "Too late." Blanche sent her card to the graveyard: Waking the Dragon. "When you remove this from the field, heheh, I can summon anything I want from my deck or extra deck! . "Good afternoon, Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon!" Lord of Red withdrew immediately as three pillars of energy burst out of the extra deck. "You baited me?!" The Black Baron stared up at a dragon mightier than anything with red eyes: the three-headed Blue-Eyes Ultimate(10/4500/3800) [Extra Zone 2]. "Amazing! My own fusion wont even compare! But Black will meet white one way or another!" The skullfaced demon turned on Deep-Eyes White Dragon, plowing right through it with a burning fist.

Team White Void's LP: 9200

"Hmph. Normally Deep-Eyes would destroy all cards on the field when it is destroyed, but.." The Archfiend dragon negated that effect as well, and triggered his own instead. "Heh! Since I destroyed your monster, I can inflict damage equal to the attackpoints of a Red-Eyes normal monster in my graveyard! Oh and I have to return that monster to my deck." The gemini monster Red-Eyes Archfiend of Lightning rose from the ashes of the white dragon like an electric phoenix, flying into Blanche first before retreating into the Barons dueldisk. "Rgh.. Yeah, I am beginning to not like you again." She coughed and placed a hand on her chest.

Team White Void's LP: 7700

"Well if I am not making any friends, I might as well give everyone my regards! The Lord of Red attacks the Flame Administrator!" The black dragon knight could still do plenty of damage even without its fire. It closed the distance between both sides instantly and kicked right through the cyberse Admin. "Ngh." Without it, Proxy Dragon(2600 atk) lost some of its attackpowers.

Team White Void's LP: 7300

"I guess I will set a trap too, before I end my turn. But what's this?! I didn't set a monster this turn? I didn't normal summon anything either? But that means.." Giddily, Schwarz grabbed two cards from his graveyard. "I can banish Red-Eyes Wyvern from my graveyard and use that effect to bring back Red-Eyes Alternative Black Dragon! Awww yeah!" The newer shinier black dragon(7/2400/2000) returned just at the very end of the turn. "Always a lot of laughs with this guy. He's all yours, Void."

-TURN 07-

"I know." He could not be reckless. The first effect he used would trigger the Lord of Red. "Man I can totally read your mind, Void. You don't want to make my ritual monster mad and I get that. But.. I can activate effects too!" Yet the Baron was one step and one phase ahead of Void. He revealed his trap card: Red-Eyes Fang with Chain, which equipped itself to the Alternative Dragon like a dragon-shaped throwing weapon. "And there goes Proxy Dragon, all on his own!" Lord of the red activated its destruction effect against the Proxy Dragon, before it could link to new proxies.

"..." And Void let it go. "I see now how you beat Neo and Bionis so easily, Baron Schwarzwald. You did not just study Blanche, but all of us. You even picked Alpha as your teammate because you saw him as my own rival. So what would you say about me?" Void asked while he normal summoned Draconnet(3/1400/1200) [Zone 6], whose effect special summoned Datatron(2/1500/0) [Zone 7] the normal data creature to the field. The latter he quickly used as a link material for Link Spider(1000/LINK 1) {Down} [Extra Zone 4] "Well that is easy. You like to pile on monster after monster like him. And you like to be a hero of the duelists like him! You two are so similar, I can hardly tell you apart!" The baron gave his assessment. "I am nothing like him!" And his partner protested his conclusion fiercely.

"Once I would agree. I would never search the spotlight myself. But the more I stand in it, the more I see why others do. It's quite fun actually." Void no longer cared how many saw him duel. In fact he welcomed them to watch. "I summon Link Infra Flyer again!" Perhaps he could still surprise them. The infranet kite(2/0/1800) [Zone 4] special summoned itself to the zone marked by the Link Spider. "And link summon Recovery Sorcerer!" Infra Flyer and Draconnet turned into the materials for the yellow-robed cyber sorcerer(1500/LINK 2) {Left/Down} [Extra Zone 2]. "Recovery Sorcerer can revive one link monster you destroyed this turn!" Of course he chose to resummon Proxy Dragon [Zone 10]. "Gah. I should have known you would do that. I should have just blown up that Blue-Eyes while I could." Schwarz cursed his aim as Void undid all of his work. "You knew about the Sorcerer too huh?" Though Void never used Recovery Sorcerer before in a public match, most cyberse duelists tended to run it as it did not cost them much. "But how about this? I will I use my link monsters to summon Firewall Dragon!" Not everything came that cheap.

"Fire.. wall!?" The opposing duelists flinched when they heard that name. "A link 4 monster? He had that?! Since when?" This news shocked Neo and Scura in the audience as well. "I guess since he beat Himiko and spent his points wisely." Bionis grinned wryly.

"You sure you want to use it now, Void?" Only Blanche had been told about this card in advance, though Void also claimed he wanted to save it for the finals. "Sure. What better answer to fire, than a firewall? Heh." The new link dragon(2500/LINK 4) {Left/Up/Down/Right} [Zone 9] revealed itself to the whole world: its black body segmented through horizontal blue lines, its white armor scales, its golden bolts and glowing rings which connected its limbs and framed its head. "Once while Firewall Dragon is on the field it can use its power! For each monster linked to it, Firewall Dragon bounces one monster on the field or in the graveyard back to our hand! Since my Link Spider is linked with Firewall, it can return the Red-Eyes Alternative Black Dragon!" No card posed more of a threat than the dragon equipped with the fanged chain. Schwarz made that clear all too soon.

"Okay, I did not see this coming. But I can deal with it! I can force Red Eyes Fang With Chain to equip your effect monster to my Red-Eyes!" He destroyed the trap, which ensnared the wings of Firewall Dragon. "But that wont stop his effect, Baron!" In the middle of its transformation into a new equipment for the Alternative dragon, Firewall Dragon flared up and turned hotred. The heat was too much for both monsters. "Then we're even!" Firewall shattered and fell into the graveyard, Red-Eyes turned to black dust and retreated into Schwarz's hand.

"Too bad my dragon was not an effect monster huh? Void, you know what to do!" The dragon duelist gave the cyberse duelist the okay. "I had hoped to give Firewall more screen time, but this will do. Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon! Attack the Lord of Red!" The ritual knight became the next most dangerous card with its destructive potential. Void commanded all three heads of the ultimate Blue-Eyes to atomize it with a triple burst of white destruction. "And that just leaves one!" Blanche grinned as the turn came to a conclusion. "Are you sure you can win this, Alpha? This may be the end of your crusade!"

Team Red and Black's LP: 4200 -TURN 08-

"This is not about just me. Exeter has hurt people, and will go on hurting people as long as everyone turns a blind eye to them. Why do you think they have so many enemies? Why do you think they created STHEREA? They knew dueling would capture the hearts of the world, and the only way to dispel their illusion is to shake all those hearts at the same time." Defiantly Alpha drew his next card. "They hurt people? Who? How? Do you have proof?" Now Void really wanted to get to the bottom of this. "People who were run out of their homes, had their credit ruined and their identity online shattered. And they tried to fight it, but they could not spread their message. I can. I can help them. But I will not name them, they have had enough pain already. I have no proof, I do not know why the company did it. All I know is that it is the truth. And I will tell it all as long as they cannot silence me."

"And they cannot silence me as long as I am winning! I activate Salamangreat Recureance, and reclaim two Salamangreats with different names from my graveyard!" The cyberse duelist claimed his Salamangreats: Parro and Foxy. "I summon Foxy once more!" Just like the previous turn, the cyberfox(3/1000/1200) [Zone 8] excavated three cards from Alpha's deck and added one to his hand: Salamangreat Jack Jaguar. "This card, a level 4 cyberse, will be the link material for Salamangreat Balelynx!" Foxy jumped up to disappear in front of the fake suns light. From there the new Salamangreat emerged: a more robotic lynx cat(500/LINK 1) {Down} [Extra Zone 3] with jet thrusters on its back and a flame at the end of its tail. "The effect of BaleLynx lets me add Salamangreat Sanctuary to my hand!" Though he started with nothing, already Alpha had tripled his assets.

"Meer is summoned too!" The cyber meerkat(2/800/600) [Zone 7] could be special summoned once a Salamangreat got discarded. And that discarded card, Jack Jaguar, had its own graveyard power. "Since I control a Salamangreat link monster, I can special summon Jack Jaguar from my graveyard by returning another Salamangreat monster from the graveyard to my deck!" I summon Salamangreat Jack Jaguar!" With his new fury, Alpha brought out the cybernetic jaguar(4/1800/1200) [Zone 6] with gold and black plating and burning spikes jutting out from its back and legs. This card returned Salamangreat Heatleo to the extra deck to secure its own reincarnation. "I Link summon Heatleo!" Salamangreat Balelynx, Jack Jaguar and Meer all burned down to just link materials to give life to the Salamangreat king Heatleo(2300/LINK 3) {Downleft/Up/Downright} [Extra Zone 3]

"We all know where this is going." Blanche prepared her groaning. "And you cannot even slow me down! I activate Salamangreat Sanctuary, so that I can reincarnation link summon Salamangreat Heatleo!" Once the spell came down, an already lava-spewing volcano rose up behind the skyscrapers. Into the fires of transmigration it dove, and out Heatleo(2300 atk) came with renewed powers. This second link 3 monster used the first Heatleo as its sole link material: thanks to Salamangreat Sanctuary's effect. "Now disappear! All of you will disappear!" Heatleo used its reincarnation effect to drop the attackpoints of the Ultimate white dragon(500/3800) down to just that of the Salamangreat Balelynx in the graveyard. "Your monsters, and the masters!" Heatleo blasted the Link Spider away from the field.

Team White Void's LP: 6000

And the Black Skull Dragon charged the weakened Ultimate Dragon. "Yes, this time black beats white!" Schwarz cheered Alpha on while the hellish flames of the demon destroyed the three-headed white dragon. And since it had claimed another victim, the Black Skull could return Red-Eyes Black Dragon to the deck to inflict 2400 points of damage to Blanche and Void at the same time. "All you can do is struggle for a man who cares nothing for you! For a company that treats all of us the same! Like dirt! Is this worth dueling for?"

Team White Void's LP: 1500

-TURN 09-

"That question is getting exhausting. Does there have to be a reason? Do I need my own motive to do anything? I dont think I do." Blanche drew her next card. "What if I duel just because I like it? What if I duel.. for me? And Void too, a little. But mostly me." She activated the Luminous Spark field spell. Now all light type monsters would gain 500 attackpoints and lose 400 defense points. "And that gives you the right to stand here? I am trying to reach out to all duelists! Who are you to stop that?" Alpha did not like what he heard, the white-haired girl acted far too calmly. "The girl who drew the winning card. That's all the right I need." That calmness came from one spell card: the Beacon of White.

"I activate the Beacon and summon my Blue-Eyes White Dragon!" When three or more Blue-Eyes monsters rested in her graveyard, the equip spell would choose one to equip to and brought her back to the field with all of her effects sealed. That last part hardly mattered, because Blanche chose to revive the original Blue-Eyes White Dragon(8/3500/2100) [Zone 3]. "Oh no!" Schwarz, with all his extensive knowledge on Blue-Eyes trivia, saw nothing but doom ahead. "He attacks Heatleo!" One burst stream escaped the dragons maws and slammed into the chest of the cyberse lion.

Team Red and Black's LP: 3000

"You wasted your attack! I can banish Salamangreat Balelynx to negate my Salamangreats destruction!" Alpha warded off the attack with the spirit of the lynx, though his lifepoints still dwindled. "No I didn't, actually. I only used up my first attack." She started to laugh while the dragon charged a second beam. "First? What!?" Alpha gasped at what he saw: four glowing Blue-eyes (Alternative, Twin Burst, Ultimate and another normal Blue-Eyes) monsters standing besides the one on the field. "The Beacon of White gives my monster one attack for each Blue-Eyes monster in the graveyard!" Another beam shot across the bow, tearing through the now defenseless Heatleo. "Five attacks?!" Blue-Eyes White Dragon fired a third time to destroy Archfiend Black Skull Dragon. "You!" Even if Alpha special summoned Salamangreat Parro to intercept the fourth attack, the final blast would still take them down. "You..." He did not resist at all instead. The fourth beam headed right for Alpha and Schwarz, flew over their heads amd erased their lifepoints.

Team Red and Black's LP: 0

The semifinals were over.

"What have you done." Alpha dropped to his knees. "You have destroyed their only hope. You have played right into the hands of them. You are just another part of the system!" He looked like a man enraged enough to jump of the tower just to get to Blanche and Void. "Alpha. This does not have to be the end." Though Void did not completely understand, he still empathized. "Tell me what you know. I have friends who can look into it." He did not disbelieve the man either. "I do not trust your friends, I do not trust you. This pledge is mine alone. And if I cannot say it during the finals, I will say it now." He stood back up. "I will say it to everyone!"

(To Be Continued in Line 052: Into Forbidden Territory)

**New Cards used by Madam Blanche  
**Beacon of White

-  
Waking the Dragon

**New Cards used by Void**  
Firewall Dragon

**New Cards used by Baron Schwarz  
**Red-Eyes Archfiend of Lightning  
Red-Eyes Wyvern  
Lord of the Red

-  
Archfiend Black Skull Dragon

-  
Allure of Darkness  
Cards of the Red Stone  
Red-Eyes Transmigration  
Burial from a Different Dimension  
Dragons Mirror

-  
Red Eyes Fang with Chain

**New Cards used by Alpha  
**Salamangreat Jack Jaguar

-  
Salamangreat Balelynx

-  
Salamangreat Recureance


	52. Into Forbidden Territory

**Line 052: Into Forbidden Territory**

Everyone seemed on edge, the duelists, the admins. Only the host ADIs kept talking, perhaps in a vain attempt to silence Alpha. "I see I dont have a lot of time. I will be quick then!" The Salamangreat duelist had something to get off his chest, and it would not be long before others would come in to stop him.

"I knew someone once, and I knew him well. His name was Horace Rouen!" Alpha raised his voice, to make sure everyone heard the name. "But you wont find news about him anywhere anymore, not that man. Because his history has been erased from all networks. Why? Because his story made someone else look bad. Because he got into an accident one day, along with a lot of other people. They suffered from a massive explosion at a factory and were all taken to the same hospital for emergency treatments. But overnight, they all disappeared. And nobody seemed to care. They were people with no family or friends, people nobody would ask questions about. But I did... I knew one of them. Horace was taken away, I still don't know where he is to this day!"

"What.. does this have to do with Exeter?" Void asked him. He figured that the admins had not stepped in yet because Alpha himself had not made a direct accusation yet. But that would soon change through a simple fact. "Simple. I did the research, and found out that the hospital and the factory were both owned by shell companies. Their money came from another place, from Exeter! They were the ones who abducted those people! They were the ones who caused the accident in the first place!" And there he said it. "What? Why would they do something like that?" Even Schwarzwald took this news heavily. "I do not know. I only know that I had to say this to the world. Show them that Exeter is a greater evil than they can ever imagine! When I heard that they funded this network too, I knew this would be only chance to deliver my message. All these duels, were to get me to this point. And you might have ruined it, Void. I hope you are happy with your win!"

"Dude.. How were we supposed to know?" Blanche retaliated. She did not even know if they could believe him. "Hmph. It is up to you to decide what to do with this information!" Alpha, noticing the advancing admins, reached for his dueldisk. "But my road will not end here!" He quickjumped out.

"Hey!" Panicking, the black baron logged out as well. "Tch, that one got away too." One admin cursed as they entered the duel field. "He doesn't matter. We have to pursue Alpha. We will just suspend his avatar and track him down. He can't get far.."

"And then what will you do to him?" Void suddenly asked. "This is not your concern, 'hero'." The judge replied condescendingly. "I think it is. Are you going to do the same thing to him as you did to Giganoto? He already said what he wanted." Void heard it, everyone heard it. The truth was already out there. "He has slandered the company, that is a criminal offense. And we take in anyone who commits a crime on this network." Another judge explained. "Then what about Victor, did you catch that guy already then?" The cyberse duelist was not satisfied with that explanation. "Do not push your luck just because you still have a final match to appear in. Leave them to us, and you go to your fantasy place and do whatever." But the judges of the law said as much as they wanted to say too and left the scene. "Ugh..."

"What do you think, Void? Was he telling the truth?" Blanche sidled up next to him. "Maybe. I don't know. I don't even know why Exeter would do it." He sighed. Things made less and less sense. "Hey guys! Asterisk called us!" And the answers would have to wait, as Neo ran in with a different matter to focus on. "He wants us to come to the Arena! Because of... reasons." The cyborg-duelist yelled.

_"...Hydra."_

...

Sundown, Midsummer and Crescent waited, were already present when the rest of the heroes(Void, Bionis, Neo, Scura and Blanche) arrived. Veyron also showed up separately, without his partner. "Hey Veyron. How are you holding up?" Blanche greeted the speed duelist first. "As well as I can expect. I tried to find... you know.. But he wasn't at home, and I couldn't track him online. The admins are not telling me anything either. And despite everything, I feel like he will turn up to ask for more favors any hour now." El Veyron let out a long moan, twice. "Zettai already told me to stop worrying about him... And that reminds me that I should apologize on Zettai's behalf. She congratulates you on your victory, as do I. But she did not want to be here because she is preparing for the finals. I had to use all my charms just to me being here approved by her." Veyron supposed she did not want to let her future opponents know her duel plans.

"Ha. She really does have a one-track mind." Sundown let out a chuckle in the background. "She is not the only one.. You know that" Veyron snapped back, as neither of them had seen Yoro-Himiko and Zanbatou since the quarterfinals. And nobody saw Scarlet returning any time soon. "Maybe Himiko is talking with her family about her future here. And Donna... is still trying to get their decision with Giganoto reversed." By now Void felt certain that Giganoto had been set up somehow. But how did someone slip that skill card into his deck, and why? And who knew what would happen to Alpha now.

"Void.." His thoughts got interrupted by Crescent Aurora. "I wanted to ask you about Cherry Anise." She said, carefully. "You heard?" He stammered. "From Sundown." The girl nodded. Void could have figured as much. Though he could barely keep up with what each person did or did not yet already know. "I am glad he told me. Even if I do not understand.. Cherry is back. So why would she want to hurt us?" Crescent shook her head. "And what does this mean for Wagner? Is he out there too now?" A glimmer of hope burned in her eyes. "I wish I could say that. Cherry may just be a special case, or maybe this Millennium group can do it to others as well." Though they did not have all the answers yet, it felt good to share the few that already existed. "But what are we waiting for?" Bionis growled, getting back to the topic of the invitation.

"I was waiting for the others to join us." Hydra answered. "Tch. You were here all along?" Bionis Khan rolled his eyes.

"But I think this will have to do, Hydra." Asterisk also took that as his cue to show up in the arena beyond. "Good evening. I called everyone to let them know what Hydra found out for us." He typed in a set of numbers on his dueldisk, and forwarded them to every other dueldisk in the arena. "Coordinates?" Crescent immediately recognized the sequence for what it was. "Correct. This quickjump location was handed out to various duelists while the semifinals took place, along with offerings of endless fun within the network. Does that sound familiar?"

"The Legacy of Millennium." Void surmised. "Correct as well. This is an invitation for anyone interested, set to expire within the hour. That is why I called you all on such short notice. I do not know where these coordinates will lead us, but these people apparently never appear in the same spot twice." It was no wonder that they could not catch them before, they were as slippery as Vigionair and Scarlet with their own hideouts. "How exactly did you get this? Did you beat it out of someone?" Sundown inquired demandingly. "No. A duel would have given me... us.. away. I was simply following signals that somewhat matched those of the World Legacy cards. I never spotted anyone using those cards. But at one point my word filters did catch someone using it in a conversation. A conversation about a duelist with a lot of promises that would be fulfilled soon. I tried to track them but they disappeared to a part of the network I could not see. I only saw the numbers they used to make the jump. It could be nothing, but it is our only lead."

"Definitely sounds like the work of that train jack&*#" Scura scoffed. "Aha. But why did you call all of us here?" Void needed to know. He never felt safe in this arena, especially with him in the background. "Oh, the more things change." Midsummer Nightmare had been watching everyone talk, silently staring at them with his masked face. "If it bothers you that much, then I will resist the urge to assist you. Though it pains me to do so, I will simply stay here for the duration of your mission. Then you can be certain your information will not be spread through me." He took a few steps back and sat down on one of the seats. "That is very generous of you, sir Nightmare. I can imagine your curiosity, so I admire your willpower." The agent turned to the others.

"I alerted everyone except for Scarlet. We may need the numbers. And V did not want to bring more people into his home, so I chose this place." Asterisk started. "V was your friend, wasn't he?" Crescent inquired. "Indeed. And he made something special for our next operation. Try these on." The agent tossed a small disc, the size of a jar lid, to Blanche and Void. "You will find that it changes your appearance entirely." He attached the disc to his forehead and instantly transformed. "Whoa!" Blanche tried it out immediately as well. "How..." And so did Void.

"How do these work? How do I even look?" Void could not see his own face, his new face. "Surprisingly vain question, Void." Blanche looked completely unrecognizable now as a longhaired blonde woman, even her voice had changed. "You look as boring as you did before. I thought players could only have one account?" Bionis commented. To him and the others Void appeared as a younger redhaired duelist with a basic student uniform.

"That's true. See them more as special Avatar skins. Vigionair created them himself using the standard templates and turned them into grafts. They even come with data copied from other starting duelists, to complete the disguise." Asterisk, now appearing as a bald thuggish looking soldier, showed off his run of the mill dueldisk and deck of common cards. "I get it. You're the kind of people that would be tempted by an invitation like that of Millennium's." Neo said as he snapped his fingers. "Remarkable indeed. I suppose this is your friends answer to my own method of invisibility." Hydra could be heard chuckling. "You could call it that. V does not like to be trumped by others."

"Heh, so you are gonna use these for spying? That's a shame." Scura did not mind the tools so much as their intended application. On a normal day she would have been the first to want to try it out. "Hmph. Weren't you invited by them as well?" Bionis scoffed. "As if. That guy was just using me to trap Asterisk. Of course he wouldnt really want to have me on his team. If I show up now, even disguised, I'm just gonna freak out and ruin everything. Eheh." No manner of cloaking would cover up her trembling. "You can also count me out. I am not going to hide who I am from anyone. Besides, someone has to make sure Midsummer doesnt run off.." Sundown grunted and maintained his rigid stance.

"I would not send too many regardless. It would look strange if a large group arrives." Hydra suggested. He could not exactly cover for them once they were inside. "The three of us will do." Asterisk nodded. "Aw. But I want to help. I feel like I havent done enough!" Neo sighed. "You can help by going to V and watch from there. These disguises also have a recording software implanted. You will be able to see what we see."

"I am surprised you would go back there, after what happened during that 'last time'." Midsummer raised his voice once more. "Are you not scared? You may not find yourself fortunate enough to escape this time." The nightmare duelist let out a sinister chuckle. "Thanks for reminding us why you aren't coming along." Void chuckled back at him. "Actually it is a fair question. Just one that rarely occurs to me." Asterisk lowered his head to contemplate. "I suppose I am not that easily intimidated. I would rather avoid another shock treatment, of course. Twice is more than enough for a lifetime. But if something must be done, I will do it. I am a man of action, Midsummer." He felt that would suffice as clarification. "A man with no heed for the consequences. Heh, you would do well to appreciate fear.. agent. Your friends already do." The Nightmare duelist relented but also gave Void a quick glance. "A little fear is good, Midsummer." Void retorted. "But that does not mean that I am too affraid to leap into the unknown."

"Is it settled then?" A restless Hydra asked. "Or do you want to ask Static for permission too?" He mockingly suggested. "NO!" Sundown and Blanche shouted at the same time. "I can already hear him now, just riddling away and belittling us for wasting his time." Blanche saw no good come of it. "Agreed. We can do this without him. We are ready, Hydra.. Asterisk." Void nodded.

"Good. I will be jumping over there first, you and Blanche can follow me two minutes later." It would look to suspect if all three of them arrived at the same time. "Well. I cant wait to see what's going down wherever we are going." Blanche rubbed her hands together. "What if its just death? Or torture? What if it goes to hell immediately?" Scura still felt anxious. "Just go with Neo to see V. Because he records everything, you can warn everyone here should it be necessary." That way, if things did go south, they would at least have help. "I would like that." Crescent agreed to that plan. "Well maybe we wont need that. You have Hydra on your side. Right?" Neo shouted. The invisible duelist gave no response. "Guess he already went. No time like the present.." Asterisk shrugged and input the coordinates. He vanished from the arena. "We will see you again." Void and Blanche soon followed, unaware of what awaited them.

...

"Oooh..kay" They found a wasteland. Void, Blanche and Asterisk stepped into a wide region of emptiness as far as the eye could see. "Is this.. the trashbin or something?" The sky consisted of nothing but mismatching skyboxes while parts of castles, houses, rocks and trees jutted out of floors and walls they could not see or touch. They were not even standing on solid ground, they were floating in limbo. "It is a realm of lost assets, an out of bounds area." Now Void got why it had been so difficult to find these people. They were hiding outside the game. Just how far could the network go? "Ah there's more people!" Blanche shouted as she spotted another group in the distance. Asterisk was not among them however. "Maybe don't yell about it." Void whispered. "Hey. We gotta act natural, _Carlos_." She snickered. "Carlos?" Void realized never gave his new identity a proper name. And since the others overheard her, he got stuck with this one.

"Hey guys! You're here for the whatsits and whosits as well?" Luckily they did not seem to be suspicious of any latecomers. "Of course." Void replied, shocked at how thick his accent sounded in this disguise. "We heard it through the grapevine. My name is Carlos, and this my friend _Stacy_." He did not hear any objections, but he could imagine she did not want to be called that due to her twitching eye. A little payback. "Oh you." Instead she 'acted natural' and slapped him softly in the back.

"So, whatup? This is a neato place. But did we get called aaaallll the way out here just to see this 'stuff'?" 'Stacy' evidently enjoyed playing the part of the ditz. "Hey we know as much you know. The guy who told us heard it from someone else and so forth." One guy shrugged. "But they said they would show us how to stay in STHEREA longer! We've been waiting for too long! We're getting impatient!" Another girl impatiently stomped her feet on the ground that did not exist. These people reminded Void of Thomas. "They may just be waiting for everyone to arrive." Void suggested out loud. "How do you know you're not the last ones to show up?" Another duelist asked. "Uhm.. I just expected a bigger turnout is all." If the group had been bigger, they would have stood out less. Void did not see Asterisk around anywhere either.

But he was, just on the other side of a few scattered brickwalls, talking to other duelists who had shown up on their own. "Attention! Attention everyone! The next show will be starting in a few minutes!" And both the agent and Team White Void could hear the one at the center of the nothing.

And his words reached all the way across Asterisks link with Vigionair's lair, where Neo and Scura already saw everything and heard everything. "Ahh!" The latter cringed when the words echoed in her ears. "That's the guy! The guy with the trains!" She would recognize that droning voice anywhere. "They have made contact."

The silverfaced Ulysses stood on the largest structure in the wastelands, the top of a pyramid temple which Void presumed to be part of a scrapped in-game quest or area. "Bl..Stacy. Look." The engineer duelist was not the only familiar face. Cherry Anise sat on the steps leading to the altar at the top. He did not see the man of thunder, but he could not have been far away. "The usual suspects." Blanche mumbled as every duelist floated towards the pyramid. Along the way Void finally spotted Asterisk, and quickly pretended to not notice. "So are you the guy who can do the thing?" The unruly mob started throwing out their questions.

"Heh. They think you're it? That's adorable." Cherry cheerfully sneered. "Oh please. I do not deserve such expectations! I am but a humble messenger, spreading the word of Millennium. I did not save myself, I was saved by another. Someone who has saved hundreds already! From disease, starvation, crime, insanity! Do you know how many curses affect our daily physical lives? Well that can be a thing of the past now! Because of the man I want to introduce you to, today!" Ulysses raised his hand to the distorted sky. "Here he is, the one and only, the one chosen to bring us all to the new world! Give it up for the Deliverer..."

"EZRA!"

What transpired next stunned the duelists. "Ah! Whoa!" The fragmented pyramid turned whole beneath their feet, growing out of the nonexistent ground. The skies melded together into a pitchblack and starless night. Dead trees grew out of the soil that spread across the duelists like a pool of water. "This is.." The network could not sustain such visual changes on its own, not in such a natural yet unreal manner. And yet Void felt like he had seen something to this effect before. "There he is!" All of this change ensued because of one man; one being at the top of the now completed pyramid surrounded by burning purple flames. Ezra. He looked like a figure from a nightmare, a tall warrior wrapped up in bandages, torn robes and rusted armor. He did not have a face, just a dark void and two glowing red eyes behind a hood. Long twisted horns protruded from that hood, like antlers of the devil. Nobody dared to speak before him..

"You have come far." Ezra uttered his first sentence with a surprisingly smooth and gentle voice. "You have come here for many reasons. What are they?" He allowed the crowd to shout out various stories, which ranged from simple curiosity to stronger claims. Some sounded like Thomas did, Void noted. There were cries of hatred and fear. Ezra silenced them all with a clear gesture of his hand. "Yes, many reasons. But you all want the same thing in the end, that which all men truly crave and deserve: freedom." He clenched his bony fist. "You cannot find it. Because you are shackled to lies. You are chained by a world that is too small for those that live in it. Everyone wants a piece, even if they have to take it from others. But no more. You may not know this, you may not believe this. You will call it impossible, insane, idiotic. Those are the chains talking. It is a new age; a new world. And we of Millennium are here to herald you into this new world! They call it STHEREA, they call it a game. But it is so much more. It can be so much more. It can be the home we have always wanted!"

"He's crazy." Void muttered under his breath. "I dunno. Either he is, or we are." Blanche on the other hand noticed that everyone around them latched on to Ezra's every word. "But how?! How can we stay in here? Wont we starve?" There were questions of course. Not everyone could accept all of this at once. "That is another lie they told you. Exeter, they do not understand what they created. Your body can be merged with the spirit, and preserved within the interface indefinitely. The time limit is merely their way to control you, to keep you from going too far. We have already disconnected that tie and lived on perfectly without it. This is the proof." Ezra shifted the shadows and focused the light upon Cherry Anise.

"It's true. I havent been in the real world for weeks now. And I do not miss anything. There was nothing back there for me. This is my world now." She gave a heartfelt speech as if she was about to sing for the crowd. And while she spoke convincingly, some remained skeptic. "How do we know if you can do this?"

"The same way everyone knows. With a volunteer! With a 100 % success rate!" Ulysses threw the offer into the crowd. "Volunteer?" Nobody felt like taking it.

"We will not force anyone to do what they do not wish to do. And those that wish to test their luck in this new life, are free to leave whenever they so desire. We have no chains here, no restrictions. We bring only the freedom and peace of a limitless world. Behold." Ezra took five cards from out of nowhere. "To duel is to bring imagination to life. Monsters of the mind clawed their way into art, visual media, and now the worldwide network as well." He revealed one card based on a famous folklore monster: Danger! Bigfoot!.

"Now choose." He narrowed his crimson gaze on one of the duelists, the anxious longhaired girl from before. "Uhm? Okay?" The Effect of the Danger! monster forced her to discard a random card from Ezra's hand. And if she chose something other than Bigfoot, the monster would be special summoned to the field. Those were the rules in a normal duel. "That one!" Here, after she picked a card that turned out to not be the revealed monster, Bigfoot stormed out of the messenger's hand. "Whaaah!"

"Be not affraid. Nothing can hurt you here, if you will it." The hairy and blue beastman phased right through the girl as it rushed towards the dead tree wasteland. "How did you... know I would pick that one? How could I?" Normally computers did the choosing, whenever an action or effect called for random selection. "As I said, there are no rules but those we make for ourselves. This started as a game, we can turn it into something bigger. We can make a paradise for the lost. We can help the affraid and terrorized overcome fear and escape terror. The mind will triumph over the body, over the material." Ezra tapped the side of his skull and caused the rampaging BigFoot to tranform into large tree filled with red apples. In the same heartbeat the dead terrain transformed into an expansive fruit-filled orchard.

"But... how can you do all of this?" Void could no longer stay silent. He risked it all to get this one answer. "With this." And Void got 'it'. "The legacy of the creator. Of a true god." Ezra conjured up a large two-forked and three-pointed purple lance, with a silver coiled around the balancing point. The second item: the Lance of the World Legacy.

(To Be Continued in Line 053: The Dreams of Millions)


	53. The Dreams of Millions

**Line 053: The Dreams of Millions**

"Is that one of the items? Are you sure?" Through the eyes and ears of Asterisk and the others; Neo, Scura and Vigionair came to behold a glorious sight: the lance of world legacy. "I am always sure! And that object occupies the same kind of unreadable data structures as the crown did." Vigionair could throw out all of his theories now, since he did not expect it to take this shape. The weapon looked similar to the crown as well, more cybernetic than metallic. "But what can it do?" Scura wondered out loud. "Hmm. Even though three separate sources show the same environmental changes on the screen, the code stays the same. It is as if this item can affect the network on a level beyond its programming." For once Vigionair could not explain what he saw.

"Then this is the guy Static wanted us to find! We should warn the others!" Neo nearly rushed out of the lair. "No. Wait. If we attack now, they will just run and we wont learn anything!" Scura stopped him. "I agree, they are not in danger yet. We need to maintain our cover for a while longer." Vigionair nodded. "Okay.. I guess. But I dont have a good feeling about this, at all."

...

"Roger that." Asterisk whispered to himself as he confirmed what Vigionair told him. Of course the Agent knew retreat was not an option yet. Perhaps it would not even be necessary, since there seemed to be only three members of Millennium here. Though they weren't ordinary duelists. Despite what he said before he entered this wasteland of cyberspace, Asterisk could not be sure now that he did not know fear. Ezra the wielder of the the World Legacy Lance; something about this man unnerved him. His voice and his actions reached deep and scraped against a form of primal terror. Just what could this item do?

"What is that? How did you get it?" Luckily for the heroes; they did not have to be the ones pleading with the deliverer for answers. "This is the Lance that pierced the heart of gods, the legacy left behind by the creator. It is the charity to spread love and the force to create peace. With it we can cut the chains that tether us to the material realm and join this new world of the creator. He spoke to me, found me in my moments of despair. Through his guidance I found this power at the heart of STHEREA, buried underneath trials and tests. I passed them all, because he wanted me to acquire this power. He wanted me to save you all. The step might seem great for some, impossible even. But I have made it, and so have my friends. You are not the first to be given this blessing. And you will not be the last." Ezra drew all the shadows of the void near him and created another higher level on top of the pyramid. "You can try it out right now. Even if you do not believe, or if you become too afraid, you can always return."

"I.. I will want to try." The same girl from the before volunteered again. "Excellent! What is your name, my auburn-haired lady?" Ulysses walked up to her and took her hand. "Oh. I'm Lorelei!" She giddily replied. "Right! This way then!" The engineer walked her up the newly created steps. "Careful now. If he gets too frisky, feel free to slap him." Cherry laughed as the pair passed her by. "Do not mind her. She is just jealous that she's not the prettiest one around here anymore.. Heh. And here we are!" The two arrived at their destination.

"Lady Lorelei. Is this truly what you want?" Ezra took over from there. "I don't know. It all sounds to fantastical. I.. yes. Yes I do!" She nodded her head up and down. "And why is it that you want this?" The lance wielder inquired further. "Because I have nothing back home anymore. My family doesn't love me, my classmates don't know me. All the people I care about I met in here. People I never would have seen in real life. So that's why.. That is why I am ready for the next step." She closed her eyes and kneeled down. "You are ready."

"...!" Void twitched. _"I have to stop him."_ His hands were shaking, he could not just let this man do this to her. "Uhm. Carlos, don't be such a wimp." But 'Stacy', in her own way, calmed him down before he turned himself into a fool and gave the whole operation away. No matter what took place up there, he could not interfere.

"?" He could not comprehend either. Ezra pointed the middle tip of the trident lance against the back of Lorelei's neck, and a transparent spiral of flames traveled along his item like a slithering snake. The heat reached everyone down below as well. "Do not fear. Fear is what holds us back." Ezra intoned as soon as the energy reached her spine. "Ah!?" Lorelei snapped her head back, letting the fire travel up and down her entire body. Everyone stared, including Agent Asterisk. "...Interesting." For a moment the agent could have sworn he saw another entity standing next to Ezra and Lorelei. His enhanced sight mods gave him a one-second glimpse of a ghostlike exoskeleton that passed through the girl. As if her soul got extracted from the nervous system: the pulse of light filled every nerve and then faded away. "It is done." Ezra retracted his lance. "It is? That was.. quick." She grinned as she rubbed her neck. "Did you expect more?" The deliverer tilted his head. "No. No. But how do I know anything happened at all?" She did not really feel different. "You will, when the time comes."

"There you have it! Any questions? Any takers?" Ulysses looked down to see a now very tense and excited gathering.

They asked about why they should do it, if they would ever feel tired, if they would lose the small comforts of life that the network just could not copy well. Ulysses promised that they would feel them down here as well, as soon as Millennium acquired more power. That there were deeper states of consciousness to reach. "What if wanna eat a sandwich?" Even Blanche/Stacy dared to throw out a question. "You might not get hungry down here, but if you have to eat..." Ulysses snapped his fingers and conjured up a sandwich right before the girl. "Ooh!?" She immediately took a bit from it and looked at Void/Carlos. "It's quite good." She said, munching with her mouth full while he just stared.

"Yes, you can do and be whatever you want, love whomever you want. Nobody will judge you. Think about it, 1 in 50 people die from crimes each year, 1 in twenty people die of disease. Life is not fair, but we can make it fair! Nobody will hurt you in our paradise. Never again." Ulysses rattled off more facts, getting more and more duelists hooked on to his words. Unfortunately 'Carlos' wanted his own answer as well. "And for how long can we do this?" He phrased it naively enough. But these people were far from naive.

"How long?" Ezra immediately locked eyes with the cyberse duelist. "...Yes?"

"As long as we want."

"Really?" Rather then putting doubts in the heads of the duelists, Voids question only made them more interested. "The body is temporal, and disconnected. The soul is eternal. We can be together here and live as immortals, removed from death and destruction. Once you stay inside the network long enough, the body can fuse with the mind and the network." Yet to the cyberse duelist he only sounded crazier and crazier. "Carlos?" But despite Blanche's clear concerns and his own reservations, Void kept wanting to hear more. "Can that even be done? What if the network fails?" No construct made by man could be maintained indefinitely. "There will be always be the net, there will always be STHEREA. The Creator lives here and he will not allow it to die. Do you want to see the godlike power yourself, duelist? ...Or does the one who was not invited wish to see it?"

"!?" Void gasped as Ezra clapped his hands together. This simple act alone caused a thunderstorm to cover the multitude of skies, and lightning of various colors flashed the void. The bigger bolt landed down right next to the wielder of the lance. "It must be.." Asterisk saw eyes within the thunder, a human shape. It was the entity that attacked him after his duel with Cherry. "It is time. You know what to do." Ezra talked to the electric one, who sparked up and down in agreement. "Lorelei. Come with me. It is no longer safe here." Ezra punctured the air behind with the lance, breaking through the cyberspace dimension to open a door to an even deeper layer of the network.

"Oh. But what about the others?" She seemed eager to go, but also confused. "Yeah what about us? I want to be saved too!" One guy growled loudly. "They cannot be trusted. We will return, one the one who should not be here has been removed." Prospero disappeared along with his new recruit, leaving Cherry, Ulysses and the Thunder lord with the crowd. "They know." With Asterisk and the others. "No. Wait." However, this being of lightning never came close to the three heroes. He aimed at the sky. "The one, is, there." A storm of static and electricity ripped across the emptiness. "!?" And one bolt connected with a device that only briefly turned visible before bursting into pieces.

"!? What!" Vigionair fell back in his seat as the screen shorted out in front of him. "What happened? Can you fix it?" Neo worriedly asked. "Not from here! This man managed to delete the software I gave Hydra! Don't ask me how!" The encrypter lost all contact with the invisible duelist. He could only see through the others eyes now. And that signal slowly lost clarity as well. "No no no!" Vigionair slammed the console, knowing fully well that did nothing useful. "They relocated!? Damn!" The second signal shorted out as well. It appeared that the boundless area shifted coordinates every hour. "That's it. They're doomed." Scura wailed. "Okay, maybe now we can get help!?" Neo yelled. "I would love too. But we do not even know where they are now!"

"Did he... just hit something?" The crowd of duelists did not quite follow what made the man of thunder attack the skybox, let alone how he managed to find someone in there. "Not something. Someone." 'Carlos' muttered. Out of the four of them, how did Millennium find Hydra first?

"You are the first to have ever tagged me." Hydra's voice came from the spot that the lightning hit. "I think I should know your name." He talked like he was in pain. "Prospero. That, is the name, I have chosen. And you chose, Hydra. But you did not, come alone. Who, else Is here, Hydra?" Every word slowly uttered by the entity of lightning reverberated in the air, as if they were standing inches away from powerlines. "If the lord of thunder can find the invisible duelist, but nothing else? Then you know I came alone." At least it sounded like Void and the others were still in the clear, for now. "I hope you like what you saw then! Because you will not be leaving here with that knowledge." Cherry shouted from below. "Once Prospero finds his opponent, they can never leave!"

Prospero's LP: 8000 Hydra's LP: 8000 -TURN 01-

"A duel then." Hydra saw the reason for his inability to break away. He would not abandon the others regardless, but he did not want to give away that 'others' even existed. "Yes. A duel. If, you can defeat, me. You, may pass. If not, you, will join us." Prospero lowered the intensity of his electric form, creating a smaller humanoid figure that could draw and play cards. "It is funny. I was not aware that an avatar could take on the shape of pure energy." Hydra said, revealing his fascination. "And we had never seen a perfectly cloaked avatar before. Yet here we are! When you're in Millennium, you don't have to limit yourself to being human!" Ulysses yelled again from below. In his case he took preference to a silvercoated body. "But an avatar, is still, an avatar. You still need, to be, somewhere, even if you can, be, in two places, at once. And I can strike, anywhere, within the network." Prospero summoned his first card: a robotic policeman(4/2000/2000) [Zone 4] wielding a charged baton and riding a hoverboard. "Inspector Boarder." It also placed a trap card face down. "Your, turn."

"Oh that's nasty, now neither of them can use monster effects!" Everyone that watched the duel could not tear their eyes away. Void and the others did not want to speak up themselves. But everyone cheered for the lord of thunder.

-TURN 02-

"The number of already activated monster effects cannot exceed the number of controlled ritual, fusion, synchro, XYZ, pendulum or link monsters." Hydra summarized the rest of the Inspectors powers. "You may think this slows me down. It does not. There are still effects which I can use!" One of them belonged to the frag-winged Defrag Dragon(3/1000/600) [Zone 2]. "I can special summon this card by discarding a monster from my hand. This kind of effect does not activate or open a chain." A card appeared in the graveyard too: Background Dragon. "Then I activate the spell, Quick Launch. It special summons a Rokket monster from my deck." The sound of a gunshot echoed across the voidspace, and left the needle-headed Anesthrokket Dragon(1/0/2200) [Zone 3] behind on the field.

"The materials are two level 4 or lower non-token dragons! I link summon Twin Triangle Dragon!" By using Defrag Dragon and Anesthrokket as the keys to a triangular portal, the sniping duelist obtained his first link monster. A sleek wingless dragon(1200/LINK 2) {Down/Right} [Extra Zone 1] of metal, with golden claws and horns, dropped out of the link circuit. In its hands it held two triangles. "And what will you do?" Prospero asked loudly. One link monster would buy Hydra one effect. "I will use the effect of Twin Triangle itself! It takes 500 of my lifepoints to special summon a level 5 or higher dragon, from my graveyard, in defense position! I summon the Background Dragon!" Another wingless dragon burrowed its way out of the underworld. Background Dragon(5/1600/1800) looked more like a tunneler, with heavy bronze armor plating and long red nails.

Hydra's LP: 7500

"And now I can use two monsters for a link 3 summon! That of Triple Burst Dragon!" The dragon of Twin Triangles counted as twin materials, and it disappeared with Background Dragon at its side. "This will be the destroyer of your barrier, Prospero!" Hydra placed his new more terrifying dragon(2400/LINK 3) {Left/Up/Down} [Extra Zone 1] on the field: a mechanical serpent with long claws, three gunbarrels sticking out of its torso and a scope on its grinning face where eyes would normally be. "Destroy Inspector Boarder!" No cards or effects could be activated while Triple Burst wreaked havoc. It fired a round from all three of its barrels and tore holes through the Inspector robot. "Brute force? What a boring answer to Prospero's test." Cherry Anise yawned. "Hmph. If you draw the sniper out of hiding, do not expect the same kind of gunplay." Hydra could not duel as he wanted too, but he could use as many effects as he wanted now.

Prospero's LP: 7600

"I normal summon Hibernation Dragon! This card adds a level 4 or lower dark dragon from the graveyard to my hand!" The first of such effects came from a dragon that looked more like a computer-chip bug. Its(3/600/1500) [Zone 3] body grew four insect wings of energy, eight tiny legs and a dragons head and tail attached through ribbon cables. "I reclaim Anesthrokket Dragon.. and then I will use my two effect monsters as materials for Topologic Bomber Dragon!" Finally, he broke the link 4 threshold. Triple Burst and Hibernation Dragon made room for the one-eyed loop-tailed dragon cyberse: Topologic the Bomber(3000/LINK 4) {Up/Downleft/Down/Downright} [Extra Zone 1]. "I activate the continuous spell, Supply Squad, and set one card as well. That ends my turn." The spell [Zone 2} and trap [Zone Zone 4] appeared in the same columns as the extra monster zones: a fact that did not escape Prospero.

"You may, do so. But this turn, will not end, when you say, it." The thunder discarded a card from his hand to reveal the true nature of his deck. "I activate Thunder Dragondark." A blast of black thunder hit the field. "Thunder Dragons. I guess the cards came before the form." Hydra chuckled. The dragons of the storm tended to discard themselves to generate new advantages. "Before this form. Does, not matter anymore." Prospero discarded Thunder Dragondark to add another Thunder Dragondark to his hand. "Before. You were there twice before, weren't you? You were there each time we attacked the Crown, there at Pandemonium and there at Cosmopolis. And your masters item is exactly like the Crown. How long have you two been working together?" Hydra did not care for his cards or effects, he desired and demanded information.

-TURN 03-

"We, never worked together. The Crown was a fool, who rejected us. His rampage, was not our design." Prospero stated as he drew his card. "Yet you helped him regardless. You even had someone spy on us for him. Who was it? It can't have been Cherry Anise, she disappeared before we made the first attack." Even if Prospero was the direct informant, someone had to give him the heads-up first. "We don't have to tell you that, Hydra. That's a matter of client privilege. Not to worry, that person cannot spy on you anymore anyway." Ulysses told the duelist, while Prospero simply moved on with its turn.

He discarded another Thunder Dragon monster from his hand: the original Thunder Dragon. "I, activate Thunder Dragon, and add two, Thunder Dragons, to my hand." This lightning divided into two bolts, two more monster cards. "Two Thunder Dragons, can become fusion materials, for one. Thunder Dragon Colossus." Polymerization turned the two regular thunder drakes into a black serpent dragon(8/2600/2400) [Zone 2]. A storm was born. Its wings spread lightning with every beat, and sharp crooked spikes grew out of every segment of its body. "You're.." And the Colossus, summoned from the extra deck, appeared not in the other extra monster zone, but in the zone that Topologic Bomber Dragon pointed at. "Your Bomber Dragon is triggered. When a monster, links with a link monster, all monsters outside, the extra monster zones are, destroyed!"

"But Thunder Dragon Colossus, can banish one thunder dragon, from my graveyard, to negate its destruction!" The fused thunder serpent wrapped itself in a coat of dark thunder, created from the banished remnants of Thunder Dragondark. And a jolt of that same energy hit Prospero's deck. "Dragondark, when banished, adds a Thunder Dragon card, to my hand." The thunder lord claimed a spell: Thunder Dragons Fusion, while Topologic Bomber Dragons effect got deflected by the dark barrier. "And, since I summoned a, creature of thunder, I activate Judgment of Thunder! Judgment, falls upon your monster. Death!" The trap revealed itself at last, and executed the Topologic cyberse with a precise and straight bolt of lightning from the scattered heavens. "!" The hidden duelist could not hide anymore. "I, see, you." Prospero managed to target him with a beam of lightning from the Thunder Dragons mouth. The beam exploded all around Hydra, damaging the virtual world. He could not escape the pain, it reached him directly. "Graahhh!"

Hydra's LP: 4900

"You know you do not have to feel the pain. You do not have to show yourself either. Once you join us, you stay your perfect invisible self. Though I hope you wont. I want to see what you are really like." Cherry taunted the duelist: the man whose presence could only be seen as a gap in a fragmented and smoldering crater of dataspace. "And what would you ask in return? A lifetime of slavery? You promise people freedom, but what you are really doing is giving them a new prison to dream in."Hydra snarled as he drew a card from his deck. Thanks to Supply Squad he could do that once a turn, if one of his monsters faced destruction. "I am who I am because I do not accept any chains." And he could also take his next turn once Prospero placed two cards [Zone 3 & 1] face-down in the spell/trap zone.

-TURN 04-

"I summon Background Dragon from my graveyard, which is possible when there are no monsters on my field. And subsequently, Backgroundragon will special summon one dragon from my hand." The bulky dragon [Zone 4] crawled up of the barren ground and called a thinner red friend down from above: the Sniffer Dragon(2/800/400) [Zone 5]. Normally this would have been the moment where Hydra could draw a second Sniffer Dragon.

"But you are chained right now! To me, to my Colossus!" Sadly, Thunder Dragon Colossus negated all effects that drew or added cards from the deck to Hydra's hand. "These chains I can easily break." Hydra continued his turn and normal summoned the previously retrieved Anesthrokket Dragon [Zone 2] to the field, right in front of the fusion dragon. "Now there are three cards in this column: My spell, my Rokket dragon and your Colossus! I can special summon Iron Dragon Tiamaton from my hand!" Hydra surrendered the column next to it to the fully cybernetic batallion dragon(4/2000/0) [Zone 3] made from grey steel and iron. "And when Tiamaton appears, it destroys all cards in the same column!" The Iron Dragon became an iron bullet, rushing from one side of the field to the other to blast through Prospero's card: Thunder Dragon Fusion _"!? I hit the spell?" _His bad aim surprised the sniping duelist. Normally he knew where which card ended up, but Prospero's electric body made it hard to follow his movements.

"It doesn't matter. I will come after your other cards too, Prospero." Hydra could not pull back just because of one failed shot. "When I control no link monsters, I can banish Hibernation Dragon from the graveyard to revive a dark-type link monster. I choose Topologic Bomber Dragon!" First he would bring the Bomber Dragon [Zone 1] back up to the only available monster zone. "And the link materials for my next dragon are at least three effect monsters!" Then he created a fourway ciruit from Tiamaton, Anesthrokket, Sniffer Dragon and Background Dragon all at once. "Oh here it comes." Only one type of dragon demanded that great an investment. Yet it did not take the weapon Blanche familiarized herself with in their last duel. "Borrelsword Dragon!" Instead of a the Borrel Lord, Hydra link summoned a more personal weapon of destruction. Borrelsword(3000/LINK 4) {Left/Downleft/Down/Up} [Extra Zone 1] still looked like its devil dragon countepart, except its wings were made from golden energy blades and a sharp sword extended from its head and tail.

"Borrelsword can target one monster on the field, and switch it to defense position!" The crimson dragon spun its revolver chest and fired a blank shot. Though the hit did not damage the Thunder Dragon, it did force the fusion to cower before its might. "And when it does, it can attack twice in one turn." All the pieces were in place. "It is time to end this duel!" First the 'rook' would move. Topologic's wings of infinity unleashed golden flames upon the dark thunder dragon, burning it and its master at the same time. "The monsters its destroys get their attackpoints turned into effect damage?" Ulysses began to sound slightly concerned when Prospero's life started to drop.

Prospero's LP: 5000

"Borrelsword Dragon! Make the first attack!" Things looked even worse when Prospero took a direct slash from the dragons swords. "Hrahgh!" His electric body got cut in half, and the lower section evaporated with the wind. "Is he going to lose?" The worry spread down into the mob of duelists as well. "What is gonna happen to him if he does? What about us?"

Prospero's LP: 2000

They were not going to like the answer. "Hey. What?" They suddenly found themselves locked in place. Everyone, including Void, Asterisk and Blanche could not move from their spot. Meanwhile all environmental alterations were undone, reverting the dimension to its fragmented state once again. "This is an arrest! None of you are authorized to be here!" The admins and hazmat drones that materialized inside of the void probably had something to do with this. "They came?" Leaving Void to wonder, when and how they found this place. But more importantly.. since when could admins do this to avatars? The cavalry had arrived, and it did not feel good.

(To Be Continued in Line 054: Chaos Must Look like Order to You)

**New Cards used by Hydra  
**Background Dragon  
Hibernation Dragon

-  
Twin Triangle Dragon  
Triple Burst Dragon  
Borrelsword Dragon

-  
Supply Squad

**Cards used by Prospero  
**Inspector Boarder  
Thunder Dragondark  
Thunder Dragon

-  
Thunder Dragon Colossus

-  
Polymerization  
Thunder Dragon Fusion

-  
Judgment of Thunder


	54. Chaos Must Look Like Order to You

**Line 054: Chaos Must Look like Order to You**

They called him the invisible duelist, the omnipresent and allseeing sniper who existed without an avatar. The truth would disappoint them. Hydra, as he named himself, did own an identity: a vessel for his inputs and actions. But he could shift from it to a secondary cloaked state whenever he pleased. For him becoming unseen was as simple as inserting a few of his own programs. To create a rudimentary avatar-less proxy that would act in his place while his actual avatar went somewhat idle. That way he could start a duel anywhere within the game, he could project his voice to almost any sector. Though there were exceptions. Too call him truly boundless would be an exaggeration. He could not enter new zones unless his avatar was there as well, he could not see everything at once and he could not retreat when endangered. All of these constraints plagued him as he faced his current threat: the seemingly all powerful Millennium duelists. He did not believe it, he knew a charade when he saw one. There had to be an explanation for what they displayed so far.

And at any rate, they could not have been as invincible as they led others to think. Because Exeter could still surprised them at their down doorstep.

The company came to the rescue, that was the last thing anyone expected. "Do not log out! If you do, there will be consequences!" They froze the avatars of everyone who entered the out-of-bounds region and caused a panic among the invited duelists. "What? But we didn't do anything?" One guy protested. "Yeah they're the bad guys!" Another pointed at the trio of duelists on top of the pyramid. "They're selling us out huh." Ulysses was not very impressed with what he saw.

"We know the severity of their actions. Cherry Anise, Ulysses the Third. You tried to erase your histories from our database and pass by unnoticed! You have failed! Your avatars will be suspended!" One admin declared. "Ha. You can try." Cherry laughed right in her face. "If you say so." The judge would not tolerate any defiance. She snapped her fingers and forced both duelists to disappear from the field.

"Whoa? That's all it takes?" Blanche felt a shiver, a short but powerful one. "I.." Void had a lot of questions. If the admins could have done this all along, why did they go so easy on Victor and his contact before? Because Exeter didn't want people to know that they could do this to people's avatars? Because that champion really wanted to have a duel? Void did not think it would be that easy, that it could end just here and now. But it seemed to be so. "Hydra?" He did not see the lord of thunder, Prospero, anymore either. And of course his eyes would not help him find Prospero's opponent anyway. Their fate did not matter much right anyway.. In the end, the one who got away still held the Legacy item.

"Gentlemen, gentlemen. Calm down please." And the ones that stayed behind did not deserve to have their avatars wiped. Or so Agent Asterisk thought. "Who are you?" The admins received quite a surprise as well, when the agent suddenly undid his disguise and revealed his true appearance. "My name is Asterisk. I am sure your employer has mentioned my name before. I can speak for these people, they have done no harm." He started to pledge himself towards the equally confused paralyzed duelists. "What, Asterisk? Where did he come from?" Seeing the confusion, Void wondered if it would be for the best to shed his own persona of 'Chuck'. But he decided against it, since he did not know who could still be watching. "Yes, Hansen has mentioned you." One woman muttered. Void recognized her as one of the judges who stood at the CTO's side back when they first met: Judge Jean. "They responded to an invitation to enter this restricted area. As did you." Jean did not sound too forgiving. "Indeed. But I am left to wonder, how did you know we were here to begin with?"

"...?" Before she could respond again, the admin received a text message. "Wh..why?" She tried to type something back, to no apparent avail. "Hmph. It appears you are all free to go." She let out a long sigh and entered a sequence of a numbers on her dueldisk screen to unlock everyone's mobility. "However, every one has been put on a list of offenders and will be unable tom collect in-game rewards for the next few days. Let that serve you as a warning. Do not engage with unauthorized entities." The lions share of 'offenders' did not need any further explanation. They sheepishly apologized and logged off or warped out. A few protested, but were intimidated into compliance by the looming stares of the CIDs.

"Not you two." Only three had to stick around: Asterisk, `Chuck` and `Stacy`. "You knew about them as well? Who told you?" Now Asterisk really wanted to get an answer to his previous question. "Someone else informed us. You are to come with us so you can see him." The judge nodded at her associates and left them to clean up the void. "Then take us.." Neither of them could give Hydra away, nor did they know where he hid now. They would have to leave him behind for now.

...

And he definitely could not follow them to where the judge took them; the same Sky Sanctuary where the finalists first entered their teamnames. "Ah. We meet again. Allthough you look a bit different now." Hansen the CTO waited for them there, seated behind a marble table, along with another dozen CIDs and his personal servant Walter. "Mister Hansen." Void figured they would be safe from unwanted attention up here, so he removed his alternate identity. "Sup." Stacy also transformed back into Madam Blanche. "Ah there you are: team White Void. I heard you were having quite the adventure on your own. I must say I am disappointed that I was not warned ahead of time." The man put on a half-sincere smile as he leaned back in his own virtual chair. "We did not have the luxury of time. The longer we waited, the more we risked losing our only lead." Asterisk explained. "Ah, of course. I understand. But it is a good thing we came along after all, isn't it? You can thank your friend Neo. He was the one who told the admins what you were doing."

"Neo?" Void gasped, not knowing whether to be upset or relieved. "Now now. Don't be too hard on the kid. He only did it because he wanted to save you. Your friends could not track your movements anymore, or so I was told. Luckily it easy for us to track down where a duel is taking place within the network, once you know exactly which cards are being used. And Neo knew which cards the four of you favored." As it turned out, the CTO knew more than any of them expected. "But you are not the ones who were dueling. Where is your topological friend?" Clearly, he found them because of Hydra's distinct cards. "We do not know. He usually works on his own. And if that is how you found us, why did you never come across these people before?" Asterisk definitely told the company about the Legacy of Millennium. Allthough now that he thought about it, Prospero never used that skill card in his duel with Hydra. Did he not want to give away their presence?

"It only works on registered cards. Not like those used by our mutual 'friend' Anders, his cards never showed up in our histories. And now we have new names to look after. To tell the truth, we were already investigating this lead on our own. Or did you not think that we had been filtering in-game discussions for key words ourselves? We knew something was going on. We might even have been able to show up sooner, if the government hadn't restricted our ability to monitor ingame players visually." Said the CTO as if privacy was just a formality. But these people are pretty clever. They removed their data from the network, pretended they had quit the game entirely. These.. what were their names again?"

"Ezra, Cherry Anise, Prospero, Ulysses, Lorelei." Walter rattled off the names of the known Millennium members. "Yes, their real names cannot even be recovered now. But they will have to do better than reimagining themselves to hide from us. Hopefully we can reach out to them before they make a mistake. Then we can put this all behind us." Hansen laughed stiffly. "You cannot think that this is the end of it! Their leader got away!" Void yelled. "Where can he run too? This is our world, and his little club is running dry. And out there, without his tricks, he wont make it far." If anything, his company did have a demonstrably strong influence in the real world as well. "What if he does not have to leave?" Void asked, causing the CTO to shift his expression ever so subtly. "This fantasy again?" He spoke as if he did not believe it, but his startled tone implied otherwise. "Ezra has an object just like the Crown, a Lance that he claims can disconnected the body from the mind. I saw him do it to Lorelei!"

"Hmph. And you bought into that? According to your friends this Ezra person turned one of his own into a man made of lightning. But it's all just smoke and mirrors." Hansen laughed. "It did not feel like smoke to me." Asterisk grumbled. "Regardless, I wouldn't worry about them. They will be tracked down." He waved his hand dismissively. "And what about the others: the duelists they tried to convert? Are you really going to leave them alone?" Void presumed it was his input that made the admins back off before. "They are strangers to you, and you would still defend them? Do you want to be their hero?" Hansen scoffed. "You can't silence me like you did with Alpha." Void did not back down.

"Void, careful now." Asterisk whispered. By now the CTO gave Void nothing but a deadly serious glare. "Hmph. I am doing this for you as well, Void. I am doing this to clean up the network." Gone were his amiable affections. "I am too. But I can see who the real enemies are and who are just the victims being tricked by a greater power. Just how much do you understand the situation, mister Hansen?"

"More than you can imagine. But I see no reason to tell you, or to include you in my circle of thrust. Now that might change if you were to accept me as an official sponsor. If you could duel in my name, I could confide in you." He chuckled to himself. "I can't do that." Voids answer was already obvious. "Really? We could make a lot of real money." Blanche on the other hand sounded half-tempted, though he could not tell if that was a joke. "We could. But I've heard too much of your company to include you in our circle of thrust, mister Hansen." Void threw the words right back at him. "Heh. Of course. You know Zettai and Veyron told me the same thing, surprisingly. But soon enough you will all see that sometimes you have to set some principles aside." He looked at Asterisk, expecting some understanding from his side. ".." The Agent refused to deny or confirm anything. "Well, we will make it a special event regardless! I hope you two will be ready for it, for the speed duel match-up! All the champions will be there, the whole world will watch. This is what the duelists really need.. A Grand finale."

"Speed what?" For a second his world seemed to turn upside down. "As in, with speed boards?" Void shuddered. Of all the ways to duel.. "Oh! Really? Why?" Blanche for her part sounded a lot more enthralled. Then again she had had prior experience with it.

"Why yes. It was Sigments request actually, he wanted to honor your friend El Veyron GT. What better way than this? After all, you cant call yourself a true conqueror if you haven't beaten the former speed dueling champion on his own terrain." Hansen brushed it off. But Void did not think that was the only reason. "I can help you out of course. I can grant you the best speed board money can buy. Just to even the odds." He was not done giving out tempting offers either. "Does a more expensive board offer any tactical advantage?" The cyberse duelist softly conversed with his partner. "Not really. Not for cardgames at least." She whispered back. "Then I respectfully decline. I will get my own model." He did after all have new gems to spend since he won the semifinals. "Hah. You must enjoy rejecting me."

"Sir. You have a 5'o clock with Rasmussen and Shintaro." Walter cleared his throat. "Of course. More business to attend to. Well then, we are done here. But do not worry. You have my word that nobody further will be detained in the next 24 hours. By then this whole mess will be dealt with anyway. Well, til then!" He vanished from the sanctuary, along with his assistant, his bodyguards and his table. "So the big company man is a little shady. Who knew?" Madam Blanche shrugged.

...

They hadn't learnt much from him. But there was still enough of a story to share with the others at the arena: with Crescent, Bionis, Sundown, Veyron, Midsummer and Neo. Surprisingly mister Static did not make an appearance, which nobody minded. "I am sorry guys. I just didn't want you to get hurt." Neo apologized profusely when he heard the final part about Exeters interference. "You did what you felt was right. I appreciate it, since it allowed us to maintain our cover." Asterisk smiled at the kid. "Yeah, cheer up. We made it out in one piece. I call that a breakthrough!" They had made some progress at the very least. "Thank you Asterisk, Blanche." Neo sighed out of relief. "I am surprised the company even worked with you guys. Guess they aren't all bad." A pleasantly surprised Bionis Khan chuckled.

"Yes, it could have been a lot worse." Sundown sneered, shooting a glare at Midsummer Nightmare. "You should not have bothered. While powerful, this lance interests me far less than the crown." The masked duelist muttered. "You're telling me you wouldn't want to stay in here 24/7?" The gunslinger inquired dryly. "It is not a fantasy that tempts my heart, Sundown Mephistar. The sooner these people are rounded up the better." He concluded.

"Maybe that would be for the best." Crescent nodded. "Indeed. I hope they find Victor too, it is going to be hard to focus on the finals tomorrow. Have you heard about the format?" At least that news cheered Veyron up a little. "I know what is coming. But still.." Void felt restless and this matter felt far from resolved. How could he focus on anything, with Ezra still out there? "Hopefully Exeter will now be more ready for Millenniums next appearance." He did not know why Static did not want to listen to them either. And he would have been useful too, since he would be able to tell where another silent ally went. "Hydra.." Void couldn't tell if Hydra had come back or not. He could not even thank him for what he'd done or apologize for doubting him...

...

None of them would hear from him any time soon...

"What?" Hydra himself already withdrew when Exeter arrived. However he could not reach his intended destination. "I cannot get in?" The Arena Beyond rejected him, he could not quickjump any further than the middle of the desert sector. "No.." He could not log off either, or deactivate his invisible proxy. "Why?" He had to check a prompt on his own status screen to understand, to read the words that made his heart freeze.

[Cannot log out while duel is in session]

"I told you." It started as a small spark. "Once I strike you, you cannot hide." The spark grew into a flash of lightning, a roaring thunder, a man made of electricity. "You." Prospero had found him again. The pain in his body returned. Though the lord of thunder appeared in front of his invisible dueling self, he hovered only a few virtual miles away from the real Hydra. Anyone looking around would find his idle avatar.

Hydra's LP: 4900 Prospero's LP: 2000

"I was about to win that duel! Why did you choose to continue it?" Hydra yelled through his cloaked form. Every monster returned: Topologic Bomber Dragon (3000 atk) [Zone 1] and Borrelsword Dragon (3000 atk) [Extra Zone 1] on Hydra's field and.. three defending Thunder Dragons(5/1600/1500) [Zones 1, 3 & 5] on the opponents field. "What?" Those monsters were newly summoned, preventing Borrelsword from using his second attack to finish the duel. "Because, as you can see, you will not win, anything." Prospero revealed the trap card: Thunder Dragons' Hundred Thunders. "The card I should have destroyed.." Hydra cursed his aim. The trap summoned up to three Thunder Dragons with the same name from his graveyard. "I also said. This will not end, until I say, it ends." Prospero also discarded the second Thunder Dragondark from his hand to draw the final Dragondark from the deck. "Has your turn ended?"

"Not yet." Hydra could only curse his luck and continue the attacks on monsters in defense position. Borrelsword raised his bladed head and cleaved the leftmost Thunder Dragon down the middle. "Then now it, is. But, you also asked me, something, How, did I find you? I already gave you, the answer, when this battle began. I can be, anywhere, in this network. Millennium has released, the limits of my body, and soul." Prospero demonstrated just how much freedom he now possessed by splitting his avatar into multiple forms of himself, and zapping them out of existence. "And this is how Ezra blessed you? Is this really the power of the Legacy Lance?" Hydra remained skeptical. He could accept an item that could affect a game's code. But to alter the state of the human mind took it one step too far. "Believe, what you will. It is true freedom. Nothing, like what you have, but what you want, and will have. You will, see the truth, of their power, once I end this duel."

-TURN 05-

Prospero zapped his own body to draw another card into existence. "Link summon, the materials are, two thunder monsters." That was not the only thing he created. Thunder could take many forms.. some bizarre, like that of a bright yellow-haired snorkel diver(1600/LINK2) {Downleft/Downright} [Extra Zone 2] who lied on a cloud to get a tan from the sun. "Some Summer Summoner?" This harmless appearance covered a more terrifying purpose. "I activate, Thunder Dragon Fusion! The fusion materials, can come from the graveyard, or the banished zone, and return to the deck!" Because Prospero not only did he bring out an even bigger fusion monster, using the banished Thunder Dragon Dark and two of the normal Thunder Dragons as the fusion materials. "Thunder Dragon Titan!" He linked that fusion monster, the green-scaled three-headed dragon god(10/3200/3200) [Zone 3] with Some Summer Summoner.

"When a monster is placed in a zone marked by a link monster, Topologic Bomber Dragon destroys all monsters in the main zone. Including itself.." Hydra grunted. The arrival of the Titan started a chain reaction of destruction, starting with the Bomber Dragon. Hydra's cyberse detonated and lit a fuse straight towards Thunder Dragon Titan. "But your fusion monster can negate its destruction." The Titan shared one power with Thunder Dragon Colossus, though it banished two cards instead of one. The Titan removed the second Thunder Dragondark and last Thunder Dragon from the graveyard to wrap itself up in a protective coat of black electricity.

"Yes, and when Dragondark is banished, one Thunder Dragon card, is added to my hand." Prospero sent another charge into his body and pulled a monster card from the 'deck'. "I have chosen, Thunder Dragonhawk. I discard this card, and revive a Thunder Dragon." Everything started to unravel before his eyes. A golden feathered hawkfaced dragon dove into the depths below the clouds and lured the fallen Thunder Dragon Colossus(8/2600/2200) [Zone 2] back as if nothing had happened to it before. "And, the Titan destroys, when a Thunder monsters effect activates, from the hand."

"Unless it is not the last effect to resolve in that chain!" Hydra shouted and reactivated the quick effect of Borrelsword. "Even if my dragon cannot attack this turn, it can still switch your monster to defense mode. And no effects can be chained afterwards!" The dragon of swords loaded another chamber with an empty bullet and fired it into the three-headed dragon to switch it to defense position. This caused the Titan to miss its timing as well. "Yet, my Fusion monster can use its power, as many times as it wants." Prospero countered. "But you cannot use both of Thunder Dragondarks effects in the same turn!" Hydra felt safer now, knowing that Prospero did not have any more thunder dragons to discard. Borrelsword Dragon could not destroyed as a result of battle either. "I do not need it, for that. I already have, this. I banish Thunder Dragon Fusion, to add a Thunder Dragon monster, from the deck, to my hand."

"Tch!" Hydra realized what this meant for him. "I add, Thunderdragon Matrix." Each Thunder Dragon card possessed its own discarding effect. "I activate it, and give 500 attackpoints, to Thunder Dragon Colossus." A sphere of electricity would power up the lesser fusion dragon(3100/2200), and recharge the power of the greater fusion dragon. "Thunder Dragon Titan, destroys Borrelsword Dragon, with your effect." The three-headed titan arched its head straight upwards and launched a trio of lightning bolts into the air. The thunder crashed back down upon the helpless sword dragon and ripped it to pieces with a soundshattering flash. "And, Thunder Dragon Colossus can also be special summoned, when a a Thunder monster was activated from my hand, and by sacrificing a thunder monster." Prospero spirited the Summer Summoner away from the extra zone, and gave it to another dark serpent of storms: a second Thunder Dragon Colossus(2600/2200). "Now you are one of us." Prospero stared the invisible duelist down, along with the five dragon heads on his field. "I will never...!"

"To use that word requires a lot of faith. What do you believe in, Hydra.. and what are you affraid of, Hydra?" Ezra. The deliverer spoke to him. The real him, hiding behind a sand dune. "You." He was discovered!

"Show us." The blasts of the thunder dragons tore through his proxy and destroyed his lifepoints while the true Hydra took in all the agony. "Gauhah!" Hydra fell to his knees. Losing the duel dismantled all of his programs. He tried to hide his face nevertheless. "You want to be free, you want to be in this world where no one knows who you are." Ezra knelt down to look him in the eye.

Hydra's LP: 0

"What are you?" The sniper duelist spat at his opponent. All Hydra saw looking back at him were burning flames in the darkness framed by a animal's skull. "I am the one who will save the world." The lance of legacy pierced his forehead. "Aaaaahhh!" Everything flooded in at once: fears, dreams, hopes, despair. He relived his worst and best moments in a matter seconds. He could not take it. The duelist collapsed and fell with his face against the ground.

"He was not, ready." Prospero growled as he dismissed his creatures of thunder and watched over the fallen Hydra. "He is now. There are too many like him. We were only beginning, and already they cast a light on us." Ezra put the lance back underneath his cloak. "Then we have to step into it." And a third joined them, talking with a high pitched buzzing voice. "It is too soon." The lord of thunder countered. "We did not plan for this. But the word is out now. They will not let us recruit in the shadows anymore. We have to open the doors of paradise." The third person pushed again. "They, cannot stop Millennium." Prospero pushed back. "Enough!" It took Ezra's commanding voice to silence their squabbling. "The decision is mine. The rest of the family will have to follow. Where are they now, Cister?" The deliverer turned towards his unseen third partner. "Anise and Ulysses have managed to escape undetected, everyone has returned home. They await your word, Ezra." She answered.

"Then tell them, that we will make our move tomorrow. You are right, Melyria Cister. It is time to embrace the light."

(To Be Continued in Line 055: Object in Motion)

**New Cards used by Prospero  
**Thunder Dragonhawk  
Thunder Dragonmatrix

-  
Some Summer Summoner  
Thunder Dragon Titan

-  
Thunder Dragons' Hundred Thunders.


	55. Object in Motion

**Line 055: Object in Motion**

Another night passed, the last one before the finals. The finals for which Exeter pulled out all the stops with their ultimate stage. Rivers of light and glowing fairies dotted out an entire circuit across the white peaks of the cloud-piercing Sylvanian mountains. Duelists from every corner of the world took a seat or a window to see the speed duel match between Team White Void and Team Absolute. Every duelist they met so far was here now. And up above the CTO of Exeter claimed a balcony at the edge of Sky Sanctuary. Hansen, his aide, his admins, and the five world champions; all of them circled around the long marble table to watch what would soon begin. He recognized three of them: Acrates, Dyzanthium, Sigment. Besides the golden knight sat a woman dressed like a marching band drummer. And behind Hansen loomed a tall shadow that he could not quite make out. An ADI did the announcing, making the crowd excited. Like before, Void tuned the noise out. Not because he did not enjoy it, but because he thought all of this was a distraction..

An ominous feeling stuck with him ever since he saw Ezra. Only a few knew what kind of problems were kept from the world, and though Void had not spoken with any of his companions since yesterday, he knew they were thinking the same thing. Could Exeter take care of Millennium? What about Alpha and Giganoto? At this rate he could not do anything for them. Not even Vigionair managed to find anything that corroborated Alpha's story. As for Ezra, Void would have warned the world if he could, but that might just tempt more people to join them. The world itself seemed to be frozen in time and unable to move on beyond this tournament. So he went ahead, maybe the worst would not happen for once. That would be nice, to return to the simple days if only for a brief moment.

Himiko and Zanbatou stood in the corner of the now immense buffer safezone and simply gave the cyberse duelist a respectful nod. Asterisk, Neo and Scura sat close at the entrance and wished him and Blanche the usual luck. Bionis, Crescent, Arcis and a scowling Sundown formed a cluster on the other side. They did not wave, but they did not boo him either. Not unlike many other duelists who cried foul at the man who defeated Alpha. He ignored them here just like he ignored their chat messages. Even Midsummer Nightmare had joined the crowd, clapping softly as Team White Void passed him. "Ready?" And at his side of course, Madam Blanche. "As I ever will be." He did not make it here on his own. And they had a little further to go. "Let's do this."

The two stepped through the barrier: their speedboards materialized before them in mid-air. "You sure you don't want to hitch a ride on my dragon? They might allow it. You can just wrap your arms tight around my waist and.." Madam Blanche, already seated on the back of the Blue-Eyes White Dragon, noticed his clear apprehension. "Unfortunately for you, Blanche, I can just use the autopilot function." He had some pride after all, enough to not want to look like a duelist who could not ride this board on his own. "Your loss." She leaned back on her mount.

"Just relax, Void! You cant really fall or bump into things! It's all virtual!" Veyron came in with some tips from the left. He would of course be using his own special speed board to fly on, a long surfer-like board with sharp fins. It looked quite advanced compared to Void's own grey blockguard model. "I would not accept a victory that involved external circumstances anyway." Zettai did not have a board at all. She did not need one when her customized avatar could project a jetpack on her back and thrust on her legs. "I wouldn't either." Void smirked. "Good, because I want you to be focused on this. This duel is as important to the future as everything else we have done." The ace declared. "I am focused, Zettai. I am."

"Duelists, get ready!" The increasingly louder ADI host brought their attention back to the course in front of them. "Ten!" It started a countdown, while the cheering reached its own apex. "May the best duelist win." Veyron smirked and activated a virtual helmet to place on his head. "Same to you." Void booted up his own helm. Would this thing even do anything? "This is gonna be great." Blanche let her dragon roar. "..." Zettai steeled her gaze. "Three, Two, One, Take Off!"

Team White Void's LP: 16000 Team Absolute's LP: 16000

It began. The four sped away on their speed boards and everything else. "Ngh." Void expected wind or turbulence, but the virtual air offered no resistance at all. He could not see where this course would take him, just there was nothing but clouds and icy peaks beneath him. "Could be worse. I could be afraid of heights and only realize that now." Here he could not even pretend to be standing on solid ground anymore. It felt liberating. "How's it going, Void?" Blanche flew right besides him on her dragon. He could hear her clearly, which would undoubtedly prove necessary later. "Better than I expected." He looked ahead and saw Zettai and Veyron flying ahead of him. However they looked back and suddenly slowed down to let them catch up on her. "Good luck, Void." It appeared the first turn would be his, so she allowed him to take the lead.

-TURN 01-

"Tch." Taking the first turn, he found that far more annoying than having to duel in mid-air. "I set one card face down in both rows!" And against these opponents, he had to be extra careful.

-TURN 02-

"That was it?" He heard Zettai speak once more, as she closed the gap. Her turn came next. "I noticed you always leave the killing blow to Veyron, after you overwhelm your opponents and deplete as much of their resources as you can. But if I set less, I have less to lose." Void smirked. "Heh, clever. But that also means I have less obstacles!" Zettai kicked off with an extra thrust from her boosters and hovered above the cyberse duelist. "I will not slow down even if you do!" She placed one card face down, the prelude to the magical storm. "The first spell, Sky Striker Mecha Modules Multirole! The second spell, Sky Striker Airspace - Area Zero!" The entire mountain range transformed into her domain. In front of her the hexagonal portal of Multirole appeared, and all around the cyber grid of Area Zero darkened the speed course.

"Area Zero excavates the top three cards of my deck. And if one of those cards is a Sky Striker card.." The top three cards were revealed (Foolish Burial with Belongings, Sky Striker Maneuver Widow Anchor, Reinforcement of the Army). "It goes to my hand, and my face-down card is destroyed! Like this!" Zettai drew the Widow Anchor spell, while Area Zero blew up her face-down Sky Striker Maneuver Afterburners spell. "Then, Mecha Modules Multirole can destroy one other card I control, to prevent you from responding to any of my Sky Striker cards!" The ace duelist headed towards the Multirole gate, and tossed her own field spell into it. "And.. when Area Zero is destroyed, I can special summon Sky Striker Ace Raye! To me, my maiden!" Zettai herself flew through the portal next and came out in her dueling card form, with the uniform and white hair of Raye the Ace(4/1500/1500) [Zone 1]. "This is inevitability, Void!"

With startling speed, she blasted towards Void and stopped right in front of him. "!?" He flinched while she flashed a malicious grin and drew the red sword of the maiden. "The red slash!" Her attack cut down the face-down monster: a blue-fire horned buffalo. "You destroyed Flame Bufferlo, which activates his effect." Void recovered from the up-close strike and used the Buffer cyberse to discard a cyberse monster from his hand and draw two new cards.

"Turning a loss into a gain. Not a bad move." Veyron commented as he rushed by the two clashing two duelists. "But now the road is clear." Zettai circled back around for another attack. "Raye's effect! She tributes herself to link summon a Sky Striker from my extra deck: Sky Striker Ace Shizuku!" She underwent her second transformation, summoning pieces of blue armor from watery stream. Each piece connected to her arms, legs and chest, and four thick metal wings covered attached themselves to her back. She had become the ace Shizuku(1500/LINK 1) {Upleft} [Extra Zone 1]. "You faced steel, now brave the tidal wave!" A blade popped op from her arm gauntlet and sliced the air to create a wave of water. "Argh." Void got splashed in the face, causing his avatar to glitch briefly and his lifepoints to drop.

Team White Void's LP: 14500

"Good. You held your ground. Now I know you can keep up with us!" Zettai looked at her own cards again and placed two of them face down in the spell/trap zone. "I end my turn. And during that end I can activate Shizuku's effect! She sends one Sky Striker card from the deck to my hand!" Zettai proclaimed as she took the Sky Striker Maneuver Eagle Booster out. "And I shall activate it as well!"

"Huh!?" Both duelists of Team White Void and the audience gasped simultaneously as Zettai doubled her own speed. "Why did she do that?" Scura knew the Eagle Booster quickplay spell made her immune to effects, but there did not seem to be any point now that the turn was wrapping up. "Because it means she used two Sky Striker spells now in this turn." Crescent got the why, she had seen Multirole in action already. "What, it counts spells used during the same endphase too?" They did. Zettai activated the second effect of the Mecha Modules: setting two Sky Striker cards from the graveyard to the field, Sky Striker Afterburners and Eagle Booster. The ace duelist then veered off slightly to the right to approach Madam Blanche. "Now it is your turn. Show me how well your dragons fly!"

-TURN 03-

"Hah. Easy, Zettai. I go at my own speed." Blanche drew her card. "I know you're eager to flip those spells. I bet one of them is Widow Anchor too. Am I right? Stealing my best dragon just as I summon it, that's so like you." Void noticed she could barely contain her laughter. Blanche had a plan. "Hmm." First however she traded some cards in. The spell of Cards of Consonance allowed her to discard the dragon tuner, White Stone of Legend, to draw twice. "Heheh. When the Legend Stone goes to the grave, I can add a Blue-Eyes to my hand. Three cards for the price of two, neat eh?" The White lady took her three cards, including her prized Blue-Eyes White Dragon. "But before I summon this guy.. I will bring out the Lord of D!" A robed imperial wizard(4/1200/1100) [Zone 6], wearing the bones of a dragon as armor, floated in front of the dragon duelist to cast its protective spells.

"The Lord of Dragons?" The card caught Zettai off guard. No dragons could be targeted by card effects while it loomed on the field. "Nonono. Lord of D. Get it right, Zetty."

"Regardless." Shizuku/Zettai clenched her fists. "You cannot cancel out my own power!" The aquatic ace striker reduced the attackpoints of all monsters by 100 for each spell in Zettai's grave. Lord of Dragons(1000/1100) could not influence Shizuku's blue aura. "200 of 3000 is not a lot though. Even less when you multiply that by three. So here's the Melody of Awakening Dragon! Just another spell that discards one card.. to get me two dragons with 3000 attackpoints or more, and 2500 defense points or less." The Lord grabbed a dragon-headed guitar and played a hypnotizing rock ballad. "Pretty sweet eh?" Blanche danced along with it while she discarded Arkbrave Dragon to claim two Blue-Eyes White Dragons from her deck: one regular and one Alternative. "And now I can summon the Alternative Blue-Eyes!" She revealed the normal Blue-Eyes to activate the special summon effect of the effect Blue-Eyes and place her(8/2800/2500) [Zone 8] in the skies. "He's gonna destroy your link monster if you're not careful, Zettai!" Her dragon used up its ability to attack to fire a beam of destruction during the main phase.

"You are too slow!" So Zettai revealed the quickplay spell of the Eagle Booster again, to outspeed the beam. It detonated upon a mountaintop in the distance instead. "Now she cannot be affected by card effects.." Void noted. However Shizuku could still be destroyed, because Zettai did not have three spells in her graveyard at the time of Eagle Booster's activation.

"I wont be slow for long though! I activate Return of the Dragon Lords to summon a dragon from my graveyard! I choose ArkBrave Dragon!" The four winged wyvern(7/2400/2000) [Zone 4], with golden lines across its pristine white body surfaced from the clouds below the flying duelists. Along the way it plowed through the Mecha Modules card. "Oh yeah, Arkbrave banishes all your face-up spells and traps when I summon him. And that makes him stronger too." Banishing Zettai's continuous spell added 200 attackpoints to the brave one (2600/2000). "Feh." On the other hand, he(2300/2000) lost 300 attackpoints due to Shizuku's effect. The other dragon monsters were losing attackpower rapidly as well.

"And what if do this?! I activate the Flute of Summoning Dragon! Because I control the Lord of Dragons, I can special summon two dragons from my hand! Two more Blue-Eyes!" The lord sounded a horn, to call out the remaining Blue-Eyes(8/2700/2500) [Zones 7 & 9] in her hand. "I've always wanted to pull this one off." Blanche gained a full lineup of dragons. "Hope you're ready. Because here we go!" The dragon duelist approached Zettai from the front as she initiated the battle phase. The left white dragon charged a blast and flung it towards the Sky Striker Ace. "Gah!" The impact knocked Zettai backwards and shattered the armor suit of the water-striker Shizuku. "I can summon Raye to my field, when a Sky Striker is destroyed!" Zettai reverted to the appearance of the white-haired student(4/1500/1500) [Zone 5].

Team Absolute's LP: 14700

"I know. But you still cant dodge my attacks!" Arkbrave Dragon(2600/2000) launched the second strike with its sharp wings. "Zettai! Look out!" Veyron closed in to shout his partner a warning. But she took the slash head on. Raye had been summoned in defense mode anyway, so this attack cost them nothing. "Hey Veyron. You want some too?" Blanche snickered. "Oh my.." The last and now once again fully powered up Blue-Eyes White Dragon(3000/2500) spotted the racing duelist and fired a beam towards him.

"Hmph! Do not presume us to be so generous, Madam Blanche! I activate Sky Striker Mecha, Hornet Drones! It summons a Sky Striker Ace token in defense!" Zettai, back to her standard avatar, swept her blade at the attacking Blue-Eyes and summoned a tiny jet-shaped drone(4/1500/1500) [Zone 3]. The burst stream exploded against it before it could reach Veyron. "Thank you Zettai." Veyron sighed a breath of relief. "Hey this is not over yet." Blanche wrapped the battle phase up with a direct attack from the Lord of Dragons(1200/1100). "Oof!" The magical shots temporarily unbalanced Veyron, but he managed to stabilize his board. "You have mastered the art of flight quite well, Madam Blanche."

Team Absolute's LP: 13500

"Thank you too, Veyron." She smirked as she took on a more steady flight path herself and placed a trap card face down. "You are getting kinda close to the ground though." She noticed Veyron dropping down to lower altitudes.

-TURN 04-

"Ah, that is something I cannot remedy. Even as a speed duelist.. I have always preferred a solid circuit." The four duelists made another pass through the mountain path. "But I am not dueling alone anymore! Zettai, I shall use your spells!" Veyron revealed the last of the Ace duelists spells: Sky Striker Maneuver Afterburners and Widow Anchor. "I shall burn the Lord of Dragons first, so that the Widow Anchor can take control of your Blue-Eyes Alternative White Dragon!" Without warning, Veyrons speed board left a trail of flames in its wake. The Afterburner shot upwards and destroyed one monster, Lord of Dragons. "Oh crap." Afterwards the quickplay spell activated and ensnared the purest white dragon, dragging her [Zone 3] over to the opposing side. Though her effects were negated. "The tide will turn, Veyron." Zettai smirked.

"And the race will be joined from below! I summon Formula Athlete Whip Crosser!" Even though there was no road to drive on, his Formula athletes managed it anyway. Whip Crosser, a masked biker(4/1200/1000) [Zone 6] with spiked blonde hair dragged his superbike across the winds. Like most athletes, he gained 300 attackpoints for each of his levels. "And I activate the spell Formula Athlete Test Run." The Whip Crosser also gained a level each time a F.A. spell card or effect activated. In this case the Test Run spell forced him(5/1500/1000) into a defensive position and caused a trail of bright sparks to emit from his bike's wheels. "Test Run destroys your monster, miss Blanche!" Veyron targeted the Arkbrave Dragon. "Well, guess you leave me no choice then. I banish Return of the Dragonlords from my graveyard, which conveniently negates my dragons destruction." Arkbrave spread its four wings and used the power of the banished to spell to sidestep the sparks of Test Run. "As I knew you would. But here is where the road gets rough!.. That is what I used to say in the old days. It feels good to say it again."

"I special summon the Auto Navigator by giving it the extra level of my other Formula Athlete! And it chooses one field spell to set as our battling stage!" Whip Crosser(4/1200/1000) hit the brakes to decrease its speed and power, and to project the Navigator tuner(1/0/0) [Zone 2] from its dashboard. F.A. Auto Navigator herself took a F.A. Field spell from Veyrons deck: the course of the great cities. "Formula Athlete, City Grand Prix!" An entire racing course laid itself out between the mountains and clouds.

"Impressive." Void did not expect such an involved virtual layout. Veyron even managed to connect his board with the road and ride alongside his own Formula Athletes. "As long as we have this road, my monsters gain two levels during the main and battle phases!" The activated spell also added a new level to Whip Crosser(7/2100/1000) but not Auto Navigator(3/0/0) who lacked a level-up effect. "And since I control a highlevel Formula Athlete now. That means I can bring in the Dark Dragster!" Veyron went all out, special summoning the black formula racer(9/2700/2000) from his hand. "Oh yeah I remember that guy." Blanche moaned. She knew where they were headed.

"But I will explain its powers anyway! Dark Dragster lowers its level by 3, to destroy your monster.. Let the shadows take your Blue Eyes White Dragon!" The darkness left behind by Dragster(6/1800/2000) trapped the white dragon on the left side of the road, dragging it out of the skies and killing it. "That leaves just two." He placed his hands together and closed his eyes. "Synchro summon! Motorhome Transport!" The Dragster and Auto Navigator took off at a speed faster than the human eye could follow. They broke the barrier of dimensions, and only turned back around when they were synchronized into the massive grand prix-boosted carrier truck(11/3300/3300) of the athletes. "Battle! Motorhome Transport attacks Arkbrave Dragon!" The first clash came out with the Motorhome on top, as it flattened Arkbrave underneath its wheels.

Team White Void's LP: 13600

...

On the sidelines, the other heroes kept a steady watch. "He seems more confident. Veyron I mean." Crescent Aurora never moved from her spot. "He seems the same to me. Using the same moves too." Bionis Khan rocked back and forth. "Crescent, do you want him to win?" Arcis da Vinci meanwhile had her interest more vested within the audience. "I do not know." Her partner admittedly bluntly. "I imagine it must be difficult, to see a battle between four of your friends." The witch duelist patted her on the back. "Hmph. Zettai is no friend of mine." For Sundown Mephistar the choice was easy, though he pitied Veyron for having such an abrasive partner. "Whoever wins, someone will be unhappy. It is all starting to break apart." Crescent sighed. She wondered if this had been the plan all along, for Exeter to test just how strong their bonds were..

...

Back at the duel, Veyron made his Blue-Eyes attack Blanche's last Blue-Eyes. Neither dragon survived the fight since they were equally powerful. But a monster could only be controlled by Widow Anchor for one turn, so Veyron wanted his gone anyway. "And I shall attack you, Madam!" Whip Crosser made a giant leap from the circuit. "What the.." It grazed alongside her, damaging the blue-eyes speedboard. "Kay. Didn't know it could get that high." She then watched Veyron place two cards face down before ending his turn. "We have entered lap two!" He triumphantly stated.

Team White Void's LP: 11500 -TURN 05-

"I guess, but it is too bad that you destroyed ArkBrave!" At that point she brought back the Alternative Blue-Eyes White Dragon(8/3000/2500) [Zone 3]. "Have fun with this guy, Void!" The revival effect of Arkbrave triggered as soon as the turn after its death started.

"I plan to. But I see I have to pay a toll to ride on Veyrons road. Your Whip Crossers effect takes 300 lifepoints each time I activate effects of monsters with a lower level than it." Regardless, Void summoned the black sheep of the cyberse: ROM Claudia(4/1800/0) [Zone 1]. "When I summon this card, I can retake one cyberse monster from my graveyard." He could pick two: Flame Bufferlo and the monster it discarded previously. He picked the latter. "I add Latency, who I can special summon when it is moved from the graveyard to my hand!" A hourglass holding robot(1/0/0) [Zone 2], designed to look like a blonde girl in a red dress, emerged from the black fur of Claudia. Due to the Whip Crosser, Void had to surrender 600 lifepoints.

Team White Void's LP: 10900

"The materials are two cyberse monsters, to link summon Restoration Point Guard!" The temporal robot and the cybernetic sheep went into the link circuit. A faceless yellow machine(1000/LINK 2) {Left/Downleft) [Extra Zone 2] with two arms came back out. "I am afraid I am going to have to smash your course. Veyron. When I link summon a monster, I can activate.. Cynet Regression!" Void cut the City Grand Prix in half with his trap.

"Oh!" Veyron gasped loudly as the road started to unravel into digital fragments. "Cynet Regression destroys one card, and draws one for me as well! I can also draw one card whenever Latency, after she special summoned herself with her own effect, becomes a link material!" Void claimed his new cards while the speed duelist had to flee back to the skies now that his field spell had been deleted. The Formula Athletes Motorhome Transport(9/2700/2700) and Whip Crosser(5/1200/2000) lost a lot of power and speed as well, and could now be targeted by card effects again. Though the latter still demanded 300 lifepoints from Void due to Latency's drawing effect. "You must be a fan to know my weak spots." Veyron laughed. "I would be lying if I said I didn't prepare for this duel. Or look forward to it."

Team White Void's LP: 10600

Void summoned the next monster in his hand, the Cyberse Converter(2/1000/1000). "I control only cyberse, so I can special summon this card. But my monsters wont just be _only_ cyberse for long." Only now could Void unleash the spell of brainwashing; Mind Control. "That's not good!" Veyron flinched. The spell targeted Whip Crosser and forced it[Zone 3] to join Void's side. "There's more coming. I have two effect monsters which I can use to link summon Transcode Talker!" The ever familiar circuit reopened to welcome the transporter synchro and Restoration Point Guard, counting the latter as two materials. "Another Code Talker?" This would be the first time Veyron ever saw the endresult, the orange block-armored code knight and gunman: Transcode Talker(2300/LINK 3) {Up/Down/Left} [Extra Zone 1]. "There is one for every element, Veyron." Zettai explained to him as the two flew closer to each other. "It seems it is our daily fate to run into elemental decks. And this one.."

This one can revive one cyberse monster and link with it." Void finished Veyrons sentence. Upon Transcode's arrival, a portal opened towards the graveyard. The Point Guarder[Zone 4] climbed back out of the trashbin, restoring itself as it were. "Finally, I need two cyberse monsters for Excode Talker!" The final link summon took the revived Restorer and Cyberse Converter to create the green duel blade knight Excode(2300/LINK 3) {Left/Up/Right} [Zone 4].

"This might be unpleasant." Veyron clenched his teeth, while his partner kept smiling. "Let them come. The more we struggle, the better the taste of victory!"

(To Be Continued in Line 056: Everything and Nothing)

**New Cards used by Zettai  
**Sky Striker Ace - Shizuku

-  
Sky Striker Airspace - Area Zero  
Sky Striker Mecha - Hornet Drones

**New Cards used by Madam Blanche**  
White Stone of Legend  
Lord of Dragons

-  
Melody of Awakening Dragon  
Return of the Dragon Lords  
Flute of Summoning Dragon

**New Cards used by El Veyron GT  
**F.A. Whip Crosser

-  
F.A. Test Run

**New Cards used by Void  
**ROM Cloudia  
Latency

-  
Restoration Point Guard  
Transcode Talker

-  
Cynet Regression


	56. Everything and Nothing

**Line 056: Everything and Nothing**

Team Absolute's LP: 13500  
Team White Void's LP: 10600

Things were about to get heated. Void summoned both Transcode Talker(2300/LINK 3) {Up/Down/Left} [Extra Zone 1] and Excode Talker(2300/LINK 3) {Left/Up/Right} [Zone 4] in the same turn. "Excode Talker adds 500 attackpoints to all monsters he points at, and prevents that monster from being destroyed! And Transcode Talker adds 500 attackpoints to each monster that forms a co-link with it! And those monsters cannot be targeted by card effects!" Due to their mutual connection, Transcode(3300 atk) gained two powerboosts while Excode(2800 atk) took up one. "Absolute, this will be a triple strike!" Blanche's Blue-Eyes Alternative White Dragon (8/3000/2500) [Zone 8] answered his calls as well. The dragon ripped through F.A. Motorhome(9/2900/3000) with its magnificent white energy beam.

Team Absolute's LP: 13500

"The field is empty!" Transcode attacked second firing a burst of energy from his massive cannon gun. "Whoa!" Veyron dodged the beam, though that did not save his lifepoints. Excode in turn assaulted the soaring Zettai with blasts fired from its hands. "Ugh!" She got blown back and fell behind the other speed duelists.

Team Absolute's LP: 7100

"Incredible! He gained up on them immensely!" Neo blurted out. "Yes but he could not seal the deal." Scura tempered his excitement. "And they are going to hit back twice as hard now that they're cornered." She knew that you could not go for anything less than a full blowout, with an opponent like Zettai.

-TURN 06-

"You are an unpredictable kind of duelist, Void." The flying Zettai quickly caught back up with the white void team, and came in close with the cyberse duelists. "You walk a million roads, limited only by the rules of this game. The strength of your many cyberse lies in their numbers. The more you connect, the tougher each link becomes." She pulled a card from her deck, regaining her terrifying smile as looked at it. "But your choices are still narrowed down. And a single missing piece will make your tower collapse!" She activated the first spell, Sky Striker Maneuver Mobilize Engage. "I add Sky Striker Maneuver Jamming Waves to my hand! The second spell! And I draw one card!" With three spells already in her graveyard, Zettai could unleash both effects of this Maneuver and all that were to follow. "Jamming Waves destroys one set card on the field, and then one monster as well!" Excode Talker's protection did not extend towards itself. Zettai spun around the green knight and crushed its armored body with a series of sonic waves. Void's trap, Cynet Refresh, also turned to dust.

"Uhm, werent your monsters untargetable?" Blanche inquired, having only half paid attention to their effects so far. "Yes. But Jamming Waves only targets its first card, the one face-down. The monster is not targeted." A fact that Void lamented. Now, with no more Excode Talker to form a co-link with, Trancode(2300 atk) could be destroyed and targeted as well. "But I can special summon Restoration Point Guard from my graveyard, when the monster that used it as a link material is destroyed!" Void restored the yellow guarder(1000/LINK 2) {Left/Downleft} [Zone 4], who unfortunately could not form a co-link with Transcode either.

"Another thought out link for your chain. But here is mine again." Zettai activated her third and familiar spell. "Sky Striker Mecha, Hornet Drones! I will create the Sky Striker token to link summon Kagari!" She surrounded herself with the hornet ships(4/1500/1500) [Zone 1] once more and used them offensively this time. Any Sky Striker could be used as a link material for the Aces, even a token. Fire transformed the flying maiden, armoring Zettai in the body of Sky Striker Ace Kagari(1500/LINK 1) {Upleft] [Extra Zone 1]

"Here we go again." Blanche groaned as the effects of Kagari/Zettai restarted the onslaught by returning the Sky Striker Mobilize Engage spell to Zettai's hand. "The first spell again!" Zettai pulled another Widow Anchor Maneuver and a freely drawn card from the deck with the Engager. "I can only use my Sky Striker Maneuver spells while I control no monsters in my main zone. So I shall activate two in the same chain: the Maneuver Widow Anchor and the Maneuver Shark Cannon!" Two weapons materialized in her hands: the anchor claw of control and a large two-barreled laser cannon. The first, of course, grabbed the Alternative Blue-Eyes White Dragon [Zone 3]. The second tore a hole in the mountains below, to open a doorway to the field.. "Shark Cannon takes one monster in any graveyard that is not my own and summons it to my field. And since we do not share graveyards, Veyron, I can take it from yours as well!" The shark cannon beam dragged F.A. Dark Dragster(7/2100/2000) [Zone 4] back to the living.

"Splendid!" Veyron marveled as his partner used the dark racer's effect just as he would. "I cannot attack with Shark Cannon's target, but I _can_ use this monster's powers!" Dark Dragster(4/1200/2000) dropped its level by three stars, to consume Transcode Talker in a bed of shadows and smoke.

"Your second link is now destroyed as well. That only leaves the Restorer!" Zettai/Kagari blasted off. In this form she(2400 atk) gained 100 attackpoints for all nine spells Zettai had spent this entire duel, except for the banished Multirole. "All things burn in the end!" Mad laughter resonated with roaring flames. The Ace purged Restoration Point Guard with a precise searing slash. "And all power turns against its master, Madam Blanche!" Zettai forced the Blue-Eyes Alternative Dragon to attack the blue-eyed girl. "That figures." She ducked behind her speed board to avoid the stream of destruction, which clipped one of the board-dragons wings. "That figures too."

Team White Void's LP: 6200

"That was a good attack." Void could not help but praise Zettai. She managed to use these new teamrules in ways he never considered. "If you say so. This whole teaming up thing is weird. We share one thing but not the other." Blanche at the very least regained control of her Blue-Eyes [Zone 8] during the endphase. "That is the way it should be. There are barriers no single duelist can overcome. Matters they can only solve by themselves." Zettai also placed one card face down before the end of her turn. Afterwards, Madam Blanche could cut loose.

-TURN 07-

"Kinda sounds like that's what teamwork is for. We're the heroes of pandemonium, remember?" She tore into the Striker duelist, with powers as well. The Alternative White Dragon activated its unlocked effects to destroy Dark Dragster and drag it back to the graveyard. "We are not the heroes of Pandemonium right now. We are each others opponents. I only need Veyron and he needs me." Zettai rasped. "What? You don't like to multitask?" She asked back. "I refuse to be distracted. I focus on one thing at all times, so that its power will not be diluted."

"Oh? That's one way to go about it. But I like having multiple 'things'. Because then you can make an even better bigger 'one' thing!" Blanche activated Dragons Mirror, to fuse the dragon on her field with the two Blue-Eyes dragons in the graveyard. "The Ultimate Dragon?" Veyron guessed. "Old news, El. I've also done this evolving thing that Zettai loves to talk about. I fusion summon Neo-Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon!" Three dragons were banished to give life to the diamond-armored three-headed white dragon(10/4500/3800) [Extra Zone 3]. Power glowed through its veins and scales. "Hang on to your guts! This is gonna get wild!" The dragon duelist approached Zettai from the front as Blanche initiated the battle phase. The left head of the white dragon fired off a beam. "Rgah!" Zettai took the blast and lost the body of the fire-Striker Kagari, turning back into the white-haired Striker Raye(4/1500/1500) [Zone 5] again.

Team Absolute's LP: 5000

"Oh that's nice. But Neo Blue Eyes can attack three times in one turn, if I send a fusion Blue-Eyes monster from my deck to the graveyard after the first and second attack!" Blanche sent a second Neo Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon from her extra deck to the graveyard, and made the right head of the first gather light in its jaws. "Zettai! Look out!" Veyron closed in to shout his partner a warning.

"The final element! I tribute Raye to summon Kaina!" She had no choice but reveal the fourth form of the sky strikers: the claw-wielding earth armored Sky Striker Kaina(1500/LINK 1) {Downleft}. "I can target your monster, and prevent its attacks for the rest of the turn!" Despite the size of the enemy, Kaina/Zettai took it head on and slowed it down with all four of her mechanical claws. "Oh you want to tangle eh? Well it's too bad that I can banish Neo Blue-Eyes from my graveyard, to stop an effect that targets my Blue-Eyes. Also the card with that effect gets destroyed!" Blanche managed to stave off the attack blockade, with the help of the ultimate dragon in the graveyard. It fired a beam to envelop Zettai in an inescapable beam of pure force. "Ngh." This time she fell back all the way to her base form. Ray could not revive herself twice in the same turn. "You can push, but you cannot break me! My next spell card is Scapegoat!" But the ace of the skies summoned another swarm of tokens to defend herself.

"Goats?" Four differently colored sheep tokens(1/0/0) [Zones 1, 2, 3 & 4] poofed into existence. The red sheep got in the way of Neo Blue Eyes' second attack. "I didn't take you for a sheep kind of girl." Blanche could only get rid of one more. She sent the last Neo Ultimate dragon from the extra deck to the graveyard, and made the third and final head of the living fusion dragon shoot down the pink sheep token. "Do you even have any other real monsters besides Raye?" Disappointed, the dragon duelist ended her battle phase.

"I only need one, I only need me." Zettai grunted. "I commend you for staying loyal to your theme. You are of one color, like me. But even I know it takes more. I will do whatever I can to achieve victory." Even if that meant having to let her partner take over for now. "Yeah but you can have some fun doing it though. Right, Void?" Blanche did not want the end the turn on a sour note. "Well I am having more fun than usual" He replied. "Feh, 'fun' has no reward. There is only victory or defeat and nothing in between." Zettai scoffed.

"Perhaps, but I would still like to win with grace and style." Veyron smirked. "So before we enter the final lap, I will create a ramp for me to leap from! I activate my trap card: Dice It!" Even now the speed duelist would let luck have some say in his duels. His dice trap rolled a virtual die through the air. "Huh? What does that do?" The six-sided stone managed to land on on the number 4. "The effect is quite simple, Madam Blanche. If this trap rolls for a number during your turn, I can send the same number of cards from my deck to the graveyard." He discarded the next four cards: including the spells F.A. Pit Stop and F.A. Down Force. "I shall also activate my other trap card: Formula Athlete Overheat! As long as my opponent still has monsters in the game, I can special summon one Formula Athlete from my hand! And its level shall go up by three!" Veyron shifted his board into overdrive, and came out ahead of everyone else. His trap placed an equally fast airbike F.A. Hang-on Mach(7/2100/1800) [Zone 10] on the course. "Time to bring us home!"

-TURN 08-

"My turn! Auto Navigator's can be special summoned from the graveyard as well as the field!" Veyron slowed his new Mach rider(4/1200/1800) down, giving its three extra levels to the revived Navigation droidette(3/0/0) [Zone 9]. And since she was summoned, she could also give the racers a new field to race on. Veyron added the spell of F.A. Off Road Grand Prix from his deck to his hand. "A synchro summon eh?" Void realized what Veyron could bring out with his current line-up. "Among others!" And he did, tuning the Navigator with Hang on Mach to summon a racer who rode in as the sun rose behind the Sylvanian mountains: F.A. Dawn Dragster(7/2100/2000) [Extra Zone 4].

"But there is more to me than meets the eye! I have more effects to recycle!" Veyron activated the Off Road field spell, but immediately destroyed it. "When I banish F.A Test Run from the graveyard! I can destroy one of my own cards! And when a Grand Prix card is destroyed, I can add another one of my athletic spells to my hand! I already gave you a sneak preview, Void and Blanche!" Happily, he took a second F.A. Pit Stop spell from the deck. "Pit Stop lowers my athlete's level by two and then draws one card for each Pit Stop spell in my graveyard, plus one for free!" Ergo, he would be drawing twice. The synchro dragster, who did gain two levels from each previously activated F.A. spell, lost it all to a forced pit stop. Meanwhile Veyron claimed two spells from his deck.

"Excellent. I activate Iron Call! Since I have a machine on my field, I can re-summon one of my lost level 4 machines!" A mechanical claw dipped into the grave and pulled out its prize: F.A. Whip Crosser(4/0/1000) [Zone 8] with its effects negated. "Decks are always evolving. Duelists evolve with them. This will be the first I show the world, what my answer is to the new link era!" To everyone's shock, Veyron opened up a link circuit. "I can use 2 machines to link summon Formula Athlete Shining Star GT!" The dawn racer and the whipping biker crossed paths and disappeared within the grid. And It emerged instead: a sleek white sport-car, with golden and red decals, fins and large turbo engines. Shining Star(0/LINK 2) {Downleft/Downright} [Extra Zone 4] drove alongside the clouds, making no noise at all.

"A link monster? Don't tell me.." For a second Void assumed a less than pleasant source for this card. "Did Hansen give me this? No, Void. I bought this with my own earnings. This victory will be mine and Zettai's alone." The speed duelist would not let anyone spoil this day. "So he tried to bribe you too huh." Blanche chuckled as she imagined that meeting. "And we rejected it. The road to fame must be kept clean." Zettai stated and stared at the Sanctuary in the skies with disgust.

"At any rate. Allow me to introduce you. This is the Shining Star! He will gain 300 attackpoints for each level of a monster he points at!" Link monsters had no levels of their own after all. "So I will give it nine for starters! I can banish The Formula Athlete Pit Stop spell, the one I didn't send to the graveyard this turn, to special summon one of my destroyed Formula Athletes!" To gain the most out of his new machine, Veyron had his Pit Stop spell bring back F.A. Motorhome Transporter(9/2700/3000) [Zone 8]. It linked with the Shining Star(2700 atk), who also suddenly acquired a special type of counter. "Oh you are seeing things correctly! My link monster creates an Athlete Counter each time I use one of their spells or traps. And once each turn, I can use up one of those counters to negate a monster's effect!"

Soon the GT racer acquired its second athlete counter, once Veyron activated one more F.A. card from his graveyard. "Overheat can be banished from my graveyard. And its second effect will re-activate one field spell from my graveyard. There can only be one, really." Naturally, Veyron returned the City Grand Prix field, so that his Formula Athletes gained a targeting immunity and two levels during the most important phases. "Motorhome Transporter has enough levels now to activate his most powerful ability! It special summons one Formula Athlete again! Dawn Dragster!" The transporter truck(13/3900/3000) opened its cargo doors. The course overflowed with energy and light. The racer of the sun(9/2700/2000) [Zone 10] returned and linked with the Shining Star(6600 atk) on its other side. "And finally, I banish Downforce!" The last spell activated made Motorhome(14/4200/3000) and the other synchro gain one level through their own effects, while Downforce itself gave Dawn Dragster(12/3600/2000) two temporary level stars.

"Then the toll of victory has been sated." Zettai smirked. "Indeed. The battle phase begins here! Shining Star attacks the blue-eyed dragon!" First their monsters would suffer. "Are you sure you want to? I activate Universal Adapter!" Void quickly countered with the power modifying trap. "Quite sure, Void! You did not forget Dawn Dragster's power did you?" Veyron reacted even faster, shutting down the activated trap by lowering the level of Dawn Dragster(10/3000/2000) twice. "Fortunately the link monster(7200 atk), with all of its linked attackpower, could not inflict battle damage. So Blanche stayed clear of the explosion that the Shining Star caused as it rammed through her three-headed dragon like a speeding bullet. "Make them fall." Zettai ordered. "As the lady says! Motorhome Transport, Dawn Dragster... attack Team White Void directly!" The truck plowed right into Void on his speed boards first. "Gah!" Once again he would have fallen off is not for his balancing guards. "Let's make this a photo finish!"

Team White Void's LP: 2000

"I knew it. They lose." Scura did not want to look. The duel could only end this way, because there were few traps that could stop Team Absolute now. "I think you miscalculated, Veyron! We can keep going for another round!" But a confident declaration made her open her eyes again. "What!?"

"What!?" Veyron and Zettai flinched. The Dawn racer missed Void all-together! "I still have this quickplay spell, Spool Code! It activates when I am about to be directly attacked while there are three or more cyberse in my graveyard!" Three spooling discs(1/0/0) with blinking lights [Zones 1 & 4 & 5] popped up in defense mode. "I can summon up to three spool tokens, and also I cancel your attack!" This time he did the close-range smiling at the ace duelist. If they brought in token shields, so would he. Dawn Dragster(8/2400/2000) lost its Down Forced levels and Veyron had to end his turn after he placed a trap down. They made it. "Maybe? Maybe they can win? Yeah they can! Go get her Void!" Scura started shouting. He could not hear her, but he figured they would be cheering for them anyway.

"You know I understand where you are coming from, Veyron. But you as well, Zettai. All a duelist needs is the game, not what everyone else puts around it. That is at least what I thought at first. But.. I cannot go back to that anymore. I don't feel like I am doing this for myself. Not for just Blanche either. Even if the noise overwhelms me, I cannot pretend that I am the only one that matters." He cast a look at the mountains around him, knowing that thousands were watching him. "Are you saying we are doing this to glorify ourselves: hero of pandemonium?" An indignant Zettai snarled. "No. Not that. I am no hero either. But I think I know what you want now. You don't want to turn your back on us, you just want to become better than what you think you are. You want to be one of them, a champion.. So they can be apart of your world too." Void drew his next card. "How are you so sure about that?" She snapped back. "Because I wanted the same thing. I forced myself to want it. Only now I realize. I don't want to just help them or Exeter... I want to help every duelist."

-TURN 09-

"The link material is 1 level 2 or lower cyberse." The middle Spool token left the field. "To make Talkback Lancer." Returning to the field was the cybernetic lancer(1200/LINK 2) {Down} [Extra Zone 1] with its bright blue and green armor. "Its effect takes one tribute and revives one Code Talker from my graveyard." The rightmost Spool token turned into a sacrifice, and resummoned the second link: Transcode Talker (2300 atk) [Zone 2]. "Transcode Talker can also revive a link monster! But you already knew that part." Void kept things going by special summoning Excode Talker(2800 atk) [Zone 3] to the right marker of the gunner knight(3300 atk). Transcode added 500 attackpoints to all monsters in its co-link, and Excode added 500 to all monsters it pointed at. "And then I use Talkback Lancer and my last token as materials for Proxy Dragon!" Nothing would be held back. Two linking vertices collided to link summon the protective dragon(1400/LINK 2) {Left/right} [Extra Zone 1]. Though strangely not in a spot where its effect would be useful. "And now I special summon SIMM Tablir to an available marked zone! And when I do, it can take one cyberse monster from my graveyard!"

"You are taking this very serious I see. But do not be so fast my friend! I still have plenty of athlete counters to use!" Veyron intercepted the cyber tapir(5/0/1800) [Zone 4] after it got summoned, but before it could take Void's cyberse back. "I allowed you your link monsters powers, because your Cynet Refresh trap would protect them. But you cannot save your other monsters!" One of Shining Star GT's four counters shattered and released a glowing light like a star. The star fell and burned the field.

"Heh. I knew you would, Veyron." Void looked through the flames and swept them aside with his new monster: a mechanical black hound(4/1200/1600) [Zone 5]. "This is Striping Partner! He summons himself when you negate one of my monsters effects. And he can also bring back one level 4 or lower cyberse from my graveyard!" Void resummoned Latency(1/0/0) [Zone 1] to his only available monster zone. SIMM Tablir survived as well, it could not be destroyed as long as it formed a link with Excode Talker. "The link materials are at least two non token monsters, I summon Trigate Wizard!"

"Wait a second. You are not..." Zettai noticed patterns. Instead of using all of his newest monsters, Void turned Proxy dragon into two link materials along with SIMM Tablir. This link summon of the duality wizard of Trigate(2200/LINK 3) {Left/Up/Right} [Zone 4] implied a design that only one monster could stand in the way of. "I am. I also link summon Linkuriboh!" The hourglass Latency robot, being a level 1 cyberse, could transform herself to bring out the digital kuriboh(300/LINK 1) {Down} [Extra Zone 2]. And it appeared within the other extra monster zone, forming a co-link with the Wizard(2700 atk) who already made one co-link with Excode Talker. "When I have two monsters co-linked with it, Trigate Wizard can banish one card from the field! Let's get rid of your city field permanently this time, Veyron!" With the flick of his wand, and some shared energy from Linkuriboh and the Excoder, Trigate made the entire Grand Prix course combust. And with it gone, so were the boosts and shields of Motorhome(12/3600/3000), Dawn Dragster(6/1800/2000) and Shining Star GT(5400 atk).

"Now, without further ado. Here is Firewall Dragon!" Trigate Wizard dematerialized, its three vortices slammed into the linking grid along with Striping Partner. Void link summoned his own ace, the dragon of firewalls(3000/LINK 4) {Left/Up/Down/Right} [Zone 4], and co-linked it with Linkuriboh and Excode Talker. "I activate Firewall Dragons effect. For each of his co-links he return a monster on the field or in the graveyard to the players hand! I choose my ROM Cloudia and your Motorhome Transporter!" And the rest of Voids turn played out exactly how Zettai feared it would. "You.. plan to seal us in! Seal _me_ in!"

With the transport truck forced off the road, Shining Star GT(1800 atk) powered down even further. And with the black cyberse sheep at Voids disposal again, he could restart its loop. "I normal summon ROM Cloudia, use its effect to add Latency to my hand again, and use Latency's own effect to special summon her!" One empty zone belonged to Cloudia(4/1800/0) [Zone 1], the other to Latency [Zone 5]. "I will use both as link materials for Code Talker! And.. I summon it to the other extra monster zone again!" And so it came to be... "The other?" ... that both extra monster zones fell under his control. Recovery Sorcerer(2000/LINK 2) {Left/Down} [Extra Zone 3] appeared above Transcode Talker and completed a co-link from one end to the field to the other, gaining 500 attackpoints from the Transcoder as well. "You created an extra link.."

(To Be Continued in Line 057: On the Closed Circuit)

**New Cards used by Void  
**Striping Partner

-  
Talkback Lancer

-  
Spool Code

**New Cards used by Zettai  
**Sky Striker Ace - Kaina

-  
Sky Striker Maneuver - Shark Cannon  
Scapegoat

**New Cards used by Madam Blanche  
**Neo Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon

**New Cards used by El Veyron GT  
**F.A. Shining Star GT

-  
Iron Call

-  
F.A. Dead Heat  
Dice It!


	57. On the Closed Circuit

**Line 057: On the Closed Circuit**

"Why are we here? Why are we waiting?" One duelist in the backrow of the safezone muttered impatiently. "We're here for the finals of course. Why cant you just sit back and enjoy the show?" Someone else replied with an amused tone. "Really? We are going to let it play out? This is our show now, not theirs." The woman hissed while trying to keep her voice down. Nobody could see or hear them regardless. "I thought you would care about your own brother losing, Victor. Because he doesn't look too hot right now. Just relax and watch. A little fun wont hurt anyone." The other man chuckled. "You will see the point of it all, soon enough.. You and our fine hosts of Exeter." Ulysses smiled, looking up at the Sky sanctuary and pointing his finger at it like a gun.

...

"An Extra Link? What the heck is that?" For the tournament scene this was a first. For duelists like Scura, this was an inexplicable phenomenon. "It's a complete co-link!" And even those who heard of the term before, like Neo, had never seen one successfully completed. In one turn Void summoned all five necessary links. Recovery Sorcerer (2000/LINK 2) {Left/Down} [Extra Zone 1] pointed down at Transcode Talker(3300/LINK 3) {Left/Up/Right} [Zone 2] who co-linked back with Code Talker and also with Excode Talker(2800/LINK 3) {Left/Up/Right} [Zone 3], who formed a co-link in turn with the Firewall Dragon(3000/LINK 4) {Left/Up/Down/Right} [Zone 4], who ended the extra link by also pointing back up at Linkuriboh (300/LINK 1) {Down} [Extra Zone 2]. "That is how he can link summon a monster to the other extra monster zone as well." Normally each duelist could only use one such zone at a time. "Then what about Zettai?" Scura inquired since she did not see any cards pointing

.. "She can't summon anything from the extra deck now."

Team White Void's LP: 2300 Team Absolute's LP: 5400

"Magnificent." Down on the dueling lane, Veyron could only marvel at the closed circuit no matter how dire it made their situation. "Since I used Latency as a link material, I can draw one card." Void managed to still have cards in his hand at the end of his summoning madness as well. "..." Still, he would not make the mistake of declaring his victory prematurely. Both Veyron and Zettai still controlled four monsters and two face-down cards. Knowing the former's usual defenses, it would be a gamble to attack Shining Star GT(1800/LINK 2) {Downleft/Downright} [Extra Zone 4] whose attackpoints depended on the F.A. Dawn Dragster(6/1800/2000) [Zone 8] it linked with. Nevertheless he had to get rid of one to use his spells and traps again. "Battle!" It did not seem likely that their lifepoints would drop to zero in this turn anyway, so he would not risk everything just yet. "Linkuriboh and Code Talker will attack the two sheep tokens!" He would have to get rid of Zettai's defending sheep(1/0/0) [Zones 3 & 4] before he could deliver a finishing blow anyway.

"Then Firewall Dragon attacks the Shining Star!" The draconic cyberse's body turned red with heat. "Oh you want to play the game of good and bad fates eh? I welcome you too it then, Void! I activate Formula Athlete Dead Heat!" Dawn Dragster(7/2100/2000) and Shining Star(2100 atk) powered up at the same time after the synchro gained one level due to the activated F.A. trap. "Each time my Athletes have a fight, I can raise their level by 4. If I win a die toss! On the other hand, if I lose my monster is destroyed!" Of course, link monsters did not possess levels. At best Veyron could raise GT's power by raising Dawn Dragster, except Void did not pick a battle with that machine yet. "Then it is destroyed." The Firewall dragon blew the Shining link racer to smithereens with a burst of overheated energy.

Team Absolute's LP: 4500

"But I will try my luck a little. Transcode Talker attacks Dawn Dragster!" Void could not stay afraid forever either. "Good. I am glad you accepted my invitation! The die is cast!" Veyron spun the virtual die, and received a three as a result. "Urk.." He would definitely have liked a higher number. "Okay, Veyron!" Void made his own roll...

And he got a five. "I win!" Luck turned against the speed gambler. Dead Heat destroyed Dawn Dragster. Leaving Veyron wide open. "The gamble payed off! Trasncode's attack turns into a direct attack!" The transcoding gunner pointed his weapon at the speeding duelist. "But then I will use the other power of Dead Heat! Each turn I can special summon one Formula Athlete from my deck, when I am about to be attacked directly!" Veyron placed a Sonic Meister(4/1200/1000) [Zone 8] on the field in defense mode. And it entered the battle with the wizard. "Another pass?" The Dead Heat dice effect did not get used here either. "I know how to pick my battles. As do you." If Veyron rolled wrong here, Sonic Meister would die and he and Zettai would receive two direct attacks. Instead the machine died at the hands of the black and white wizard; or rather at the end of its lance-tipped boots. "Even in a world ruled by statistics and algorithms, you cannot predict every outcome. No matter how much some people would like to."

"Hm. Especially nowadays." Void agreed with those words. The world that Exeter built did not seem so orderly and calm anymore. "But we should not control everything anyway..." Excode Talker finished up the fight with a direct wind blast attack. "Quite right, Void. I might regret how me and my brother departed. But I do not regret cutting that tie. I cannot control him, and he should not control me." Veyron laughed despite his dwindling lifepoints.

Team Absolute's LP: 1700

"Hmm. Then again. I feel like I could have controlled this turn a bit more... used my effects in other ways and on other targets. But then perhaps I would not be here, and I would not have made all of this." Void placed a card face down in the spell/trap zone. "I'll say. I'm glad I didn't make that bet." When Void told her about the possibility of making an extra link, she wrote it off as impossible. "Heh. That's fair. I did not think I would get a chance to do it, to be honest." There were not a lot of decks that could reliably pull it off to begin with, not even the Salamangreats.

-TURN 10-

"Yes. You have changed. You have shown more of your true nature." Zettai took it well, that her only means of attacking had been cut off from her. "But your flights of fancy have left you exposed and bloated." Perhaps that confidence came from the card in her hand... "I activate the field spell, Mystic Mine! As long as the number of monsters on your field exceeds our own, you cannot declare an attack or activate a monsters effect!"

"Excuse me?" The flying duelists took a detour through a tunnel in the mountains, entering a cave filled with magical crystals embedded in the walls. "Whoa." The narrow passageway made it impossible for Voids army of cyberse to move from their position. Ambient magic dulled their senses. "It only takes one flaw to bring down perfection, Void!" She technically only needed to get rid of either Linkuriboh or Recovery Sorcerer to reclaim the extra monster zone. Neither of which could activate their powers or attackreduction or revival now. "I summon myself, Sky Striker Ace Raye!" And a duelist like Zettai could not be separated from her ace monster for long. She placed the white-haired student warrior(4/1500/1500) [Zone 3] on the field and merged her avatar with the card. "Your weakness is my strength! Be gone, Linkuriboh" The ace spiraled through the mines, jumping from wall to wall with a blade in her hand. All sorts of terror would break loose if the extra link fell apart. Which it did, when Linkuriboh vanished.

Team White Void's LP: 1100

"Raye's effect! The wind becomes my element!" Zettai tributed her main monster to special summon the fourth Sky Striker Ace: Hayate the sharpshooting green maiden(1500/LINK 1) {Downleft} [Extra Zone 2]. "When Hayate attacks, I can make it a direct attack!" Zettai/Hayate raised her double-bladed bayonet cannon and placed Void in her visor. "You do not have enough lifepoints to survive this!" While she shouted the energy charged within her weapon. Void would only have one chance to stop her attack.

"Then I activate Cybersal Cyclone!" A chance she gave him. "Let's see whose winds are stronger, Zettai! I can banish a link monster from my graveyard to banish one on your field with the same link rating!" The link 1 Linkuriboh started the storm, and the ensuing cyclone swallowed Zettai's Hayate card whole. "Your wind vanquishes mine?!" His spell did not stop there, it moved down one row and shattered the Mystic Mines as well. "Cybersal Cyclone also destroys a spell or trap card when it successfully banishes two link monsters!"

"You saw this." A card like Cybersal Cyclone did not get added to a deck by accident. Her opponent expected the need for anti-link monster measures. "But banishing is still removal. And your extra link is still gone." The disappearance of Hayate caused Striker Raye [Zone 3] to be summoned back to her field in defense position. "But Zettai, you cant summon the same Sky Striker more than once each turn." Veyron pointed out. "I know." She could not use Raye's effect multiple times either, which forced her to wait for the 2nd main phase before she could call out another link monster. "I know all of this... But the storm of elements will come regardless!" She did not wait a phase longer, the Ace Raye opened the link circuit the regular way and transformed into the crimson striker Kagari(1500/LINK 1) {Upleft} [Extra Zone 2]. "First the fire! I reclaim one Sky Striker spell from my graveyard!" Of all possible choices, Zettai went with the Shark Cannon spell. But she did not play it just yet.

"Then the earth!" The strikers shifted modes faster and faster. Each link monster could be turned into a material for the next and Kagari turned into the Sky Striker Ace Kaina(1500/LINK 1) {Downright} [Extra Zone 2] and used her effect to prevent any of Firewall Dragons attacks until Veyrons next turn. "Finally, the water!" And the Sky Striker link monsters could also be used as link materials, allowing Zettai to transform into the Sky Striker Ace Shizuku(1500/LINK 1) {Upright} [Extra Zone 2].

"I set one card face-down and end my turn. Shizuku now adds Sky Striker Maneuver Shark Cannon from the deck to my hand! And I activate it!" Though she would keep one Shark Cannon in reserve, another special summoned F.A. Dawn Dragster(7/2100/2000) [Zone 4] in defense mode. This was why Zettai had Kagari retrieve one Shark Cannon from her graveyard, because Shizuku could only claim a spell that she did not see in the graveyard. And at the same time she would take away 100 attackpoints from each opposing monster, for each Sky Striker spell she did see and count. "There are ten spells in my graveyard now!" Voids cyberse legion would lose a thousand attackpoints in total. (Transcode Talker: 2300 atk, Excode Talker: 1800 atk, Firewall Dragon: 2000 atk, Recovery Sorcerer: 1000 atk). "That ends my turn!" Even if they found a way to destroy Shizuku, Zettai would simply restart the reincarnation cycle of Raye and the four elements. "Nobody seals me!"

-TURN 11-

"Wow. You gave me quite a scare there, Zettai." Blanche did not think she would even get another turn. "But I guess even I can still be surprised." The sunlight reflected of Madam Blanche's hand, off of her last draw. "And I am also surprised that I can make use of this card! Dragon Knight of Creation!" Rather than a winged monster, she normal summoned a brave warrior. The knight of creation(4/1800/600) [Zone 6] wore a dragon-styled helmet and silver plate on his muscular chest, and long red hair billowed behind his back. "This guy has a pretty simple power. I send one card in my hand to the graveyard, and the Dragon Knight follows. And once he's down there, he will kick a dragon right back to the field." She sacrificed the Chaos Form spell card in her hand, and her knight sacrificed himself. His effect could only special summon level 7 or 8 dragons, which did not give her a diverse selection. However.. "I summon Arkbrave Dragon!" She only needed one, the noble golden dragon(7/1400/2000) [Zone 3].

"That monster again?" Zettai remembered its effect well. Arkbrave banished Veyrons Dead Heat trap: and it(1600/2000) took 200 attackpoints from that lost card. "You used the same trick on us, twice." The ace duelist cursed. "Yeah pretty much. But there is one neat little twist, Zettai." The white duelist dangled a card between her fingers. "The card I discarded was this guy, Master with Eyes of Blue. And once I banish him from my graveyard.. I only need to sacrifice one effect monster on my field to bring a Blue-Eyes monster back to the field." The wise grey-haired master surrendered his spirit, and the body of Void's Recovery Sorcerer to this effect. And Zettai's eyes widened with concern. "That..one?" Blanche brought back the great Neo Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon(10/3500/3800) [Zone 4] in attack position.

"She's done it..." This time, they could not fight their way out of it. Even with Shizuku's power drain in effect, Neo Blue Eyes did not give them any chance of surviving an attack. "I was too slow and too hasty at the same time. The failure is mine alone." Zettai could have prevented this with the Shark Cannon. Rather than relying on Veyrons continuous trap and the spell/trap negation powers of Dawn Dragster, she could have revived the Neo Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon herself with either of her spells. She still had the second one set, yet that card could not be activated as long as she controlled a monster in her main zone. "And you are.. too unpredictable."

"Really? This look predictable to me. I had the last laugh with Alpha and Schwarzwald and now here as well. Heheh, I would have been happy to let Void have this final blow. But that's why they call it teamwork!" Blanche moved her speed board right alongside Void's. "We have done this." Void nodded. In effect his extra link started a chain reaction from which they could not recover in time. "I guess I also agree with you, Zettai. It doesn't matter how we win, it only matters that we win. Though you probably wanted it more than me, I will also do whatever it takes. Neo Blue-Eyes attack with the triple burst stream!" Each head combined their energy blasts into one wide beam and enveloped Zettai/Shizuki."Gaaaah!" She got knocked out of the skies. "Oooof!" Veyron fell down right along with her.

Team Absolute's LP: 0

In that instant the clouds cleared up, and the virtual sun illuminated the blue skies. "The duel... is Over! The winner is Team WHITE VOID!" The ADI host announced the results to those who still doubted the outcome. And a close-up of Void and Blanche's face appeared on every screen on every facet of the skybox. Nobody could deny this reality. "It's...over." Steadily the speedboards slowed down, and a solid platform of rock and snow grew beneath their feet. They reached the finishing line, the tallest mountain in the Sylvanian sector. In front of them floated the heavenly sanctuary. And behind them waited the duelists from the buffer safezone. Void did not hear any cries of condemnation now, just a single united shout-out for Team White Void. "Arent they adorable?" Blanche smiled and waved calmly at the crowd. "You should be a little happier, Void." She nudged him in his side. "I am." He looked down at his own hand and closed it into a fist. "We are!" He raised his fist to the sky, earning even more noise and excitement.

"Victory is yours." Zettai and Veyron were there with them on the white peak. "The best team won." They both acted gracious in defeat, with the latter expressing genuine happiness for the two that brought him down. "Yes, the best team." Zettai took it less well. "Hey you didn't make it easy if that's what you're all worried about." Blanche could practically taste the ace duelist's self-loathing. "What does it matter when the endresult is still defeat? All that tells me is that we were weak and you were strong. No, I was weak. I made the mistakes." She saw several things she could have done differently. She should have.

"Everyone makes mistakes. You just have to learn from them.. I know that losing once should not mean that that is the end for a duelist. If I believed that, I would have given up on this tournament before it ever began." Void did not want to presume to understand Zettai's frame of mind. But he took his own loss to Scarlet hard enough already. And the ace did not seem like the person to even consider the possibility of defeat.

"Yeah you did it! I knew you would!" Then, on by one, the remaining heroes stormed the mountain top. Neo rushed in first to congratulate the winners. Only to notice the scowl of Zettai. "Oh sorry... If it helps, half my viewers wanted you to win!" He could not hide his preferences. "It is only natural to harbor a grudge to those that exceeded you, or a favor those that give you the pretension of revenge." Himiko and Zanbatou made their way to the two teams next. "Does that count for you as well?" Void could not tell, since the last time he heard from them was when they lost themselves. "I am not some petty princess. What happened, happened." She did not even entertain his question.

"To be honest, I didn't think you could do it." Bionis said with a cough. He never really picked a side anyway. "But now that you have lost, we can all be allies again." And Crescent expressed her relief somewhat tactlessly. Zettai did not mind. "That is how it works." With the barrier lifted, they could also see the others who stayed behind. Sundown gave the team a knowing nod from afar and Scura waved nervously. Void guessed the two would rather avoid the spotlight.

"Too bad not everyone could be here." Neo let out a sigh. "I really thought Donna would at least show back up for this. She is one of us too you know." The cyber duelist had a point. With everything taking place all at once, it became too easy to forget people like her. Between mister Static and Exeter taking Giganoto, she had spent more time away from them than not. But Void could not blame her for not wanting to promote Hansens tournament either. He had to remind himself each round, why he was doing this.

"Perhaps you can ask about that now." Another duelist chimed in. "What? Wat do you mean?" It was Arcis Da Vinci, still palling around with Crescent Aurora it appeared. "You are the finalists. I believe that earns you the right to talk with the head of Exeter, and with the champions." She explained. "Oh yeah! Yeah the same thing should have happened back when Alpha won that fundraiser!" Neo gasped. Of course that part never happened once the ADI attack started. But today would be different. "This is what Alpha wanted." Void realized he could ask them about Alpha's story again, in front of the whole world. Hansen would not be able to deny them an answer now.

"Sounds like a plan to me. Yo, bossguy! We won! Now what!?" Blanche yelled to get the attention of the sanctuary's ruler.

"Heheh. Indeed. Well done, well done." The first response was the sound of clapping, which silenced every other noise. "You have certainly shown me the skills that would bring down the crown." The CTO of Exeter turned to those below him as he stood on the edge of his sky sanctum. "Sure have! What do we win?" Blanche brashly inquired. "Haha. I appreciate a person who shoots straight for the heart. You already know what the usual rewwards are: in-game credits, a sum of actual money, access to various rare cards and customizations... and the tagteam championship title will forever be attached to your profile. For this year at least. But that is not what you are after, was it? You could have gotten most of that yourself." Halfway during his speech, Hansen put an expression on his face that Void did not enjoy: a curious kind of sneer that faded rapidly.

"We needed your help. You wanted our help as well. They, at the very least, have earned that." Zettai, despite her loss, felt compelled to remind the man of his own terms. "Oh yes, they came very far. However, they still have to make one more step!"

"A final step?" Void faltered. "What final step?" Neither Hansen's words nor the smile on his face did much to reassure him. "Think it through, team White Void. Before you can join the hall of champions, you must show to everyone that you are their equal. It's only logical. A team of champions shall face a team of heroes." The CTO pointed his index finger at the five duelist behind him, who all stepped forward. "Hey, you never said there would be more work after the finals." Blanche griped. It seemed like they were forced to do this right here and now. "Perhaps you made this up on the fly. This is just an attempt to get back at us for spurning you!" Even Zettai sounded her complaints. She saw this as nothing more than a petty form of revenge.

"Team Absolute, you have no sway here. Accept your defeat with Dignity." Acrates the golden knight bellowed at the ace duelist before kneeling at Hansens side. "Sir Hansen, allow me this honor. I simply must test my skills against them, or I could not live with myself." He bellowed. "Very well. Select your partner." The CTO left the choosing to them, he did not care which champions would face the heroes. "You have my gratitude! Vitruvic, Dyzanthium, Sigment, Heleil! Which one of you will join me for this grand venture!" Acrates gave them all a chance as well.

"Perhaps we can play a game to decide. Not a duel, just a simple round of rock paper scissors? Yeah that sounds like fun!" Heleil, the blonde in the red marching band outfit, voiced some enthusiastic interest. "There is no need. Because this duel did not give me what I need. Speed. If it had been the others, I would have agreed." Sigment on the other hand implied that he would have rather dueled Veyron and Zettai. "A hero duels alone. And I already have had my time in the light. I will let another fight in my place." Dyzanthium declined as well, with less rhyming. "That just leaves you, Vitruvic!" Acrates turned to the man in shadows; shadows that seemed to cover him no matter where he stood. "... It would be over too soon, at least give them a sporting chance." Vitruvic rejected it simply to be mysterious and cocky. "AhaHaha! I win!" Heleil cheered.

"A curious selection of duelists." Asterisk remarked. "You can take them. They're just a bunch of fakes." Bionis backed Team White Void in this instance. "Fakes? You can still say that after having seen Sigment in action? You should not under-estimate them!" Veyron snapped at the ritual duelist and turned away to place his hand on Voids shoulder. "Void. You should be overjoyed that you and Blanche got this chance at all. How I wish I could have been in your shoes right now." The speed duelist would not have hesitated for even a second.

"I know." And he would be lying if he said he did not feel an inexplicable resolve burning in his body. Though he wouldn't call that 'joy'. "Eh. We might as well." Madam Blanche gave it a shrug. They could not exactly back down in front of the whole dueling world. "Excellent!" Acrates and Heleil jumped down from the sky sanctuary, landing on the battlefield of clouds with two soft thuds. "We can begin right now!" He created a massive bladed dueldisk of gold from his own armor and started drawing his cards. "Let us make this a final worth remembering!"

(To Be Continued in Line 058: Champion Patch v6)

**New Cards used by Zettai  
**Mystic Mine

**New Cards used by Madam Blanche  
**Dragon Knight of Creation  
Master with Eyes of Blue


	58. Champion Patch V6

**Line 058: Champion Patch v6**

Out of the frying pan and into the fire. Team White Void trumped over Team Absolute, only to be forced into a tagteam match against two of the five worldwide champions. "Hmm. I think they're saying they want a different dueling field." One called herself Heleil the marching band dueltainer. "Who is they?" As Blanche noted, the blonde seemed to be talking to an unseen third party frequently. "My mates of course. Don't you hear them?" She giggled and clapped her hands. "?" Instantly the white clouds of Sylvania turned black and vanished into the shadows along with the mountains. At first one could be mistaken for assuming that day had turned to night. "This is much better!" In actuality, Heleil dragged them all to the stars. Their duel would take place within a virtual cosmos, on top of a moonrock asteroid.

"So I am guessing this wont be a speed duel at least." Void would take his comforts where he could find them. "No. I have no taste for Sigment's style, I am afraid." Acrates, the other champion, spoke up. He would support Heleil, just as Blanche would support Void.

"But you do have a taste for taking orders from some guy from CTO?" Lady Himiko chastised the man in golden armor. "The question should be, how much did they pay you?" Arcis da Vinci added her own curious remarks. "I am sure that's not the reason." Veyron tried to defend them even now. "But this does not seem fair. They have seen your decks but you have not seen theirs." Crescent noted melancholically.

"I did not think we would be dueling today either, heroes of Pandemonium. But I am in Hansens employ and I must do as he wishes. However, I can give you permission to alter your decks in any way that you deem fit. Unlike the duels you faced before, I will allow the use of skill cards too. We want to face you both at maximum capacity." Acrates took a step back to join his partner. "But the rest of you should go back to your seats. This is between us and them." Heleil commanded.

"Hmph. If you can take us down, you can take them." The duelists had no choice but to obey, but some like Zettai and Bionis shouted some words of encouragement. "Don't take any **** from them!" Even if the latter's colorful words were muted. "Why not eh?" Blanche, despite being tired, was willing to give this a shot as well. "Yes, why not? I can't lie, I was hoping to compare myself to them one day." Void just did not think he would have to face a champion this soon. Then again, showing off was just another part of being a duelist "Now is the time." And he would show Hansen, who observed from his lofty sanctuary, just what he could do in the most dire of circumstances. Void left his deck alone and reactivated the dueldisk. "Let's duel, champions!" Blanche added her skill to her opening hand and did the same. "Show us what ya got, heroes!"

Team White Void's LP: 16000

Team Champion's LP: 16000

-TURN 01-

Void's turn started the match. "I summon Bitlooper, by discarding one cyberse from my hand!" The first part of the puzzle involved the ring-carrying white droid(4/1500/2000) [Zone 3], who discarded a Dual Assembwurm monster to special summon itself. "Then I normal summon Garbage Collector! And with his effect I can return one cyberse to my hand to special summon a monster with the same level from my deck!" After that came a frowning collector robot(2/100/1900) [Zone 4], who picked up the Bitlooper with its claws and tossed it into its trashcan body. The lid closed and reopened to release a robotic ladybug(4/1700/1400) [Zone 3]. "When I summon Lady Debug, I can add a level 3 or lower cyberse to my hand!" The next step began with the Dotscaper card that the debugger retrieved from the deck.

"I can banish two cyberse monsters from my field or hand to special summon Dual Assembwurm from my graveyard! Though its attackpoints will be halved!" The scraper and the Bitlooper card were tossed into the dimensional trashbin to awaken a cybernetic wyrm(8/1400/1000) [Zone 2], with the head and tail of a dragon held together by armor and wings divided into red and blue colors. And since Dotscraper had been banished, it(1/0/2100) [Zone 1] could also be special summoned back to the field. "Four monsters. Is this how you are going to bring out that pretty dragon? It is, isn't it?" Heleil already overflowed with excitement and anticipation.

"Yes and no! First.. this." Void special summoned the Backup Secretary(3/1200/800) [Zone 5] to a field that already controlled cyberse monsters. "Then I will climb the circuit! I link summon Linkuriboh! And Honeybot! The link materials are one level 1 monster and two cyberse monsters respectively!" Dotscraper created the first and simplest link circuit, to summon the power eating Linkuriboh(300/LINK 1) {Down} [Extra Zone 1]. Then the cyberse ladybug, along with Garbage Collector, turned herself into a cyberse honeybee(1900/LINK 2) {Left/Right} [Zone 2] instead. "That was link 1 and link 2. For link 3, I will summon Transcode Talker!" The transcoder required two effect monsters; Honeybot and Backup Secretary. Void link summoned the orange gunner knight(2300/LINK 3) {Up/Down/Right} beneath Linkuriboh.

Transcode Talker quickly made use of its effect to link itself to one cyberse link monster from the graveyard: by special summoning Honeybot[Zone 3]. "_Now_, we will go to the fourth link! And it will be the Firewall Dragon of course!" Transcode Talker offered its three markers and combined it with the Dual Assembwurm. The link circuit that pointed in the four directions released the highest cyberse from the extra deck: the heat radiating Firewall Dragon(2500/LINK 4) {Left/Up/Down/Right} [Zone 2]. "Here it is!" The dragon formed a two-ways co-link with Linkuriboh and Honeybot, gaining protection from them both. "I set one card face down as well, and end my turn here!" Void could hear the cries of the crowd, ranging from jubilation to condemnation. Perhaps they were getting tired of his ace monster already.

-TURN 02-

But for a defend-the-castle duelist like Acrates, this would be the perfect challenge. "Excellent. It's as if I am there at the final battlefield itself! I am overjoyed that you would go all out on the very first turn!" Acrates pulled a card from his golden sword-dueldisk. All of his cards seemed to be laminated with a sparkling texture, as if they were physical cards of the greatest rarity. "And your greatest monster is my foe, the cyberse dragon of firewalls! But where there is a dragon there will always be a knight! I activate Onomatopaira!" The knight had to discard a random card from his hand, to activate his first spell. "With this I can claim two different kind of Onomatopoeia monsters from my deck to my hand! The Gagaga's, the Zubaba's, the Dododo's and the Gogogo's! But there is one monster who holds all of those names at once! Utopic Onomatopoeia!" The pairing spell chose two monster cards with that name. "I summon Utopic Onomatopoeia! As I stated, he treats himself as a monster of the Gagaga-series or Zubaba or etcera!" A miniature white and golden knight(4/1500/1500) [Zone 4] popped out of the champions hands, holding a sword and flying on two metallic wings.

"How does he manage to say all those names and not bite his own tongue?" Scura said as she tried to say the names herself and gave up halfway. "Must be using a voice mod. I do not think the real guy sounds that bassy." Neo theorized. Though he could not really tell if Acrates would have a deep voice like that, as his face and body were entirely hidden away. For all he knew all of his lines were recorded in advance.

"Utopic Onomatopoeia can summon himself, but also as many Gagaga, Gogogo, Dododo or Zubaza monsters from my hand! One of each kind!" The golden warrior continued by tripling the number of Utopic knights(4/1500/1500) [Zone 2 & 3] on his field. Each Onomatopoeia counted itself as if they were from a different clan "Let me guess, you are gonna XYZ-summon now?" Madam Blanche stated preemptively. She knew that each champion covered one aspect of the extra deck. And a champion who summoned two level 4 monsters at the same time did not leave much to the imagination. "Spoilers." Heleil giggled.

"Then I know what I have to do! I activate Firewall Dragon's effect!" Twice his dragon had formed a mutual link, twice he could target one monster from the field. "I send both your monsters back to your hand!" Void expected the XYZ-materials would be easier to remove than the incoming XYZ-monster. "An admirable plan. It would have worked, were it not for my special skill! I activate Champions XYZ! I can perform a XYZ-summon right now, with anyone's monsters! Fortunately for you, you never had two level 4 monsters on the field at the same time, Link hero!" The skill targeted both Utopic Onomatopoeia's, and they flew down into a bright galactic portal: the visualization of the overlay network. "Ah!"

_Champion's XYZ, Skill Card  
__Immediately after this effect resolves, Xyz Summon 1 Xyz Monster using monsters on either side of the field as Materials._

"I XYZ-summon Number 39: Utopia Double!" The tiny knights of hope combined into one bright emperor knight(R4/2500/2000) [Extra Zone 2], now with proper proportions. "A Number huh?" Asterisk muttered to himself. "Is there anything wrong?" Crescent noted his concerned expression. "Just the minor fact that these cards were never brought over to STHEREA. It appears that changed." One could consider it another perk of being a champion. In actuality it just meant that the playing field between the two teams had been unequal from the start.

"Have you heard of the story behind the Numbers? Have you watched the animated series?" Acrates boasted as he bathed the field in the white light of his utopic swordsman. "A little." Void never watched the show, there were like a thousand episodes of it now. But he did remember that there were also more than a hundred of these Number cards. "It was an epic tale of beings from the Infinite dimension and the humans that tried to use them for good and evil! A show that drove me to become a duelist myself! And look at me now!" Acrates entered the battle phase. "Tell me, Void. What made you want to become a duelist!?" He asked a question and made his first attack at the same time. The remaining Onomatopoeia drew his one sword and rushed over towards Linkuriboh.

"I am affraid my story is not as good as yours, Acrates. I don't remember exactly why. I just liked it because I could be good at it." Void tributed Linkuriboh to reduce the attackpoints of the attacker(0/1500) to zero before it could kill the monster. "Hah. There is no shame in that! I have forgotten half of my deeds as well! But I will never forget Utopia! The first Number!"

"Shouldn't the Number one be the first number anyway?" Blanche pointed out. "You would think so! But no! Utopia is the emperor of hope, the one thing that remained when humanity opened Pandora's box!" The knight detached the first XYZ-material. "Utopia Double is an aspect of that power! And he is the card that led me to victory at the finals two years ago! During my turn or your turn, it can evolve into another Utopia XYZ-monster! And at the same time it will place the spell of Double or Nothing in my hand!" Both swords of the golden white knight crossed and blended into one, as their wielder underwent the process of XYZ-change. One Number 39 would would attach itself and its own materials as XYZ-materials to Number 39: Utopia(4/2500/2000) [Extra Zone 2]. "Here he is, the original Utopia! And this is his normal attackpower! But any Utopia monster summoned by Utopia Double... gets double their attackpoints! Hence the name!" Out of nowhere, Utopia(5000/2000) pulled out a second sword and leaped into the fray.

"Ah but Utopia can negate a monsters attack, by using up one of his materials..!" Acrates pulled his hand back suddenly, cancelling out the Numbers attack with the Numbers effect. "Even his own?" Void knew this was not the end of it. "Yes! Because that is the window in which I can activate Double or Nothing!" Acrates unveiled the quickplay spell granted to him by Utopia's previous form. Not only did his warrior(10000/2000) wield two blades, both swords doubled in size. "Ten thousand?" Even Blanche raised an eyebrow at that kind of attackpower. "Yes! Double or Nothing doubles my monsters current attack when his first attack is negated! And he can make another attack afterwards!" The knight duelist leveled his sword towards Void. "He shall destroy Honeybot! As your Firewall cannot be killed while Honeybot points towards it!" With a single stroke the hopeful emperor decapitated the cybernetic bee and shattered her into a thousand data fragments. "Guh.." Had this been a regular duel, Void would have lost here and now.

Void's LP: 7900

"That was.. impressive." But they were dueling as a team. They still had a shot. "I appreciate the praise, sir Void!" Acrates placed the last two cards in his hand face down and passed the turn to the second member of his opposition.

-TURN 03-

"Well now it's my you can look at me." The blue-eyed duelist said, looking over hand. A lot of what she drew looked like stuff from her last duel. "Huh, deja vu. Ah well, since we're using skills again." Blanche opened, as always, with her skill: Dawn of Blue and White. "I add Blue-Eyes White Dragon to my hand. Heheh, and I wont settle for just one." She activated her spell, Melody of Awakening Dragon, by discarding a random card from her hand. "I add Blue-Eyes and Blue-Eyes Alternative. You know what this means." Since she could now show off the classic white dragon, she could also special summon the alternative radiant one(8/3000/2500) [Zone 8]. "And just like that, you can say goodbye to Utopia." The Blue-eyed dragon targeted the white knight with its destructive beam.

"Oh! Once again a warrior slain at the hands of a dragon. How tragic!" Acrates dramatically reached out for his own doomed monster, and dropped to one knee. "But I can still save him!" He got back up and activated his trap card: Utopian Aura. "Ha!" The dragons beam dispersed. "I detach one material from my XYZ-warrior, to make him indestructible!" The last XYZ-material became a golden shield that would guard the 39th Number for the rest of the turn. "Hope never truly dies! So worry not! You have a long way to go, before hope will fall!" He boasted again.

"Oh okay. I can go pretty far though." She shrugged and activated a spell to fuse all three Blue-Eyes together: Polymerization. "Oh! She had brought her neo new ace out as well!" Alternative fused with the two original dragons in her hand, putting three heads on the body of Neo Ultimate Dragon(10/4500/3800) [Extra Zone 3]. "Eh. It's not really an ace. Just the biggest guy I can summon." She entered the battle phase. "Blue-Eyes Ultimate attacks Utopia!" The first of three heads fired its blast. "What is she doing?" The crowd gasped. Everyone could see who controlled the stronger monster here. "She is up to something, she is." Heleil grew suspicious.

"It might have something to do with this.." Blanche snickered and played a quickplay spell called Concentrating Current. "Check it out. Now my Blue-Eyes gets attackpoints equal to his defense points." A current of electricity hypercharged the fused dragon behemoth(8300/3800), giving it the power it needed to end two duelists in a single stroke. "Wondrous!" So amazed was Acrates, that he did not even register the destruction of his own XYZ-monster until the explosion of white beams ended. "You have left a mark indeed!" And that would not be the end of it.

Acrates' LP: 12700

"Well she is quite the powerplayer." Void smirked. "Invariably! I must know the same of you, Lady Blanche! What inspired you to come this far?" The champion inquired as he extended a hand towards her. "I think I already covered this. There's really no big secret or grand plan or anything. I just think its cool. The simple pleasures in life are the best ones. That includes blowing out the best duelists." Blanche discarded another Neo Blue Eyes fusion dragon from her extra deck, so that the one on the field could make a second attack. "But ultimately futile!" The XYZ champion did not appear to be the type to leave false impressions. Before she could attack his other monster, he targeted one in the graveyard with his XYZ-Reborn trap card. "I special summon Utopia back in defense mode, and with XYZ-Reborn attached to it as a new material!" Things were the same as he had left them, just with the 39th Number(2500/2000) [Zone 2] now on a different part of the field.

"Aw man." Utopia detached its new material and deflected the second blast from the dragon with its lightshield wing. "I guess that is all I am gonna get." If the second attack could not even take place, she could not start up a third attack either. "Should've just killed his little guy first." As she reluctantly ended her turn, Neo Ultimate Dragon(4500/3800)'s concentration broke and its attackpower reverted to normal.

-TURN 04-

"Yes they failed. And now its my turn." The red-uniformed champion unveiled the virtual replication of her unique dueldisk: a long golden cane with a cybernetic blade at the top. "Ohhh right, your gimmick was talking to your cards." Blanche remembered. "Not my cards! My mates! My performing crew! They helped me win that championship just as much as I did! And now I am here, in this lovely world where every card can talk if they want too!" She laughed as she hugged her own cards against her cheeks. "..Those cards did a lot more than talking recently." Void bitterly noted. "That was not their fault! That was the mean Crown that you took down! And now we get to take you down! Sorry!" She drew her card with a wink and a smile. "But Blanchy, if you remember my talents you also remember what I love to do, n'est pas?" The woman took two cards from her hand, monsters that entered the left and rightmost spell/trap zones.

"What I love is.. Pendulum summoning!" On one side appeared the spectral rainbow-winged and longhorned dragon Odd-Eyes Phantasma Dragon {Scale 0}. On the other sat a mint-colored unicorn {Scale 8} with a red and green eye: Performapal Odd-Eyes Unicorn. "Bear with this for a bit, Uni." Heleil proceeded to immediately destroy the Unicorn with her spell, Sky Iris. Doing so allowed her to claim a new Odd-Eyes card from her deck. "I need you, Mirage Dragon!" She took out and activated a smaller wingless dragon with a green skintone: Odd-Eyes Mirage Dragon {Scale 8}.

"With these scales I can summon my pendulum friends from the hand or extra deck! I will call them out right now! Play my song, Pendulumucho!" " The virtual pendulum appeared and moved between the two Odd-Eyes spellmonsters, and placed a single card on the field: a penguin duo(1/0/0) [Zone 9] dressed like a colorful mariachi band. Its effect involved special summoning a level 1 pendulum monster from the extra deck: cards like the destroyed Performapal Unicorn(1/100/800) [Extra Zone 4]. "Heehee. The link materials are two pendulum monsters!"

"Link summon too?" Void could not imagine this being a part of her usual repertoire. "Yup! We need some heavy metal up in here! Break it down, Electrumite!" Long jets of fire made from the Unicorn and Pendulumucho preempted the arrival of a purple-haired female psychic(1800/LINK 2) {Downleft/Downright} [Extra Zone 4]. Heavymetalfoes Electrumite donned armor of electrum metal, complete with wings that burned like ovens and blades around her waist. "Who wants to join us? Electrumite can move one pendulum monster from one deck to another!" The link summoned Metallfoe added her most special card, Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon, to the extra deck. "And she can destroy one of my cards to place another pendulum monster from the extra deck in my hand! And when a pendulum monster is destroyed, Metalfoe can also draw one card!" Heleil made her link monster destroy Odd-Eyes Phantasma Dragon, so that she could retake Pendulumucho and a new card from her deck. "I am sorry Phantasma. I will bring you back soon!" The now empty spell zone got claimed by Pendulumucho {Scale 0} to repair the broken pendulum pair.

"Hee. I drew this spell, Soul Pendulum! Now I can change the scales of both my monsters! Do you want to go up?" Heleil continued with her continuous spell, which changed the very numbers above her two pendulums: Pendulumcho {Scale 1} and Odd-Eyes Mirage Dragon {Scale 9}. "They wanted to go up." She stated with a giggle.

"That's nice and all. But you cant pendulum summon again." Void pointed out. "Oh is that so? That's just silly though. The old me might have had to accept that. But the new me.." Heleil's grin widened with the reveal of her skill card. "Can do it again and again and again! I activate Champion's Pendulum! Now I can perform a second pendulum summon!" She forced the pendulum to move again, causing a sea of red and blue flames to erupt. "Oh great." Void sighed as he looked at Odd-Eyes Phantasma Dragon(8/3000/2500) [Zone 8] and the red-scaled Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon(7/2500/2000) [Zone 10] re-appeared from the extra deck, pendulum summoned to the zones marked by Electrumite. He realized pendulum summoning was his least favorite summoning art.

_Champions Pendulum, Skill Card_  
_Activate only during the main phase: conduct 1 additional Pendulum Summon of face-up monsters in your extra deck._

"Oh. No I haven't forgotten about you." Heleil looked down at her hand. "You will get your chance now, Odd-Eyes Advance Dragon!" Her card, which could be tribute summoned with just one level 5 or higher monster as the sacrifice, replaced the Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon. The dragon(8/3000/2500) [Zone 9] evolved before the eyes of the world, gaining curved horns, stronger red scale armor and actual wings with which it could fly. "Since I tribute summoned my friend here, I can destroy one of yours! And you will lose lifepoints equal to his attackpoints! I wish I could use it on your big scary dragon, but it's still protected so... Exit stage left, Firewall Dragon!" The destructive energy built up within the jaws of Odd-Eyes Advance Dragon. When it could no longer contain its power, it unleashed them on the cyberse dragon and overheated it to death. "This is not..going well, is it?" Blanche muttered.

Team White Void's LP: 5400

"No indeed. Because guess what! When Odd-Eyes Phantasma Dragon attacks, he will reduce a monsters attackpoints by 1000 for each pendulum monster in my extra deck!" The phantasmal dragon(3300/2500) took to the stellar air, leaving a trail of all seven colors in its wake. "You have got to be.." Blanche's Neo Ultimate Blue-Eyes(2500/3800) stopped being the most powerful dragon on the field, once the Odd-eyed monster and the ghosts of Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon and Odd-Eyes Unicorn came within battling range. "No joke. This is the power of the champions." Acrates could be heard chuckling behind his golden helmet, as his partner finished the fused dragon off. And she could still make four more direct attacks with Number 39: Utopia, Onomatopoeia, Odd-Eyes Advance Dragon and Heavymetafoes Electrumite.

"Heh. It appears you still have quite a ways to go." And the man above still sneered at those down below. "Finish them off my champions." Hansen pointed his thumb down and waited to see the results of the attack.

But then, disconnected from everything else that was going on in the duel... the stars eclipsed and the sun in the distance turned pale white. "What the?" Hansen rose from his seat, and immediately summoned a dozen CIDs to his side. "Who is doing this?" Dyzanthium grumbled. "The invisible sun, the shadow on the stars. This cannot be intended." Sigment shot nervous glanced into the absolute darkness. Nobody could see anything, not the admins, nor the duelists. Panicked cries and outrage filled the expanse and were quickly silenced by one voice that overpowered all the others.

"Is this how you demonstrate your power in this world, man from Exeter?"

"No.." A voice Void, Blanche and Asterisk remembered all too well. "Who is talking? What have you done?" Hansen demanded answers. "I am the deliverer, and the deliverer is me. My name now.. is Ezra." He revealed himself within the shadows, casting a red glow around his body while keeping all else obscured. "And I have come to demonstrate my own power in this world... to your world."

(To Be Continued in Line 059: Legalize Our Nightmare)

**New Cards used by Void  
**Garbage Collector  
Dual Assembwurm

**New Cards used by Madam Blanche  
**Polymerization  
Concentrating Current

**Cards used by Champion Acrates**  
_CHAMPION'S XYZ_

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Utopic Onomatopoeia

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Number 39: Utopia Double  
Number 39: Utopia

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Onomatopaira  
Light Wing Shield

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Utopian Aura  
XYZ-Reborn

**Cards used by Champion Heleil  
**_CHAMPION'S PENDULUM_

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Performapal Odd-Eyes Unicorn  
Odd-Eyes Phantasma Dragon  
Odd-Eyes Mirage Dragon  
Pendulumucho  
Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon  
Odd-Eyes Advance Dragon

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Sky Iris  
Soul Pendulum


	59. Legalize Our Nightmare

**Line 059: Legalize Our Nightmare**

"Take him." The minute the uninvited duelist appeared, Hansen, Walter and his entourage of CIDs were whisked away on the orders of the admins.

"Who is that?" An enemy appeared in their midst. "He is the one that we were warned about, miss Dyzanthium. The leader of Millennium." His visage shrouded in black and white and wearing antlers like Satan's crown, matched the description that Agent Asterisk gave them. "Didn't you say you had dissolved that little club?" Sigment muttered, going off-script. "We prevented their recruitment session and removed two members from the network. But two got away." Jean the judge explained it all, and looked down at the intruder. He stood there silently, practically daring the first duelist to come forward. "I will take care of this." Or the first administrator. "Ezra! You have violated several rules of VRAINS. For this your account will be suspended!" A simple push of the button was all it usually took. And even in this case it appeared to be that easy. The avatar of the man from Millennium disappeared in less than a couple of seconds. "What an anticlimax." Blanche shook her head.

But no cause for celebration existed yet. The stars did not return.

"I came only to deliver the word. There is no need to escalate matters." Only he did. "What the devil?" Jean freaked out as Ezra's avatar respawned in the exact same position. "I am Ezra, the wielder of the lance, the messenger of Millennium and the deliverer of freedom. You cannot remove me from this world, judge Jean. I have already severed my connection with the reality above. My companions have done the same. No force or law can chain us again." He drew out the lance of legacy, drawing audible gasps from many in the crowd and from the sanctum. "But I.. we suspended your accomplices, Cherry Anise and Ulysses!" Jean protested. "We only allowed you to think that. You have as much sway over them as you do over me.

"And so it can be for all of you!" He moved his lance through the darkness, pointing at the duelists who could not see each other. They could only see him. "You were misled. Exeter gave you a mere game when they created a new world... A new home. They saw this only as an opportunity to extort money and information from their userbase, to lull your minds into a false sense of comfort. Even when the duelists started to fight back, they started this farce of a tournament as a distraction from true happiness. They tempted you with the promise of glory in a world that no longer matters, a future in the halls of already enslaved minions!" Ezra made it clear as day where he wanted his accusation to land. The shadows withdrew to force the five champions out into everyone's field of vision. They did not get a chance to respond however, the deliverer had more to say. "The real heroes are here and a part of this world." He pulled Void, Blanche and Zettai/Veyron into the light as well.

"We were fighting against madmen like you!" Zettai immediately countered. "I am not the Crown. I sought only to temper his fury. But in the end he was another man from Exeter. A fact that the company never shared. Because they want to control the narrative. They have done it for far too long, culminating with this mockery of a duel to cast an illusion of supremacy. But I am here to contest that supremacy! I am here to show them that their ill-gotten power is no match against the power of legacy!"

"That is well enough then, Deliverer. For I will hear no more words out of you!" Eventually, one duelist did cease the words of Ezra. One whose voice came in with utmost clarity. "Champion Acrates." Ezra turned to his left and lifted the dark veil slightly to bring the golden knight into the light. "You speak words of conflict, which can only be met with more conflict! I challenge you, Ezra! You will not speak to these children as long as I draw breath!" His dueldisk-blade aimed squarely at the enemy. "They are not children who cannot make a decision on their own. They do not need a champion of the real world to speak for them. Least of all a champion who is fed lines by another." The enemy retorted calmly. "Are you accusing me of acting? Every word I speak is my own! Besides, they do not need a psychopath from an imagined world either! I am going to end your madness here and now!" Acrates drew a new hand of cards.

"So wait, what does this mean? Did we lose or not?" Blanche asked, prioritizing their previous duel over this one. "Yeah you did." Heleil bluntly stated. "But that is reeeeaaally not important right now." She moved a little to the back to give the XYZ-champion some space. "..." Void could only follow her lead. He wanted to help, but Acrates would have to finish this fight by himself.

Acrates' LP: 8000 Ezra's LP: 8000 -TURN 01-

And both Blanche and Void would experience mild deja vu, as the XYZ-champion went through the same motions. He activated Onomatopaira: discarding a Light Shield Wing spell card to add two Utopic Onomatopoeia monsters to his hand. "Appear Utopic Onomatopoeia!" Only two(4/1500/1500) [Zones 1 & 5] were summoned this turn, the second special summoned by the effect of the first. "And then you, Number 39: Utopia Double!" The same XYZ-monster(R4/0/2500) [Extra Zone 1] emerged from the extra deck after both Utopics turned into XYZ-materials. And naturally... "Now become my emperor of hope!" Acrates XYZ-changed his warrior for the stronger Number 39: Utopia(R4/5000/2000) [Extra Zone 1] in attack position. And simultaneously he added the spell Double or Nothing to his hand with the effect of the doubler. "I set three cards down on my field and end my turn!" Though he could not make the first strike this time, the champion of Numbers still led with hope. As he always did. "Does he always draw the same opening hand?" Void wondered out loud. "Wait.. is this guy even a human?"

-TURN 02-

"A fair conclusion. But incorrect: he is as human as you and I. Yet he is a slave to the script set aside for him, an actor paid to not use his true voice." Ezra astonished her by answering the question. "He no longer has to rely on luck to draw what he needs, now that he made his alliance with Exeter. If he even did before. Yet, Acrates, you still claim to be a champion of the duelists. What do you fight for then? Hope? Peace? What do you believe: that you are a knight of honor seeking to destroy monsters that no longer exist? You came to this world of dreams and nightmares for a reason." Ezra started the duel with a spell card: Trade In. He discarded a level 8 monster from his hand to draw two new cards, that much every duelist followed.

"What trickery is this?!" The eyes burning through the darkness on the other hand, caught Acrates off guard. "What now?" The champion had no way of knowing from which direction he would be attacked, if this counted as an attack at all. "When Danger Bigfoot is sent to my graveyard through discarding it, one face-up card will lose its place in this field." The pair of monstrous eyes that loomed behind Acrates turned out to be the real threat. "No you will not!" Acrates activated his quickplay spell: Called by the Grave, to banish Bigfoot from the graveyard and negate its effect at the same time. "Another card you drew, with the help of your exclusive code. It means nothing to me." Ezra calmly negated the effect, by activating his skill: Legacy of Millennium.

"There it is again!" Asterisk flinched. Of course Ezra would have that card as well. Bigfoot could not be affected by any spells or traps, nor would any of Ezra's other cards this turn. "No! My knight!" The blue-skinned beastman reached out and dragged the Number 39 Utopia into the shadows. "That is how easy it is to crush your facade, Acrates." Ezra revealed another spell of his: Danger! Excitement! Mystery. "One highleveled creature from the Danger Realm leaves my hand, and one lowleveled Danger creature leaves my deck to take its place. Danger Nessie is sent to my graveyard, allowing me to add one other Danger monster to my hand from the deck as well." Ezra's deep voice narrated the only thing the duelists could see: the spell discarded a 'Danger! Nessie' card and retrieved the monster 'Danger! Chupacabra'. Nessie's effect in turn retrieved a second Danger! Bigfoot from the deck. "So what lies behind the pretension? What do _you_ believe?"

"I believe that there is only one monster here. That is you!" The knight cursed at the dark, slowly starting to filter in his own vocabulary. "Man is the real monster? Certainly they have the ability to imagine great horror." Ezra chuckled as he visualized the five cards in his hand. "I shall activate one such imagination now! Danger Thunderbird." Briefly the image of a redfeathered thundergod bird lit up the void. "Can you find the monster?" It disappeared again and got shuffled around along with the other four cards.

"What, how does that work?" Bionis did not understand the game at play, since he rarely ran into Danger duelists. "Danger monsters force the opponent to randomly pick a card from their hand. And if they find the monster that started that effect, that monster gets discarded. If they don't, they will have to face that monster on the field." Asterisk recalled the lance wielder briefly demonstrating that power back when he recruited Lorelei. "So either way he gets something out of it." Bionis scoffed. A discarded Danger monster also always activated an effect.

"I do not fear your creatures!" The knight pointed at the leftmost card. "As you shouldn't." Ezra flipped the card over: Danger! Chupacabra. "Ah!" The wrong monster. It got discarded while the Thunderbird(8/2800/2400) [Zone 4] special summoned itself. Ezra could also drew one new card whenever a Danger! monster's effect successfully resolved. "But fear is a powerful tool, and obeys no master." The effect of the discarded Chupacabra monster resolved afterwards. "I can special summon one Danger Monster from my graveyard. Danger Nessie." The longnecked seaserpent(7/1600/2800) [Zone 5] of the loch ness lake emerged from the black waters and hissed at the golden knight. "Fear will lead us to the end. We must overpower it. So I will give you another chance." Ezra activated another Danger!'s effect. Of the four remaining cards, Danger! Bigfoot revealed itself this time.

"Urgh.." Acrates underwent another random selection trial. "I choose the one second from the left!" His odds improved, and yet.. "Bah!" He picked the wrong monster again. The card he chose, the spell Allure of Darkness, got discarded instead of the Danger! monster. And as a result; the bigfooted terror(8/3000/0) [Zone 3] now fully emerged from the abyss, filling the whole field with feral roars. "Acrates is having a bad bit of luck today.." A disheartened Sigment noted. "Perhaps. Or perhaps there is foul play at work." Dyzanthium stated as neither she nor anyone else could tell what the Lance did and did not influence in this duel.

"There is more to the mind than fear." Now Ezra declared three direct attacks, sending Thunderbird upon the knight with lightning blasts. "Graaaahhh!" He let the lightning hit against his shielded arm and took more than he expected. "Acrates?" Heleil gasped when he saw the champion reel back in pain. "My.." Not only did that attack inflict real pain and shatter his shield, it destroyed a piece of his golden armor along with it. Acrates stared at his own hand, at his own singed skin. The damage did not make one think of an avatar that had taken damage either. It looked more like a physical wound.

Acrates' LP: 5200

"I had no idea you looked like that under your armor." Even his companions were in awe, Heleil could not believe her eyes. "Me neither." Acrates grunted. "What did you do?" When he created this body, he did not set any specifics for his actual body. This arm he saw, was his own. "I bring the duelists of this world closer to the world they came from. I make real what the network hides behind constraints and rules." Ezra ordered another direct attack with Danger! Bigfoot. "But you are still bound to the same rules as us! The rules of the game!" The champion bellowed as he activated his trap card: XYZ-Reborn, to bring Utopia(4/2500/2000) [Zone 3] back to the field with that trap as its new XYZ-material. "Only one of us can claim victory! You may have tricked my eyes! But you still do not have the power to fight me!" He activated the effect of the Lightwing Shield spell in his graveyard to forcibly activate Utopia's effect and negate the attack. As the creature jumped out of the darkness, the hope knight pushed it back with his wings. "But is victory is assured?" Ezra placed a card down and let Acrates enter his draw phase.

-TURN 03-

"It is!" Acrates turned the drawn card around in his hand. "This is my spell, Shining Draw! I must keep it revealed after I draw it during my draw phase, in order to activate it during my main phase!" His spell glowed with the ferocity of a thousand suns, chasing away the darkness created by the skullfaced duelist. "And once I activate it, I can equip all the Zexal Weapons from my deck or extra deck to my Utopia monster!" Four beams of light escaped his golden blade, striking the four remaining spell and trap zones on the field. "I choose the Zexal Weapons of Asura Strike, Tornado Bringer, Lightning Blade and Leo Arms!" Each Zexal Weapon started out as a monster, and transformed itself into an equipment card. The two-headed Asura Strike spirit turned into an extra set of arms for Utopia(3500/2000). Tornado Bringer the red dragon and Lightning Blade the white tiger changed into blades in the hands of the 39th Number(6000/2000) and the golden lion Leo Arms emerged from the extra deck itself to become battle steed for the warrior(9000/2000).

"Utopia gains the attackpoints of each Zexal Weapon monster! And they all have their own unique effects! Tornado Bringer makes him untargetable, Lightning Blade makes the Zexal weapons indestructible and they can each prevent one battle or effect destruction each turn!" Acrates clenched his armored fist. "And thanks to Asura Strike, Utopia does not have choose which foe to take down first. He can strike all your monsters in one battle phase! And if that attack fails, Leo Arms will give him a second attack on your monster as well!" Acrates could easily destroy just as many duelists as there were monsters on Ezra's field. "I do not know what depths you and your monsters crawled from. But I will send them back to the darkness now. Utopia attacks Danger Bigfoot first!" Just one attack would do him in, and the deliverer controlled three.

"It is not darkness that I hailed from. My source is bright and pure." For a time, at least he did. "This is the awakening of our legacy." He activated a trap card: World Legacy Awakens.. and made all three of his monsters disappear. "What is that?"

"World Legacy!" Void's eyes widened while the other duelists around him looked on in confusion. As if the lance had not proven it already, this card sealed the truth. Ezra possessed the same cards as Anders. Void had a copy of that trap himself. "The World Legacy Awakens inspires my monsters to perform a link summon during any turn, Acrates. And for what I am about to show you, I will need three monsters with different names." Bigfoot, Thunderbird and Nessie opened a three-ways link circuit which oozed darkness like oil. "I link summon the Knightmare Unicorn!" A literal one-horned knightmare horse(2200/LINK 3) {Left/Right/Down} [Extra Zone 2] came to life, and unleashed a haunting wail as it galloped across the twilight battlefield. "Knightmare? World Legacy? Those cards arent real!" Acrates protested. "Yet they exist. You who never faced the Crown cannot realize our true power. I am the Lance, I am the fear and the love of god." The game itself did not complain, which meant the duel would have to proceed with this revelation.

"It doesn't matter. Even if I only have one target: a single stroke will end your lifepoints!" Acrates claimed as he tried to continue his assault. "Huh?" Only he couldn't do so, until the enemy finished his own effects. "The Knightmare Unicorn will remove one spell from your field, if I discard one card from my hand. Your emperor of hope no longer will have his weapons safeguarded." Ezra pointed a bony hand at Utopia and wiped the ZW - Lightning Blade away. Unicorns effect got around that weapons shielding due to it directly sending cards to a players deck. "And I shall also declare that the card I discarded, my final Danger Bigfoot, will destroy one card after it is discarded." A monstrous roar echoed behind the XYZ-champion. "What did you.." Claws rose from the lunar surface and grabbed Utopia's Lion weapon by the legs. Leo Arms fell into the abyss, forcing Utopia(4700/2000) to lose even more power.

"You may have prolonged your life. But that life will not be painless!" The golden knight declared the first attack regardless and quickly negated it with Utopia's own effect. "My monsters attack was stopped, which lets me double his power with Double or Nothing!" The quickplay spell naturally followed it up and gave the 39th Number(9400/2000) its second blade. Quite powerful, just not as powerful as his master would have liked him to be. Nevertheless it sliced through the nightmare beast like a hot knife through butter and dispelled its terror from the field. "You're not so scary now!" Acrates ended his turn. Utopia(4700/2000) lost the doubling powerboost as well.

Ezra's LP: 800 -TURN 04-

"There is more to the mind than fear. My appearance is only monstrous to those that oppose me, STHEREA will show us all that appearances mean nothing. We can be whatever we choose to be. Race, gender, age... those are constructs invented by a limited world. Even if we progress beyond our own conceptions, there will always be those who cannot let go of the past. We do not need the close-minded, we will not ask for them. All we ask for is a world of our own, where our deepest fantasies can be felt and touched.. Where our fears can be conquered and no evil can flourish. Is this not what anyone wants: the freedom to do as they please? Here it can be done without harming anyone around us!" Ezra drew his next card.

"Do you think you know what is best for all of us? Who made you the voice of this insanity?" Acrates yelled. "The creator did. They gave me this.." Ezra raised his lance above his head. "They gave me their message, they gave us this world. There is a divinity to this network that Exeter cannot fathom. Even I.. can only show you the very tip of it."

"I summon Knightmare Corruptor Iblee." After all the nightmares and horror monsters, nobody could have suspected that Ezra's most important card would take the form of a young girl. Iblee(2/0/0) [Zone 5] appeared with long spiked purple hair, a black top, shorts and waistcoat and black markings on her midriff. "Iblee?" Just like the Unicorn, this card did not exist anywhere within the records. "She came to me, and showed me the terrors I would have to overcome. She is the source of the Knightmares." The corruptor placed her hand on the lunar rocks and made it rot like coal. "As I normal summoned her, Iblee will resurrect a link monster and link with it. Their powers will however be sealed." Her touch brought the Knightmare Unicorn(0 atk) [Zone 4] back to the waking world. "Reality is full of terrors. She will be the start of the new age, the first link material!" With a cry that reached across the field, Ezra opened the new link circuit. His link monster required one Knightmare card as a link material, and it took Iblee. "The Knightmare Mermaid!"

Not even Ezra's mermaids looked like how people expected them to. Knightmare Mermaid(1000/LINK 1) {Down} [Extra Zone 2] was made from transparent blue crystal and attached to a wreath of steel and glass fragments like a marionette doll. "When Knightmare Mermaid is link summoned, she will special summon one Knightmare monster from my deck! But I must discard a card to do so!" Ezra discarded Danger! Tsuchinoko monster from his hand and gained access to another Knightmare Corruptor Iblee(2/0/0) [Zone 5] as a result. "However, as long as a Knightmare like the Mermaid is co-linked, I can draw a new card every time they discard one!" Ezra arranged that condition by reviving Knightmare Unicorn to the proper zone. "Danger! Tsuchinoko!" The menace of the dangers had yet to pass. Whenever a duelist discarded the mythical pink snake-child Tsuchinoko(3/1300/0) [Zone 3], they could special summon it back to their field. "And now, the Knightmare Phoenix arises!"

Tsuchinoko and the revived Knightmare Unicorn transformed into separate vortices, and were only counted as two link materials in total. The deliverer would only go up to Link 2, and link summoned a majestic red and black phoenix(1900/LINK 2) {Up/Right} [Zone 2]. "As I declare it, the Phoenix burns one magic card from the field!" Ezra discarded another random card to activate his new monsters power, and drew a new card afterwards with the grace of his new co-link. "My Lightning Blade?!" Utopia's other zexal sword broke to pieces. No longer could the lightning tiger shield the Number warrior from targeted effects, which gave Acrates a terrifying glimpse into his immanent future. "And the Knightmare Unicorn is given new form!" The deliverer took the Knightmare Phoenix and the second Knightmare Iblee as link materials to recreate the golden horse(2200/LINK 3) {Left/Down/Right} [Zone 2]. "I only have to speak its name." They did not have to settle for the Zexal Weapons this turn. Unicorn activated its effect on Utopia himself and returned him all the way to the extra deck.

"And we have come to the end." The co-linked Unicorn took another card from the deliverer's hand to take one more from the deck. "The legacy succeeds you." He activated the spell card: World Legacy Succession. "!" Another card Void took from the Crown. And with that spell, Ezra special summoned a monster from his graveyard to a zone pointed at by the Knightmare Unicorn. "The Thunderbird returns." He chose his godly bird of thunder, whose 2800 attackpoints would tip the scales in a fatal way. "What? But I.. I cannot lose!" Acrates, for the first time since he came to the network, took a step back in fear. "We all can lose, and we can lose all. Those are the rules they made for us. But it does not have to be that way." Ezra ordered two direct attacks. The Thunderbird unleashed the storm and blasted off more of the champions armor. "Graahh!" Knightmare Unicorn fired a beam of light from its horn and pierced the helmet-piece of the knight, revealing deep blue eyes and dark hair behind the cracks.

Acrates' LP: 200

"You have a choice, Acrates. Free yourself from all chains. Become the man you are, instead of this false knight. Join us."

"What you are selling is insanity. You cannot live in a world made of illusions." Acrates spat and glared at the enemy with his exposed eye. "Then your choice is already made. But they have yet to make it." Ezra directed his lance towards the pale sun on the horizon. "We can live in harmony, we will have this world. And you can all join us. There is infinite potential, infinite reach. All your wildest dreams can come true within STHEREA. We should not limit it to just us duelists. They will fight us and try to take it from us, but they cannot win." The sun slowly regained its bright hue, and pushed the darkness away.

"Can't they?" Void spoke up. "There are many who would want to stop you! How can you face them all?" He did not think the logistics worked as well as the deliverer claimed they did. "Because we are many. One of us already told you, that we infiltrated this tournament." The stellar sky faded, the barrier vanished... all duelists in the safezone moved into the light. "And we are many." Hundreds of duelist stood up to enhance that light.. holding the Legacy of Millennium in their hands. "And it was all thanks to our mutual friend that we could introduce this into the safezone. Our power! Our legacy!"

(To Be Continued in Line 060: Return False)

**New Cards used by Acrates  
**ZW - Asura Strike  
ZW - Lightning Blade  
ZW - Tornado Bringer

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ZW - Leo Arms

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Called by the Grave  
Light Wing Shield  
Shining Draw

**New Cards used by Ezra  
**_LEGACY OF MILLENNIUM_

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Danger! Nessie  
Danger! Thunderbird  
Danger! Chupacabra  
Knightmare Corruptor Iblee  
Danger! Tsuchinoko

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Knightmare Unicorn  
Knightmare Mermaid  
Knightmare Phoenix

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Trade In  
Danger! Excitement! Mystery!  
World Legacy Succession

-  
World Legacy Awakens


	60. Return False

**Line 060: Return False**

"What the.." They were everywhere, duelists holding the card of Millennium. "Gah!" Across the field, in every corner, even right besides the heroes. "Dont come any closer!" Scura freaked out. All this time she had been sitting right next to one of them. "Calm your nerves my spitfire." And not all of them were unfamiliar to her. "You?!" Ulysses appeared in front of her. "Yes. Me. Just relax and enjoy the show. And don't do anything I wouldn't do." He turned around to witness the Knightmare in action. The other members did the same, staring ahead without ever saying a word to the remaining startled duelists around them.

"When.. how?" Neo gasped. Not even his streaming equipment caught them arriving. Either the eclipse covered their entrance, or they had been hiding in the safezone all along. "How many are there?" Bionis asked Crescent, as he noticed her scanning the buffer zone. "I cannot count that well." She apologized. "More than a hundred." She was not looking around to tally the numbers. She wanted to see one person in particular.

"How did we.. how did we not pick up on this?" Judge Jean protested. Their scanners should have warned them as soon as illegal cards entered the area. "Because you already accepted us. When you arrested the one with the first Legacy card and stored that card, you naturalized your own systems to its presence." Ezra explained. "Arrested? ! Giganoto!" Jean came to the realization that this had been planned ever since the first round of the tournament. "Was he your patsy then? Just like all of these people? How many times have you successfully brainwashed someone right under our noses?"

"It is not brainwashing!" One of the millennium duelists shouted. "Yeah! We made this choice on our own!" Another chimed in. "It is as they say. They do not follow and I do not lead. I merely am the first. I gave them the same choice I will give you in the future.. and the choice I a giving you now, Acrates." Ezra did not have to continue his duel with the XYZ champion, it could only end one way now. "You will not be a champion of the duelists. You will be just one of us: a new member of our family. Your slate will be cleansed, and you no longer have to be Exeter's actor." He walked right up to the golden knight. "Accept it, and we will welcome you with open arms. Refuse, and I will send you back to the world you profess to fight for. You will never be able to enter STHEREA again. It is a more merciful fate than either the Crown or your masters have bestowed upon others."

"Is there no third option?" Veyron blurted out. "A third option?" Ezra turned to the speed duelist with a bemused tone to his voice. "Yeah, like.. what if someone just doesn't wanna join you but doesnt want to give up on playing here either?" Blanche quickly stepped up to help out Veyron, though moreso out of her own curiosity. "Hmph. As if he would allow that. Either we are with him or against him." Zettai scoffed at such naivety.

"Those who join us are free to return to the real world. But those who fight us cannot be allowed to threaten us again. Acrates challenged us... Hydra challenged us." The lance wielder stated with emphasis as he looked at the heroes. "Hydra? What did you do to him?" Void only now realized that something more heinous caused the absence of the sniper duelist. "..You will see. Acrates, I will have your answer now." The lance of legacy rested on the champion's cracked shoulderplate. "I do not listen to wackjobs!" And in spite of everything, the champion at least gave an honest answer.

"Unfortunate."

Once again, the lance displayed its power. This time the whole world observed. "Ghraaahhh!" Jolts of energy ran up and down the body of Acrates. "!?" Though the banishing process clearly caused more pain than the induction process that Lorelei experienced the day before, Void noticed one haunting similarity, the wraith-like energy that phased through both duelists and revealed their nervous systems. Nobody else seemed to see this extra entity however. And in the end, when all was screamed and done, the knights avatar collapsed on the lunar surface like an empty suit of armor. "Where did you send him?" Heleil cautiously asked. "Away. You will find him in your world, unharmed in mind and body. Yet he will not be able to help you anymore,. He cannot comprehend this world at all from here on in." The five champions had become the four.. and they were already outnumbered before this loss. "Does anyone else wish to deny my power now?"

"No! I wish to challenge it!" Shouted the duelist in black in white.

"I see. Your name is Zettai, is it not?" The hooded man slowly pointed his red eyes at the ace duelist. "Why?" A sickening crunching noise was heard as he craned his neck. "Because you are evil: a temptation given a voice. The power you have can cause even greater harm than that of the Crown. That lance must be destroyed. And I will take it from you to destroy it! So fight me!" Zettai steeled her mind, readied her cards. Nothing would stop her from eliminating this devil in human form. "Ezra!" Some of the Millennium duelists advanced on the lunar battlefield, incited by the threat towards their deliverer. However, if they wanted to save him they would already be too late. "..." That is, if the duel would happen at all. "What are you.. "

Instead he did nothing. "I did not come here to spread violence. I choose not to fight." No cards appeared and no lifepoints were set. "You have no choice!" Zettai reaffirmed her desire for a duel by visualizing the vector cannon upgrade around her arm. "You have to duel!"

"But he doesn't.." Void realized with great horror. "What!?" No matter how much she shouted and cursed, no matter how deeply nestled the code, he would not accept it. Ezra did not have to. "Then why did you.. you provoked us just so you could test it out?" He never intended to duel anyone besides Acrates. Her actions only served to build him up. "We are free. Free from the game. The lance does not recognize your authority to challenge me. I only need to display my power once. You do not need to see or hear more." The lance wielder made his companions stand down with a gesture of his mummified hand. Even they knew they would not win with an all out attack. "Authority?" Yet Void heard words that made him ponder. Did the Lance truly work this way, did it remove Ezra from the network in such a way that he did not even count as a player? Anders did not receive the same treatment; he could not run away from challengers. _"The crown does not recognize anyone besides the one who won it in a duel. So how.." _

"Then why, if I may ask, did you come here?" Veyron inquired, as his eyes nervously lingered on the remnants of Acrates' avatar. "To spread my gift with those that seek it." As a response, Ezra pointed his lance to the sky. "Don't!" Jean yelled, unaware of what would happen next.

"It is yours!" A rain of light exploded from the three points of the lance. Thousands of beams shot in every direction and pierced every dueldisk they could find. If they were to look inside, they would find the Legacy of Millennium card. "This again?" No matter where they stood, the other heroes received the skill card as well. Scura did not even want to touch the thing, while Crescent stared at it with mild wonder. "This one wont fade away, spitfire. So do not lose it." Ulysses smirked at Scura and her group and promptly used his own skill card to teleport away. His escape did not look like a quickjump. It in fact looked like the method Victor used to escape the admins the day before.

"You think we will use it? What happens if we do?" Zettai snarled at the bearer of her gift. "Once you activate it, you will be transported to our paradise... our real home. There you can see our true glory, and then you will be truly ready to join Millennium!" Ezra said this to her, and to everyone else. "You will not have to fear anything! Not the weakminded who would seek to punish you for even thinking of independence! Not the laws of men and machines! Not even the indifferent cruelty of death! We will all be equals in the eyes of the eternal creator! Tell me, Zettai. Is that evil?" He gave the spurned duelist one last glance. "It is wrong.." As a response she tore up the skill card without a second thought. "Unfortunate." Ezra bowed his head slightly. "Yet one cannot live in two worlds. And we will make this one ours, and I hope that all of you consider joining us. Together we can make it a paradise. You can take all the time you need to consider your future." Out of nowhere, a bolt of lightning struck the lance of legacy and removed the deliverer from their sights. His last words lingered as a haunting echo.

"We will be waiting."

The others followed. None of the Millennium duelists said a word or made a scene, they simply retreated to their paradise. Painful was the silence that filled their absence.

"... Did he just say we were going to become immortal?" One duelist dared to bring up what rested in the back of everyone's mind. "No. That's crazy. That guy is crazy! I would never do that!" After that feelings were split between disbelief and despairing hope, with the admins at the center trying to quell the metaphorical fire before it spread. "You should not listen to that man! He is a charlatan!" Nobody listened to them, and there were too few to oversee every noise or cry.

"A lifetime without responsibilities." So too did YoroHimiko manage to look at the golden skill card that promised the world. "My lady." Zanbatou could merely express mild discomfort. "Would you go with me?" She asked, looking at him with curious eyes. "You would not even have to ask." He immediately answered. "Hmm. I know. But I also know the family would never allow me to escape their world. And knowing them... " Himiko stared at her own dueldisk, as she received a message. "They are calling us back already."

Elsewhere cooler heads gathered. "This is turning into a proper mess. I suggest we bail out and let them cool their heads." Asterisk whispered to Void and the other finalists, approaching them while the chaos took away the attention of the champions and judges. "Are you leaving?" But not all eyes were diverted away. "Arcis?" Asterisk flinched. Rarely did someone manage to sneak up on him. "You are going to the arena, aren't you?" And miss Da Vinci appeared to be quite perceptive in other areas. "You know about it? How?" As far as Void recalled, only Exeter received that bit of information. "I told her.. I am sorry. I had to explain to her why I did not answer her at various hours. And.. I am not very good at lying." Crescent explained herself, while Arcis looked unexpectedly pained by her words. That moment quickly passed however.

"I know I cannot come with you. But there is something I have to tell you. If you want to hear me out, meet me at these coordinates." She handed the data over to Crescent. "Is everything alright, Arcis?" She started to worry. "Not with me, Crescent. It's just... I will make it clear later." She sighed and vanished from the spot. "I guess we better get out too." Blanche for one did not mind vacating this fake moon, which got louder and louder by the second...

...

The remaining heroes had already relocated to the Arena Beyond. Void's group settled in last. "Donna! You came!" Neo let out a cry of joy, when he saw a long lost friend of theirs. "Yeah well, I dont know for how long. Giganoto warned me about the mess that went on. So I knew I would have to get back here." He had to tell her, since she refused to give the tournament any views. "I bet Exeter will be all over Giganoto because of this mess. Is it true, did Ezra say that his arrest allowed them to get into the system?" She hoped to hear otherwise. "He did say that. So maybe.." Bionis said, feeling that this just proved that Giganoto had been a member from the start. "No! I dont believe that! Someone must have slipped the card into his disk somehow!"

"If you believe that, so will we." Asterisk cleared his throat. "Neo, can you see how it is back there?" The cyberduelist had a lot of his followers all over STHEREA, including at the tournament scene. "Looks like they are ordering everyone to log off anyway. Geez, I feel bad for leaving them behind." That was about all Neo could see on his chatlogs. It could have been worse, and it could also have been better. "That's not going to solve the problem. People will just be more enticed by Ezra's offer now. What is Exeter even thinking?" Void got how a mob mentality worked. The more you drove them into the corner, the further they would fight back. Unfortunately, he could do nothing for them yet. And at least here in the beyond arena they could talk freely.

"Is this everyone? Did Hydra comment yet? Where are Himiko and Zanbatou?" He did not see the samurai zombie pair anywhere. And he feared for Hydra's fate. "They are not down below, if that is what you are asking. I already checked. And Hydra has not given a peep" Sundown revealed. "You don't think.. that Himiko took the card and used it?" One could drew a few conclusions and Neo leaped to the worst one.

"No. They wouldn't. They are too prideful to listen to a man like Ezra." Zettai refused to entertain the possibility. "That sounds like someone we know." Blanche smirked as she looked at the first person to deny the gift. "Because it is the only path to take. You have to get rid of it now." They would all have the same skill card in their dueldisk now. "She is right. We cannot be tempted by it." Veyron picked the golden card from his deck and promptly deleted it from his account entirely. "I guess so." Neo was about to do the same. "Wait! Not yet!" Before Void stopped him. "Not yet? Why!?" Bionis immediately yelled at him. "Because, it is something we can present."

"You mean you want to let V analyze it?" Asterisk wondered about that plan, since it did not go so well for him the last time. "Not just to him. And I am not talking about Exeter either. I want to show it to the person we should have asked in the first place." Void reached for his Legacy of Millennium card. "You're gonna call Static again arent you?" Only for Blanche to snatch it out of his hand. "Hey!?" Void flinched. "Let someone else have some fun too, Void. Heheh.. He Yo Static! We got this shiny card that you might wanna have a look at! It has your favorite word on it! Also a lot of other stuff happened and.." The static doorway opened up right in front of them.

"Oh bingo." Mister Static walked out, with his scrambled humanoid form. "Yes, miss Blanche. Bingo. You have caught my interest." He took the card and promptly absorbed it into his body. "So I hear you have had quite the adventure. And now your tournament days are over."

"How.. how much do you know?" Asterisk inquired once he recovered from the bizarre sight of seeing a man eat a card with his hand. "You should be more specific. There a million subjects I could talk about at length, but you only have interest in one. I will just assume you are talking about that: the Millennium problem. How rather typical of them to take on that kind of name." He placed his two hands together, rubbing them slowly. "This card has a peculiar taste. Not unlike the crown, but not exactly the same either. Certainly not as filling. I give it one star out of ten." Mister Static paused to laugh. "This is not funny. We saw the second Legacy Item twice now, why didn't you answer us about it yesterday?" Void demanded an explanation. "Please. Havent I made myself clear by now? I only answer when you bring me something useful. This was useful, somewhat. A card like the Legacy of Millennium could only have been introduced to this world with the power of a Legacy item. A power that can turn make everything seem real."

"_Seem_ real?" Void blinked. That did not exactly sound like what Ezra claimed his lance could do. "It is all about the mind. Down here that it writes reality, what turns fear into something tangible. This Ezra person is feeding off it, into that primal emotion that came into being when man first learned to not touch the fire they created. You can call it greed. And yet..." Static's voice trailed off, as if he were lowering his own volume. "And yet _what?_" Void pressed the issue.

"_Yet_ it is not what I expected, the fear of god should not be able to affect the body of god. It does not fit with what you saw. Perhaps that is the point." The static man rambled on and on. "He's not making any sense." Scura muttered softly. "Au contraire, it makes perfect sense! In the end the items are simply keys that give you control over things that exist in this world: scripts, visuals, senses.. and the mind itself. So you know what you have to do. You have to take on this deliverer of fear and claim his lance. Then bring that lance to me. Sure the odds are against you, but I have full confidence in you.. my heroes of Pandemonium."

"So we have to fight them? Because we are still connected to you." One man raised a question. "Midsummer?" A man who held his own card of legacy firmly. "Put that card down, Midsummer." Void grumbled out of annoyance, thinking that he was fooling around again. "Are you concerned about this, Void? I could not help but wonder. Would we still be in his service... if we let that lance sever all ties?" Except the masked duelist was dead serious.

"I think you know the answer." Mister Static dared the altergeist duelist. "It..could be. It worked for Cherry." Crescent spoke up as well. She had not gotten rid of her golden skill card yet either. "Cherry betrayed us." Zettai cursed. "Perhaps she was never one of us at all. It does not matter to me. I only follow my own interests. And I am very interested to find out if I can use this, even inside this lovely arena." Midsummer was only inches away from inserting the card into his dueldisk. "Wait! What about all the other stuff? You said you wanted to find out more about the ADIs! About this place! You said you didn't care about the Lance's power!" Void protested.

"Oh.. I suppose I lied." Midsummer let out a mad cackle and activated the Legacy of Millennium.

"Ah!" He disappeared in the blink of an eye, consumed by a golden light. "He actually did it.. Hmph. Good riddance." Sundown spat. He was not sorry to see him go. "That crazy... Static! Do you know where he went!" Donna asked loudly. The midsummer nightmare could not have been affected by the Lance this fast. "I can only sense that he is still within the network. Where he is, I cannot say. He has found protection..." The man shrugged his distorted shoulders. "And you just let him go?" The wrestler yelled again. "I cannot stop you from joining them. Though I already know most of you do not want to. And in one instance they cannot do it even if they tried. So I know I can depend on the rest of you." The static man gave them a two-fingered salute. "Til we meet again." He took some twitchy steps backwards and sealed himself behind his own distortion doorway. "There he goes again!? What does he mean with 'one of us'?" Bionis groaned loudly. Void could think of an answer, but he would rather keep it to himself.

"So what do we do now?" Neo inquired. More urgent matters needed attention. "I think it would be best if we logged out and let the storm blow over. Exeter wont come after us if they don't have a reason to suspect us." Veyron suggested first. "Not gonna happen. I aint letting anyone kick me off." Sundown summarily shot the idea down. "We cannot fight them. Not by ourselves." Zettai shook her head. Seeing Ezra decline her challenge so soon after her major loss did not help her fighting spirit.

"Yes, we need Exeter. And Arcis said she could help us. Void, Blanche.. I think we should listen to her." Crescent sounded anxious and concerned. "Why are you asking them? They are not the boss!" Bionis growled. "No. But I did beat the Crown and win the tournament." Void taunted him a little before turning to Asterisk. "I think we should hear her proposal, what do you think?" He trusted his input as well. "It is worth a shot. Neo can check in with Vigionair. He will understand that I want to follow up on this lead." The agent felt a certain desire for understanding in that regard. "Good. Then we will do that first.."

...

And so, with the data that Crescent received from Arcis, the heroes made their way over to Arcis Da Vinci. Blanche, Scura, Donna, Veyron and Sundown Mephistar went along for the ride, while a stubborn Bionis stayed put, claiming to wait just in case Himiko or others showed up at the arena. "This is the place?" They did not find the witch duelist right away. What they did see was a large ivory-white palace with a large finial-tipped dome on top. "I never saw this sector before." Void knew most corners of the network map, except for this one. The design clearly originated from a duel card however. Six pillars supported the front roof, and a unique set of armor could be seen saved in the face of each pillar.

"The Elemental Lords." From behind one pillar, Arcis Da Vinci emerged.. "This is one of 30 Palaces of the Elemental Lords. You wont find spots like these anywhere in the database because they are not a part of the official record. It is only used by judges and Exeter employees. Each floor has its own palace." Indeed, they could not see any other structures from here.. only trees and a thick fog. The building itself resembled all the other inaccessible background constructs. "Ah. Of course. V always held the theory that the executives would want a portal between their workplace and the network. He'll be difficult to live with once I tell him he was right about this too." It all made sense to Asterisk. The only reason Vigionair never tried to look for it, was the simple fear of getting exposed in the process. "The question is, how do you know about this place?" No normal duelist would stumble upon this place either.

"She works for Exeter.." Sundown quickly concluded. "Exeter? That is not possible. She is too..." Crescent raised her voice, as she did not want to believe it. "Crescent. I am sorry but.." Only for Da Vinci to shatter her thoughts.

"No. You." The weather girl looked at her, stunned. "It is true. I am also an employee of Exeter. As I am sure _you_ already knew." She looked at Asterisk. "!?" Crescent shot the agent an upset glare as well. "V and me only suspected. And I did not want to act on an assumption." He apologized. Though even he did not know the full story. "It is more complicated than that actually.. " It took her a lot to even utter her next sentence. "My real name is Therese Hansen. I am the sister of Evert Hansen, the CTO."

"Sister?" That went beyond what anyone expected. "Wait.. but he is like..forty.." An incredulous Scura said. "Thirty actually. His avatar masks his age." Arcis confessed, and implicated herself in the process. "Are you even.." Her own avatar made her look like she belonged to the same age bracket as Crescent. And she could hardly believe that at this point. "Mine makes me look younger by a few years. But that is all." Avatars could not be altered too dramatically from ones own profile. That still did not change the fact that she lied however.

"You chose me, to get close to them. Was any of what you said even true?" Crescent felt used and betrayed. "Did Hansen tell you to do this?" Donna did not like what she heard either. "No! It was my own idea. He barely talks to me.. and he outranks me to an enormous degree. The rest all happened, and I know that you saved us. That is why I wanted to get to know you! I wanted to tell you, I just didn't know when it would be a good time.. And our time is up now. Millennium is too much for them to handle too. So that is why I am going to help you get into Exeter."

(To Be Continued in Line 061: Emperors are Forever)


	61. Emperors Are Forever

**Line 061: Emperors Are Forever**

Arcis da Vinci was Therese Hansen, the sister of the CTO Evert Hansen. "I thought you wanted to be my friend. Why me?" Crescent Aurora felt hurt by this revelation more than anyone. "I am sorry, Crescent. I felt bad for you because of what happened to your friend. I knew about Wagner and wanted to see what I could do. But I should never have lied to you. And I still want to be your friend." The girl did not turn out to be what she made herself look like. "I knew there was something bad about you." Scura hissed in the background.

"I believe her." But not all were skeptical, like Asterisk. "You do?" Donna raised an eyebrow at his statement. "It might be foolish of me to hear honesty in the words of someone who deceived me so well. I like to play the part of the secret agent, and yet she pulled it off far better than I ever could. And yet she gave herself away willingly." They would never have found out on their own. "But why now?" Void still had questions. "Because I am afraid about what Hansen is going to do, now that the situation is getting too much for him. We need to help each other. I can bring you to him, and he can tell you what he knows. Which is more than he lets on.."

"So The CTO is just behind that door?" Veyron thought it sounded rather easy: walking through doors that did not even look movable. "The palace is always open for employees. Even if he is not online. We can call him from the inside, and he wont be able to refuse." She made it sound easy enough.

"The lord does not take any visitors at this time. The doors will stay closed.." Except, someone else had a say about this road as well. The doors of the Elemental palace opened slowly with a loud grinding noise. "As long as it acts as my field." The always dutiful servant passed through the narrow opening: Walter the man in black. "You're getting in the way? Now!?" Sundown cursed. "Walter. We do not have time to play Theo's games. Let us through." Arcis echoed his sentiment. "I cannot go against my orders, lady Hansen. The lord has told me to not let anyone through." Walter turned his shaded eyes towards the Agent. "And he was specific about sir Asterisk in particular. Your connection with the chaotic element known as V has troubled him greatly." The doors closed behind him again, effectively denying them all access.

"Chaotic? We've been described worse." He chuckled. "Is this what Hansen wants? To hide while STHEREA burns? We need his help and he needs ours! He has to see that!" Void could not contain his anger anymore at this point. "You have already failed him, you lost to his champions."

"But where are the champions? Why aren't they defending him instead of you?" Veyron did not think one AI would do well against all of Millennium. "They and the admins are out there to stop what you could not. He has no reason to involve the heroes of Pandemonium any longer. It is only because of lady Da Vinci's presence, that I have not yet suspended you outright." Walter held his ground but made a formal bow to the CTO's sister. "This guy is pretty pompous for a glorified robot butler." Scura rasped. "I suppose not having fear helps. But he has logic right? He knows what our answer is gonna be!" Donna figured the best way forward was the dueling way. "Then let's do it." Void had more than half a mind to take Walter on himself.

"My master has no interest in seeing me duel you." But the butler rebuffed the challenge. "What?" He could at least do that much apparently. "Void, I believe you can leave him to me." So Asterisk took the first step up the palace stairs. "He did take the time to name me specifically after all. Mister Hansen has seen most of you in action already while I remained a mystery. I presume now I have to correct that oversight." He activated the disk and drew his cards. "That does interest him." Walter also activated his own dueldisk. It seemed Asterisk's hunch paid off. "Just be careful, Agent Asterisk. Walter is not your average ADI." Arcis warned. "I will keep that in mind, miss Da Vinci."

Walter's LP: 8000 Asterisk's LP: 8000 -TURN 01-

"The first turn is mine." Walter added four cards to his hand and one skill card. True to his word, one of those four cards turned out to be the Palace of the Elemental Lords. The titular field spell occupied the same space and dimensions as the building behind him. "All monsters on the field gain 200 attack and defense points for each element in my graveyard, Agent Asterisk." The next card got placed face down in the spell/trap zone. Finally, Walter revealed his monster: a purple-haired girl(2/1300/1200) [Zone 2] who wore purple and green rose-patterned armor and wielded a short saber. "I normal summon Elementsaber Makani. Her effect is this. Once per turn: I can discard 1 Elementsaber monster to add 1 "Elementsaber" or "Elemental Lord" monster from my deck to my hand, except Makani. Additionally, as long as I control the Palace, I can send such cards from my deck instead of my hand." Walter activated the effect by discarding an Elementsaber Lapauila Mana from his deck, and adding Elementsaber Nalu.

With one element now in the graveyard, light, the wind-elemental Makani(1500/1200) gained her first field powerboost. "The sabers of wind, light and ice. There is one elementsaber for each color, and one elemental lord.. Their deck is just like mine... and yours... Is a multi-elemental deck something you favor?" Crescent asked Therese, with a somewhat strained tone to her voice. "It was not just about that, Crescent.." Arcis tried to explain herself, while also feeling that now was not a good time to get into it. "No. I understand." Crescent did not feel like continuing the conversation regardless.

-TURN 02-

"I presume you are the type to already know what each card does, so in the interest of speeding things along." Asterisk normal summoned his next card without explaining her effect. "Spygal Misty. Be a dear and check the top card of his deck for me. Is it perhaps a monster card?" A female agent(4/1500/1600) [Zone 5] wearing a grey blazer and skirt appeared. This redhaired woman took a special phone from her red purse and used it to scan Walters cards.

"It is!" Neo gasped. The Spygal successfully revealed an Elementsaber monster on the top of the deck. "Easy guess. Most cards in a deck are monsters." An unimpressed Bionis scoffed.

"Indeed. But now I am lucky enough to also get a new card." Asterisk smirked as Misty's effect allowed him to draw whenever he guessed correctly between spells, traps and monsters. And now he did not have to guess anymore, as the revealed card returned to its original place. "Spyral Super Agent! Destroy his face-down card!" Asterisk then special summoned the best agent on his force, the male Super Agent(4/1900/1200) [Zone 4], by successfully revealing the same monster card from Walter deck. And since it had been special summoned by a SPYRAL's effect, it could destroy one spell or trap card on the field. "Not the field spell?" Sundown sounded surprise that he would miss the obvious target. Not that it mattered one way or another.

"I regret to inform you that I will block that effect with the Skill card: Property with Property. It negates the effect of a monster with a different attribute from the one I control." Walter shut it down succinctly and decisively. "I also activate the continuous trap: Elemental Training. Now the Palace of the Elemental Lords cannot be destroyed or targeted by card effects, Agent Asterisk." Lightning came to surround the palace, colored with the six hues of the attribute. "You are rather fond of that palace. Or rather your master must be. So I knew you would protect that card one way or another." The combo of Elemental Training and Elemental Palace happened often in an Elementsaber duel.

_Property with Property, Skill Card  
__When your opponent activates a monster effect, and you control a monster with a different Attribute from that monster: Negate the activation._

And the Elemental trap could pull off other tricks. Walter made that clear as soon as Asterisk declared a wordless attack against him. "Once per turn, Elemental Training tributes one Elementsaber monster from, to special summon one with a differing element from my deck. I choose the Elementsaber Lapauila." The wind turned to a storm. Elementsaber Makani died to a bolt of lightning cast by a twin saber wielder Elementsaber Lapauila(4/400/2100) [Zone 4]. Neon yellow was her armor, and a blue bolt parted her purple hair. "Each turn, Lapauila negates one activated spell or trap." Walter summoned her in defense mode, to further strengthen his position. "Ah, that is quite an issue. Fortunately, I have my Misty to help me out." The second effect of the SPYGAL could be used during any phase. As long as she could return a SPYRAL Super Agent to the hand, she could also return an opponents monster to the hand. "Attack him, my dear." Once she did all of that, causing Lapauila to leave the field, Misty could land a direct hit on Walter with her phone-tazergun. "That ends my turn, sir Walter."

Walter's LP: 6500 -TURN 03-

"Well done, sir Asterisk. You have taken the lead." Walter might have been forced to continue this fight, but that did not mean 'he' could not remain polite. "I normal summon Elementsaber Aina." Walter revealed his warrior of the earth: another young girl(2/1300/2200) [Zone 2] with auburn pigtails wielding a radial shield far greater than her. "Once per turn: Aina can discard 1 Elementsaber, then target 1 Elementsaber or Elemental Lord from the graveyard and special summon it." In this instance Walter would not make use of his field spell's effect and simply sent a card, Elementsaber Nalu, from his hand to the graveyard. By doing so he could revive that monster. Aina cracked the ground with her shield, releasing a more mature woman(3/2100/1600) [Zone 3] in icy white dress-armor. Long platinum hair flowed behind her back. "Elementsaber Nalu. It can discard an Elementsaber, then add one Elementsaber or Elemental Lord from the graveyard to my hand. I choose Lapauila Mana." Yet again he ignored the Palace and Nalu sent Lapauila out of his hand to reclaim her evolved form.

"He is saving the Palace's efect for the crucial one." Arcis understood why. "You know me well, my lady." Walter nodded respectfully. "He seems awfully friendly to you. How much does that thing know about you anyway?" Bionis wanted to know. "Everything Hansen would also know. It is the CTO we are talking about." Trying to hide your true identity from the leader of Exeter would be tantamount to impossible. "And how much does he know about us?" Was Bionis' next question. "I fear, just as much." The sister sighed.

"If we can go back to the topic at hand: as you say 'the crucial one'. I can discard 2 other monsters to special summon this card from my hand." Now Walter passed the discards through his Elemental field spell, sending two Elementsabers from his deck to the graveyard instead. "I send Malo and Molehu, monsters with the attribute of fire and darkness. And special summon Elementsaver Lapauila Mana!" In her mana-enhanced form, Lapauila(7/3200/2900) [Zone 5] donned a full set of lightning armor with a diamond mantle and lightning rod pauldrons. Even her hair turned pure yellow. "Lapauila Mana gains an effect depending on the attributes used for her special summon. Dark means untargetability, fire means immunity to destruction by effects. And these protections extend to all other Elementsaber cards I control... This will be the deciding blow, Agent Asterisk."

The man in black reactivated the Elemental Training trap, and sacrificed Aina. "I special summon a second Elementsaber Molehu from my deck." The earth made way for the darkness. Molehu(4/2900/1000) [Zone 4] appeared as gaunt white-eyed man with darkblue hair and spiked black armor. His large scythe-like weapon could hardly be called a 'saber'. "Now I activate the effects of all Elementsabers in my graveyard. Each one can turn their attribute into one of my choice. I choose the Light." By the time of Molehu's arrival, five attributes had been cast into the grave. Yet whether they were fire-type or earth-type in life. In death they would all be treated as just one element. "Agent, He is.." There could only be one reason why. Each Elemental Lord could only be special summoned when exactly five monsters of their attribute, no more and no less, rested in the graveyard.

"There is no need to warn me, miss Da Vinci. I appreciate the help, but I intend to win this duel fairly." Asterisk knew the names of these lords already. "Walter. I activate the trap card: Mind Crush! I declare that the Elemental Lord Phosphorage is in your hand! If you indeed have it, you must discard it." And hand disruption was a favored tool of the Spy duelist.

"You declare?" Especially in a network where no duelist could lie about the contents of their hands. "You let me get this far?" He revealed the Elemental lord Phosphorage and sent it to the graveyard. "It is true, I could have used Mind Crush on your Elementsabers as well. But then I would risk running into Phosphorage at a later date. And I would rather avoid that. And the timing could not have been more beneficial to me." He waited until after all the Elementsabers shifted their element, leaving the Elementsabers on the field with just one palace powerboost instead of five. "That was rather clever, if I do say so myself. Nevertheless, I still possess greater attackpower." Walter coughed into his fist to signal the attack. Elementsabe Molehu(2100/200) decapitated Spygal Misty with his scythe, while Nalu(1700/1400) and Lapauila Mana(2600/2300) unleashed a tempest of hail and thunder bolts.

Asterisk's LP: 3300

"Alas, Misty. I could not save her." Asterisk halfsmirked as he weathered the attacks. After taking two shocks to the system, his avatar barely registered regular damage. "Will you stop playing around, Asterisk. We do not have a lot of time. And he's just an AI!" Sundown grunted irritably. "Rushed duels lead to mistakes, Sundown Mephistar. And just because my opponent is artificial, does not make it any less of a worthy opponent." A lesser man would have reminded Sundown of Skylander's fate. But Asterisk figured the gunslinger spoke like this due to his own unresolved feelings of hatred.

-TURN 04-

"My turn." The Gunslinger still had a point about the generosity of time, and its lack thereof. Now that the fallen elementsabers' attributes switched back to normal; Nalu(2500/2200), Molehu(3300/1200) and Lapauila Mana(3600/3400) gained a total of 1000 attackpoints. "I activate Convulsion of Nature. From now on our decks are switched around." So he would dispense with every secret. The continuous spell of convulsion twisted the palace field upside down. "Good grief." Walter put on an expression of alarm as the bottom face-down card of his deck now appeared face-up on the top: another Palace field spell card. "A spell I see. Then I declare that a spell is on top of your deck!" SPYRAL Super Agent would be special summoned again as soon as Asterisk made his successful and easy prediction. The Super Agent himself(4/1900/1200) [Zone 4] radioed in a call.. a call to blow the trap up with a laser blast from the sky below their feet. "Ygh. his duel is getting to me..." Donna felt nauseous. She did not like dueling on anything besides solid ground.

"As for my attack. I will need to normal summon another lovely lady. Charming Resort Staff form the Cafe de Resort!" A chipper looking waitress(3/300/200) [Zone 5] with her brown hair in a ponytail, came up to the field carrying a tray. "Just how many lady monsters does this spyral guy hang out with?" Scura muttered to herself while Asterisk entered the battle phase. "Dont worry, they only have a strictly professional relationship. When Charming Resort Staff is on my field, all monsters that battle the Spyral Super agent will lose their full attackpower. So let us attack Lapauila Mana!" Asterisk pointed his finger at the strongest Elementsaber.

"Then I have no choice but to defend her! Elementsabe Molehu can switch the position of your monster!" Walter discarded another Elementsaber Nalu from his deck to force the Charming staffer into face-down defense position. "I figured you would. So it is a good thing I always keep my skills fresh!" Asterisk activated his skill card: Secrets Revealed. "I flip my lady to face-up and renew my attack!" With the cafe lady face-up once more, she could offer her drink to the male agent. He, with revitalized energy, took a shot at the weakened lightning swordswoman(0/3400) with his own laser pistol. The blade did not beat the gun this day.

_Secrets Revealed, Skill Card  
__Activate 1 of the following effects:  
__* Reveal the top card of you or your opponent's deck and place it at the bottom or top of their deck.  
__* Flip 1 face-down monster card on the field into face-up attack or defense position._

Walter's LP: 4600

"It would seem my intel on you was incomplete." Walter did not expect the skill either. "Depends on who you ask. I have only just started getting into the intelligence gathering business myself." Asterisk playfully replied as he placed two trap cards face down. Though he seemingly hesitated on setting the second card. "Curious, our records have you noted as just a university student." Walter stated with a subdued voice. "Oh does it now? Well that is already quite thorough, if not slightly out of date. And that has a simple explanation, I simply wanted to learn more than what schools could teach me. And one day I met the self-proclaimed smartest man in the world. He helped broaden my horizons quite a bit, he even introduced me to dueling. He may be a bit paranoid and subversive, but he and I have never done any damage." Asterisk would say more, but he did not want to spoil V's true identity any more than it already was.

-TURN 05-

"He will see then, just how well he trained you are." Walter ignored the trap at first, focusing on his Elementsabers instead. Nalu discarded yet another Elementsaber Malo from the deck, and reclaimed the Elemental Lord Phosphorage from the graveyard. "Sir Asterisk. I feel as if you are trying to trick me. Yet I have no choice but to take a chance." The man in black sighed and activated the other card in his hand. "The spell, Dragoroar. I Banish 1 Earth, Fire, Water and Wind monster from my graveyard; and shuffle 1 card on the field into the deck." The sabers of the first Makani, Malo, Nalu and Aina created a tumultuous resonance that through the barrier between the dead and the living. Four great roars headed after one target: the first card Asterisk placed face down. "You did not take the bait. You are smarter than one might believe, sir Walter."

"A pity then that I always assume the best of my enemies." Asterisk flipped the trap, resolving it before Dragoroar removed it. "Spyral Gear Utility Wire! I place one card from your field on top of your deck!" He would be doing the field removal in this instance. The Spyral Super Agent ensnared Elementsaber Molehu with his special wire gadget and tossed him on top of the still convulsing deck. "A double feint?" Void did not know who to be more impressed by: the bluffer or the bluffed. "It appears I made a miscalculation." Walter adjusted his shades. "Hansen will be disappointed." Five monsters remained buried: Malo, Nalu, Moleha, Lapauila and Lapauila Mana. Lapauila Mana could not change her own element like her sisters and brothers, which left Walter with just one color. "I shall change the attributes of my Elementsabers to that of Light. And I special summon Phosphorage the Elemental lord!"

Exactly enough LIGHT monsters magically appeared in the graveyard to create a carpet of light for Walters lord. The pillars of the palace themselves glowed.. and one came to life. Lightning took solid form and encased its body in bright armor that looked much like that of the Elementsaber of light. Golden wings extended from its back and a pulsating crystal core held its heart. This was the lord Phosphorage(8/3000/2400) [Zone 1]. "Phosphorage's effect activates as soon as it is summoned. All monsters on the field are destroyed." It seemed like thunder and lightning would always hunt after the agent. A storm of phosphor rained down upon the SPYRAL Super Agent and his charming assistant.

"This is a tough spot to be. However, I can special summon another Spyral Super Agent from my deck, if Charming Resort Staff is destroyed!" From the smoke of destruction, a sneaky super agent(4/1900/1200) emerged in defense mode. "You have eluded me again." Walter shook his head and forced himself to attack. Elementsaber Malu(1700/1400) shattered the agent after she encased him in a block of ice. And Phosphorage tore out the ground from underneath Asterisk feet with a well placed lightning blast.

Asterisk's LP: 300

"You came close." Asterisk escaped defeat by the skin of his teeth. "Yet you sound like a dead man walking, sir Walter. Does your lord intend to dispose of you, should you fail?" Walters words had been bothering him for a while now. They did not sound like scripted lines from a programmed drone. "There have been many before me, and many afterwards. I believe the lord called it a part of an experiment. But that is all I know. I am what I am." Walter could play no more cards, so he gave up the turn to Asterisk. "It is a sad thing, to be nothing more than what you can show. Lady da Vinci.. has Exeter been trying to create Artificial intelligence.. true intelligence?" At the very least Asterisk could see that Walter's level of sophistication surpassed that of the standard ADI. "They could be. I didn't work in the network division, I was just a manager. But.. they have been doing a lot more than just building and maintaining STHEREA." She answered him and he nodded appreciatively. "They must not yet be done then. A truly intelligent entity, would have a choice in what he does. I do love a good mystery. But Exeter has far too many."

-TURN 06-

"I activate... Spyral Gear Big Red. This spell brings back one Spyral Super Agent from the graveyard. And you and I both know what that means." An expensive looking red car drove up to the steps of the palace, with the first Spyral Agent [Zone 3] behind the drivers seat. "You will destroy my Palace." The Super Agent, special summoned by the effect of a SPYRAL card, managed to send in another destruction call. At least, the front walls of the palace were blown wide open. The Elementsaber(1500/1200) and the Elemental Lord(2800/2200) dropped back down to their original attack and defense values. "And.. there is another thing. When the Spyral Super Agent is special summoned, there is a trap that he can use." Asterisk revealed the other card, the supposed 'bait'. "Spyral Mission Recapture! I gain control of one opponent's monster! Permit me to take your Lord, sir Walter!" The trap could find no better target than Phosphorage.

"How unfortunate." The lord of lightning hovered down the steps and spun around. It [Zone 1] would only listen to the agents commands from now on, along with the first Spyral Agent and the second one [Zone 2] that Asterisk normal summoned back to the field. "I believe this is what you would call checkmate." Elementsaber Nalu could not fight back all by herself: a fact that reminded the artificial duelist of his own position.

"It is not too late to stand down." Arcis claimed. She could not foresee what would happen otherwise. "My essence is of no value, lady Da Vinci. And I cannot step aside while I exist." Walter looked down at Asterisk as if he was looking down the barrel of a gun. "Do what you must." Asterisk could only comply with such a request. "Attack.." Phosphorage charged up and unloaded a lethal dose of volts upon the swordswoman of ice. Afterwards the first Spyral Agent shot his gun and scored a direct hit. One more would do the trick.

Walter's LP: 1400

"That is enough! You have proven your skills!" But there was no need to take it. The one they wanted already stood at the broken gates of the Lord Palace. "Evert?!" Arcis gasped. "Hmph. Making all this noise.. Therese. What do you want from me now?" The CTO grunted spoke without a hint of brotherly affection. "You know what they want. They want to hear about STHEREA! If anyone knows how this Ezra person can do all of this, it would be you." She returned the 'kindness' with a seething glare. "Hmph. Is that the heroes want? Alright then, I suppose I can tell you how this damned mess even started. How these legacy items have caused me nothing but trouble."

"We are all ears, mister Hansen." Asterisk smirked.

(To Be Continued in Line 062: Legacy)

**New Cards used by Agent Asterisk  
**_SECRETS REVEALED_

-  
SPYGAL Misty  
Charming Resort Staff

-  
SPYRAL GEAR - Big Red

-  
SPYRAL Mission - Recapture  
Mind Crush

**Cards used by Walter  
**_PROPERTY WITH PROPERTY_

-  
Elementsaber Makani  
Elementsaber Lapauila  
Elementaber Aina  
Elementsaber Nalu  
Elementsaber Malo  
Elementsaber Moleha  
Elementsaber Lapauila Mana  
Elemental Lord Phosphorage

-  
Palace of the Elemental Lords  
Dragoroar

-  
Elemental Training


	62. Legacy

**Line 062: Legacy**

"Welcome to the office." Beyond the doors of the palace, an entire floor awaited. They passed many rooms until they came to the end of the hallway. "To _my_ office." The lights turned to reveal a room with a white pillar in every corner, a view of the entire city through the wide windows, and a black table at the center of a hexagonal grid floor. Here Evert Hansen presided, his avatar logging off to return to his body. And they could still see him too. "Wow." Neo wished he could record this, but naturally his cams were inoperable here too. "So this is all real?"

Hansen did look older here, slightly. "Of course. We at Exeter have already advanced technology to such a point where we can have conference calls from across the globe, as if we are really in the same place as that person. Right now I can see your avatars and you can see me in the flesh." Hansen squinted his eyes. "The tech needs some refinement though. I can still tell you're just 3d projections. Allthough that might just be the limits of the graphics." He leaned against his desk. "..Aha." Blanche tried to do the same, but her hand phased through it. They were ghosts in a solid world. "This is all very fascinating, but they did not come here to marvel at your lofty projects." Sundown snarled.

"No you came for information. And this is the safest place to share it. You didn't give me much of a choice. You were about to defeat my personal guard." He gave a nod to Walter, who sealed the doors of the elemental palace behind them. "But you interceded on his behalf. He must be grateful for that." Asterisk noted as the bodyguard walked passed him without saying a word. "Please. Walter cannot experience gratitude. But you do not know how long it takes to re-calibrate him after a loss. I merely cut to the chase." He said as he checked his expensive looking watch. "So shall I just start from the beginning?"

"Actually. There is something I want to hear first." Donna cleared her throat and looked the CTO straight in the eyes. "What are your plans for Giganoto? And Alpha for that matter?" She restrained herself, but she would not let him dictate what answers were handed out. "Ah yes, Donna right? Your friend was X, the one with that illegal card? I know he maintains his innocence, but it appears that the card he had did infect our systems. And now there's a hundred of these damned things that we cannot simply purge. My staff only found that out too late, of all the incompetence. I am sure you understand that, until this situation is resolved, we cannot let a suspect like him back on the network. And as for the other one. He was clearly making spurious claims against our company and I could not let him proceed. But as for where 'Alpha' is are, your guess is as good as mine. He vanished from the network shortly after the semifinals."

"You mean you lost them." Void deduced. "Yes well, you can put it that way." Hansen grumbled uncomfortably. "Yet was there any truth to Alpha's allegations." Void would not let go so easily. "No. None whatsoever. Yes we have some sideprojects running in the network, but nothing that would affect the real world." The CTO denied it flatly. "Hmm. You lost Veyrons brother as well. Are there more people are disappearing that we should know about?" The cyberse duelist wanted a few of his own questions answered. "No. Those were the only two.. Ehr three. We could not locate Alpha's teammate either, though we have no interest in him."

"If you ask me, you could have handled both situations better, Evert. It is a miracle the world has not turned on you already." Arcis chided her brother. "But I am not asking you, Therese." He hissed back. "Besides, I am sure you know of plenty disappearing acts yourself." The man from Exeter said as he leaned his arm against the window and glared at Agent Asterisk. "Your friend V, and this mister Static, I do not know who they are or how they got so embedded in our system. But we do not trust it. I do not trust it. We did not actively look for one, since you claim he is an ally. But we should have been able to find this Arena of the Beyond by now, we have the coordinates! Yet nobody is able to jump towards it! My teams could only come up with one answer, the same one that explains how Millennium became such a big threat. They reason that your static friend probably already has an Item of his own."

"He what? Well he never told us that!" Neo gasped. "Hrm. But it would make sense. Static is collecting the items, he has the Crown now as well." Asterisk pontificated, it would tie a few mysteries together. "That makes three we cannot account for. There are too many elements at work here. They think this network is some kind of playground. But it is not, it is ours! At this rate they will force us to shut it all down!" Hansen let some of his anger slip but quickly recovered himself and adjusted his tie. "We need to focus on Millennium first. If what you say is true, than they are probably not on the side of mister Static. The Crown almost was however.."

"Anders. Last time you told us that you had apprehended Anders and that his questioning was still ongoing. Have you learned anything since then?.." Asterisk inquired. "Yes, we interrogated Anders thoroughly these past few days. Eventually, he told us exactly where and how he found his Crown."

"Before his dismissal he used to work as a code tester and debugger, and he oversaw a great deal of the dueling network's creation. Unfortunately we had to let him go due to his unmanageable behavior. He missed his deadlines and never showed up on meetings. Though I am sure he spun a different side to you." Hansen said with a tiny grin. "Trust us, we have no sympathy for him now." Sundown retorted. "But he is not the only one to have complained about the atmosphere at work." Therese pointed out, to her brother's annoyance. "That is besides the point. What matters is that he stuck around in the network afterwards, using several built-in privileges to give himself access to areas that normal players would not have. Perhaps he wanted to steal our source code and give it to our competitors. But he did not admit to that; he claims that he only wanted to mess with the game a little to punish us. But his idea took on a grander scope.."

"Once he found the Crown" Void surmised. "Yes. the Crown. Apparently he first located redundant lines in code; functions and lines that did not cause any errors but did support the system either. There was a pattern to these repetitions however, one that he figured out eventually. They created a trail, like digital breadcrumbs. He followed that trail and soon came across a perfectly intact program hidden deep within STHEREA and far outside the constructed realm. There, he says, he had to play a game of his own.. A writing challenge." The CTO paused. "Writing? Like a text adventure game?" The duelists were more confused than anything. "Something like that yes. It involved screem after screen of items and rooms that you could not see, just read. Except the final room was apparently fully visual, and it carried the Crown. That is all he could say to us, but it proved one thing. These Legacy Items that you mentioned, do not start out as in-game objects. They hide as simple text, or as graphical effects.. or as something else."

"Something else?" Asterisk picked up a lot of weight to that statement. "Have you seen an item besides the Crown and the Lance?"

"Heh. I am laying all cards on the table here, agent." Hansen got up and moved around his office to activate his personal monitor. "The Crown is not the first item to have appeared on our radar." He flipped the screen around. "What is that?" Blanche blinked. The monitor displayed an spiraling structure, with a glowing crystal at the core and three sharp arcs on the basin.

"We have dubbed this the World Chalice of World Legacy. At least, that is what the cards call it." He zoomed the frame out to reveal that they were in fact looking at the art of a monster card. "The World Legacy." Now Void saw the resemblance. Anders had used a card that personified his crown as well. "Since when did you know?" Information like this should have been told to them right away. "Since before STHEREA went global. This item surfaced early on, after a system crash during a test run. Once we rebooted the network, these cards appeared in the store database as a special pack. At first we assumed it to be prank of the development staff. But when we took a closer look we realized this could not have been created by one man or even a team of creators. And when one tester used the cards... the Chalice itself manifested."

"Okay all this code stuff is going over my head, but... The Crown started as words and the Chalice started as.. cards?" Scura interjected just to make sure she could catch up. "As card data yes. Each Item must take a specific form within the network. Because we have searched our database and our files exhaustively and found nothing. Wherever that man found his Lance, he did not find it in the same place." And from the sound of things, Exeter could not locate any remaining items either. "So the item buried in the game's script can affect the script itself. Then what does the Chalice do?" Just from the description alone, Veyron could not figure out its power. "We could not quite determine the full scope of its abilities. At best we know that it allows these World Legacy cards to exist across the network, including cards whose existence we didn't know of yet.. like the Knightmares. Unfortunately, we cannot track these cards with any of our equipment."

"You had it all this time. There was something you could not explain, but you let us .. play.. inside this reality anyway? Why didn't you destroy it?" Crescent interrupted. She could not listen in silence any longer. "We had no idea more than one of these items existed. The cards themselves did not hint at it. And since this one appeared to be harmless, we merely isolated it for further analysis. We tried moving it to local servers, but it seems glued to STHEREA." Hansen gave his reasons, which were not enough for her.

"But the Crown was not harmless! Why does it hurt everyone so much? Why are Wagner and the others not getting better?" She cried out. "Wagner?" Hansen clearly did not have the first clue as to whom she was talking about. "His name is on the list of Anders' victims sir." Walter had to remind him. "He is more than a victim, Evert. He was her friend, and one of the heroes." Therese added. "And there were more! Like Imperius and Skylander!" Donna added with her own grunts.

"Oh yes. Yes those children, they were disconnected in a way the game simply cannot process. That shock to their nervous system sent them into a coma. As unfortunate as their conditions were, we could only help them by providing care for them until their minds recovered."

"Recovered? Then.." A glimmer of hope. "They are showing signs of it, yes. Some of them." Hansen could assure her that at least. "When were you going to tell them?" Arcis chastised him. "Tch. Don't get too comfortable, Therese. I am still the CTO. I have a company to run and a reputation to maintain. We could not just let these kids go free at the first sign of consciousness. As soon as the professional medics declare them to be stable of mind and body, then we can release them... And I know what you are going to say. Their families and friends can also visit them as soon as they are coherent and..." Hansen stopped, as Walter whispered something in his ear. "Oh. Is that so." He gave Crescent a look she did not understand. "What is it?" It worried her. "I am afraid your friend's 'status' has not changed." He told her. "Wagner? But you just told me.." She gasped out loud. "I said that some were getting better. I didn't recall their names. This Wagner simply took too much damage at once."

"No!" Crescent panicked. "Aurora, please calm down." Arcis pleaded, but she slapped her hand away. "Lies.. It's just more lies!" The girl felt sickened, even inside this virtual confinement. "But it makes sense. Nobody lost like Wagnerok did. What if.." Veyron saw it, they all saw his obliteration at the hands of the Crusadia.

"No! They just don't want to help him! Why should I believe them!?" Her hands trembled as they reached for her deck. "Crescent?" Void noticed the golden glow getting stronger, the glow of the millennium card. "Cherry came back. I know Wagner can come back as well! They can do it!" She yanked the card out.

"Is that.." Hansen instinctively recoiled. "You're gonna trust them instead? Is this guy really worth it! He was a jerk to everyone!" Scura yelled back at her. "I.. He does not deserve this! I should have helped him like.. like he did with me. I am sorry, but I can't. I can't take it any more." She took a deep breath and activated the Legacy of Millennium, teleporting away much like Midsummer Nightmare did before her.

"Damn it! Hansen, why did you tell her that!" Arcis shouted. "I thought we were being honest." He snidely remarked. He was not happy with this either.

"I never knew she could snap like that." Blanche said. "I could." Scura muttered a reply. "Well, we can't just let her go. There is no telling what she will run into." Veyron declared and stepped forward. "Where will you go? How will you ever find her?" Sundown stopped him with a simple fact: they had no idea where that Legacy card would take a person. "But Veyron is right, we cannot leave her alone with Millennium. I understand why she did it, but she should not have to pay their price. And there may be a way." Void sighed as he looked at the spot where she used to stand. "The obvious method would be to retrace her steps exactly."

"What!? You mean by using this too?" Scura took out her Millennium Legacy card as well. "Will you please be careful with that!" Hansen yelped.

"That could work. Some of us have not given the impression that we would willingly join them. But you.." Asterisk certainly would be rejected if he tried to enter Millennium. "What? I wasn't suggesting _I_ would do it! That is not funny!" She flailed her arms about to make it absolutely clear that she wanted no part of this. "I am affraid it may be the only way. They will not turn you down if you claim to want to join them. There must have been a reason why they approached you." A reason besides trying to bait the agent into a trap that was. Because they could have picked anyone to do that, yet they chose Scura. "Urgh. That's just because.. Well... Maybe some of what that skullfaced guy said sounded nice. I like it in here way more than I do outside, and I wouldn't mind having more freedom. But there is no way I am going to go near someone as creepy as him!"

"I do not think they intend to harm you. But if it is safety that you want., I can give you my emergency escape protocol. All you need is to do is locate Crescent and retreat with her. We can also give you the same monitoring equipment that we gave Blanche and Void. They should still be functioning right now in fact."

"Ah. I beg your pardon?" Void twitched involuntarily. "There's no cause for alarm. Vigionair switched them off yesterday." Asterisk quickly clarified. "And if you fear being found out, you can always switch them off yourself. The program is virtually undetectable that way." It pretty much had to be, considering that Void never noticed until now. "Okay, that is a little better? But what about all the other bad things that can go wrong? What if they don't believe me? What if they think I am a spy? What if your escape button doesn't work wherever I am going?" Scura still needed a little more security than what he was giving. "You don't have to tell them you want to join. You can just say you came because you were worried about Crescent." That sounded more believable anyway. "Hey, I do care about her! I.. argh!" And it started to win her over as well. "Damnit! I don't wanna leave her. But I dont know if I can do it. Not by myself." Scura clenched her hands together to stop herself from shivering.

"You do not have to go by yourself. You do not have to go at all, if you dont want to. I can go instead." And so Void stepped forward.

"You? But they would recognize you on the spot! You are the hero ever duelist talks about." The CTO scoffed and nearly laughed as well. "Yeah, but that is what we have the disguise kits for." Blanche suggested. "I do not know if those will last, should Ezra use his powers on you. They are not meant for long term usage anyway." Asterisk shook his head. "I didn't plan on using them. I am going as myself. Ezra claimed he wanted to be different from the Crown. So who would he want to recruit more than the duelist who defeated the Crown?" And perhaps the wielder of the lance would want to know what happened to that Crown. "But are you sure you want to do it? He's gonna poke you with the lance for sure." Madam Blanche gestured at the back of her neck to make him aware of the possible and longlasting repercussions. "If I did what I did not want to do, I would not even be here today." Of course he did not look forward to it, but he could not abandon Crescent to her fate either. And, more disturbingly, he felt the pull of curiosity. He wanted to see this paradise of theirs.

"Actually this can work to your advantage." Sundown caught the others attention by clearing his throat. "Advantage?"

"Millennium is the troublemaker. And we need to fix it. What do you do when there are too many to deal with? You go for the leader. We make Ezra come to us and take him down." Sundown stated rather happily as he looked out the window. "How? That guy can just refuse to duel us. He has a hundred cronies to duel for him. What will you even use to make him show up?" Scura whimpered. There were too many ways this plan could go wrong. "By giving him what he wants." The gunslinger smirked as he looked at the boss of Exeter himself.

"Oh. Me. He already took down my champion, so I am the next step up the ladder." Hansen realized. "You? We can't risk that!" Arcis shouted. "Do you think I cannot face him, Therese? I am the CTO, I am basically the god of the network. He caught me by surprise at the tournament, but If I know he is coming... Then I can defeat him." Out of nowhere, Hansen re-equipped his STHEREA headset and used it to summon his avatar on top of his human self. "I can show you right now. Who wants to test me out?"

Blanche's LP: 8000 Hansen's LP: 8000

"Sure. I'm game." The white dragon duelist shrugged and stepped up to the challenge. "Heh. Excellent. Unfortunately." Hansen placed five cards in front of him: four normal cards and one skill. "I have already won." The skill revealed itself: Forbidden. "I exchange all the cards in my hand for five Forbidden One cards" Hansen discarded his entire hand to claim Exodia the Forbidden One, Right Arm of the Forbidden One, Left Arm of the Forbidden One, Right Leg of the Forbidden One, Left Leg of the Forbidden One. "Wait wha.." The five pieces of Exodia assembled before Blanche before she could even play one of her own cards. "I am sure you've heard of it. When all five Forbidden One cards are here in my hand, I can declare an automatic victory." Hansen smiled while he let the Forbidden One finish the duel. It fired a blast of obliteration from its hands and bathed the duelists in destructive light. "Gah!" She shielded her face, while her cards shattered. "Okay, but what was that?" She coughed. "Just a skill card only I can use. They will never see it coming."

Blanche's LP: 0

_Forbidden, Skill Card  
__Discard 1 or more cards from your hand. Add one "the Forbidden One" monster card from your deck to your hand for each card you discarded + 1._

"That could actually work." Sundown grinned smugly. Nobody could fight against a skill like that. "Indeed. All you have to do is tell Ezra to find me here. I will conveniently be just outside the halls of the palace. He will 'surprise' me and force me to duel. Then I will defeat him, and claim the lance so it can be put away just like the chalice." The CTO sounded confident in his own plan, forgetting that he did not come up with it. "I still can't believe you would offer yourself as bait, Evert. Why not just challenge him openly?" Unlike the others, Arcis was not impressed.

"No. The trap will never work if they see it coming. They have to think they are the ones making the first move." Asterisk argued. "I will not be in any danger. My admins and CID drones will be just around the corner. I presume you heroes will lend your efforts as well in preparing this ambush?" Hansen expected them to say what he wanted to hear. "That we can do. The question is, who is going to send the message to Ezra? Are you still up for it, Void?" Asterisk asked again. "The sooner I can do it, the better." The task got considerably more difficult than a simple rescue mission. Still it felt like the right thing to do.

"Blanche. Can I talk to you for a second?" Though there were actions he would need to take before hand. "What is it?" He took the white haired girl aside, just to keep Hansen and Walter out of hearing range. "Once I am gone. Use this code." He passed her a security number. "You know what it is for." With that she could open the doors to his apartment room. "You think I'll need it? How long do you plan on staying away? The resident will be giving me funny looks if I keep visiting, especially your lady neighbor." She understood the how but not the why. "They will have to deal with it. I could be in for the long haul. There is.. nothing or no one that I leave behind. I just want to know you will be there in case something happens.." If he were to fall unconscious like Wagner and the others, he did not want the company to be the first to find him. "I get it. You're serious about this arent you? You dont have to.." Blanche could tell that his hands were shivering. "But I will. Because I have the least to lose." He sighed and turned back to the others.

"I'll put some distance between this place and me before I make the jump. So I guess this is goodbye for now."

"Ugh. You.. Fine, I will go too!" Scura blurted out before she could regret it. "Are you?" Veyron gasped. "If I dont, Void will just look bad. Also I know Crescent a little, maybe I can talk her out of this." She resolutely joined Void's side. "Hmm. Maybe we should all go." The speed duelist wondered. "No. That would raise suspicion more, and we need duelists here. Two will be just fine." Asterisk said and passed the duo an app with his dueldisk. "Good, we will be watching so we know when we can enact our plan. I have already sent you the escape program, Scura. If you get in trouble, we can activate your that remotely. But should that fail, you can do it manually by triggering the program." It would bring them back to V's lair. "Oh and you will need this too, Void." Blanche tossed her golden skill card to Void. "Huh? Oh!" Void remembered losing his own to mister Static, so he would need another's anyway. "Consider us even now. Heh. And good luck."

"Thanks." Void nodded. "Yeahyeahyeah. Let's just do this before I change my mind." Scura rasped as she firmly clasped her hands around Voids arm. "We will.. to go into the unknown."

(To Be Continued in Line 063: A Summer Without Sunset)

**Cards used by Evert Hansen  
**_FORBIDDEN_

-  
Exodia the Forbidden One  
Right Arm of the Forbidden One  
Left Arm of the Forbidden One  
Right Leg of the Forbidden One  
Left Leg of the Forbidden One


	63. A Summer Without Sunset

**Line 063: A Summer without Sunset**

Neither Void nor Scura could predict what they would see on the other side, at the end of a golden light tunnel that took them in as soon as they placed their Millennium cards inside the dueldisk. "Ha?" They certainly did not expect to find a blue sky, a warm sun and a field of flowers that stretched as far as the eye could see.

"Are you sure.. this is the right place?" Scura expected nightmares, haunted mansions or dead evil-looking trees. Not this hayfever-ridden mess. "It has to be.." Void saw no way for them to have been diverted elsewhere already. No skill card could be that selective. "Then I guess.. Ezra has a thing for flowers." She felt relieved and let down at the same time. And also felt like sneezing. "Pfah!.. How is he doing this?" Each flower looked unique, and each part could be touched from stem to petal. "His Lance is doing this, influencing either the world.. or us." Void kept thinking back to the way the item was explained to him. 'The mind made things real'.

"Uh oh." The accuracy of their jump became clear once they saw the small oasis in the middle of the plains, an oasis filled with people. "Crescent?" Within the crowd stood a girl with a dress of many colors: the weather painter Crescent Aurora. "Void? Chiaroscura!?" She looked perplexed to find them here. "You followed me? You shouldn't have.." Perplexed and concerned. "What else were we supposed to do?" Scura said with a soft hiss. "Not this. I thank you but... you cannot change my mind. Go, before it is too late."

"It already is too late!" The mob shifted its attention to the newcomers. "You!?" Void did a double-take when he saw the one yelling at them: Alpha the First Flame. "So you have shown your face here as well?"

"And that girl as well, she is one of the heroes of pandemonium! None of you have a right to be here!" Not just Alpha, Void spotted Veyrons brother as well. Victor pointed his accusing finger at Scura. "Who me? Uhr.. I'm rather afraid you are confusing me with someone else." She stammered and pulled her hood down as far as she could. What are you even doing here?" Void in turn fired back with his own question. "Ha! I've helped Millennium long before you poked your nose in my business!" Now the pieces were coming together. "Then it was you." Void's eyes widened. "You tipped them off about our moves." The spy, essentially, turned out to have been Veyron after all. "That's right. My brother could never keep secrets from me. But I have been doing more than spying! I belong here! You don't!"

"I cannot speak for them, but do we not all have a right to be here?" Another recognizable and this time expected voice spoke up. Midsummer Nightmare, it seemed like a confrontation between him and Veyron had been the main focus until Void and Scura interrupted it. "Be quiet! You are even worse than the rest of them! Juan always told me unpredictable you were! You think we want a guy like that on our team?" Victor snapped again. "Hello Void, hello Scura. You are still on time. It seems we have to wait a little while longer. Did you come here for me and Crescent? Or did you hunger for a truly better life?" He ignored the mans outbursts and looked at the other heroes. "Can it be both?" Scura mumbled.

"Stop ignoring me, Midsummer!" Victor cursed as he raised his dueldisk. "Wait, you were dueling already?" Scura cried out. "Barely! He wasted so much time with an opening speech! It's not even his turn!" Victor had not even gotten to use any of his cards yet. "I did not come here to fight. I was merely making an observation. If you were truly a member of Millennium. Why hadn't you accepted Ezra's power yet?" Midsummer stated. If he had to wait, then Victor could not have been 'lanced' yet. "You tbhink you can question my loyalty?! I will show you!" And as Victor ranted, Alpha heavily nodded his head. "Even if we have to wait, why would we let _you _join!? You are clearly our enemies." The scarred man growled.

"Everyone gets a fair shot, Alpha!" The surprises kept coming. Ulysses and Cherry Anise were here as well, seemingly walking out from behind the palmtrees. "Cherry!?" This would be the first time Crescent saw her in forever. "Crescent! Glad you could make it girl! Sorry we didn't get to talk much before the big blowout! I just had to get outta there yaknow?" The Trickstar duelist winked at the weather duelist. "And spitfire! I knew you couldn't resist us." Ulysses gave the hooded girl a thumbs up. "Ugh, get a grip. I didn't come here for you."

"Heheh. Re-ject-ed." Cherry chuckled. "Also, who is this guy again? The hero who beat the Crown? Why do you want to join us?" She cast a curious glare in Voids direction. "I would rather ask why nobody else has joined yet. What are we waiting for?" He would not let them intimidate him. "Ezra needs to rest to prepare his powers. He will be with us shortly." Ulysses started to explain. "I thought we did not need rest anymore?" The 'hero' heard a logic hole already. "Don't be silly, Voidy. Even in here you need to take a break sometimes. You'll go mad if you don't turn your mind off for a few hours. And By the by, we wont stop this duel. But are you even a decent duelist, Victor? I forget.." Cherry Anise asked as she took out her guitar dueldisk and started fiddling with it.

Victor's LP: 8000 Midsummer's LP: 8000 -TURN 01-

"What!? .. I can duel! I watched my brother often enough! In fact I made him the duelist that he was!" Victor protested. "You did not seem so eager to duel when you were challenged by a champion." Ulysses reminded him of what he saw to days ago. "That was then, this is now. I did not have the right cards back then! Besides.. I am not dealing with a champion!" Finally, Victor got to play his cards. "I am only dealing with a hero! And you, hero, you control no monsters. So I can special summon Hack Worm from my hand!" Two of the mechanical worms(1/400/0) [Zones 3 & 5] appeared on the field, scuttling across the floor on spikes and chattering with their teeth. "And when I control exactly two machine type monsters I can activate this spell, Iron Draw! It lets me draw two cards! And that is when I activate my skill card: Suit of Cup X! If I win a coin toss, I can double the amount of cards I draw!" Victor tossed the coin in the air and made it land on heads. That counted as his victory. "Aha! I draw four cards now instead of two!"

_Suit of Cup X, Skill Card  
__Activate only when you draw cards [max 3], toss a coin:  
_● _Heads: Draw twice as many cards.  
_● _Tails: Discard all drawn cards._

"Lucky bastard." Scura muttered. "He uses coin flips instead of dice." Crescent saw the resemblance between him and his brother. "So you let the lady of fate decide your duels? But not the power of the Millennium.." Midsummer meanwhile noted that Victor still used his own skill, instead of the Legacy of Millennium.

"Hey we dont force them to use our millennium skills, everyone is free to duel however they want." Ulysses loudly stated while Victor continued his turn. "I set two of my cards face down now, and I will perform a tribute summon. Heh.. This is the Cracking Dragon!" Both Hack Worms left the field, their parts disassembled to create a bigger more monstrous machine. Cracking Dragon(8/3000/0) [Zone 3] swam through the cyberspace air with its segmented black steel body, carrying six sharp spikes and glowing green cores around its torso. "Now what are you going to do, hero?!"

-TURN 02-

"Cracking Dragon. That monster cannot be destroyed by anything with a lower level than its own. And every time I summon a monster.." Midsummer made himself a volunteer for Cracking Dragons power demonstration, as soon as he normal summoned Altergeist Marionetter(41600/1700) [Zone 5]. "That monster loses attackpoints equal to its level times 200, and I should lose lifepoints equal to its lost power." The spinning and cackling marionetter took a blast of green light from the Cracking beast and felt her(800/1700) attackpoints wane. Midsummer also got caught in the radiation zone and lost 800 lifepoints. "And you fell right for it!" Victor laughed. "Indeed. Poor foolish Midsummer." Midsummer activated the effect of the Marionetter, and looked through his deck. Of the Altergeist traps he could now set, he picked Altergeist Camouflage. "I set three cards down in the spell/trap zone. And that is where my turn ends."

Midsummer's LP: 7200

-TURN 03-

"What? Your turn is already over? You didn't even try!" Victor spat. "That doesn't 'mean you shouldn't under-estimate the guy, Wictor Victor. He's got a loooot of traps now." Cherry said as she plucked four strings of her dueldisk to tease him. "I can count. I excel at that!" He dismissed her waning and started his turn with a new machine. "So have a taste of this simple equation! One BM4 Blast Spider equals two destroyed monsters!" A tank-like spider robot(4/1400/2200) [Zone 2] and slammed its many feet on the floor. "It destroys one target on each field! And whenever one of my dark machines kills one of your monsters, Blast Spider will take half of that victims attackpoints from your lifepoints!" The missile batteries on the spiders back launched rockets in both directions: at Cracking Dragon and Altergeist Marionetter.

"So your confidence comes from numbers. But perhaps you are too confident." Before the Spider could actually use its effect however, Midsummer flipped the Altergeist camouflage trap face-up. "I equip the Altergeist Camouflage to my Altergeist monster, thereby negating a monster effect that targets it." Marionetter disappeared behind a cloak of invisibility, preventing the spider from targeting it or Cracking Dragon. The missiles veered off in every direction, blasting parts of the oasis away.. though the trees quickly regenerated.

"There will be more, Victor. When a trap card is activated I can special summon Altergeist Multifaker from my hand." Another cybernetic smiler joined the fray, Multifaker(3/1200/800) [Zone 4] the horned purple Altergeist with golden rings and a twisted mess of scissor-like talons instead of legs. "Once a turn, Multifaker may special summon one Altergeist from my deck when she is special summoned. So I introduce you to Altergeist Silquitous." The ghosts kept multiplying, with the winged cyber siren(2/800/1500) [Zone 3] being the latest to show up. Both were special summoned in defense mode of course. But each time he did so.. Cracking Dragon drained their (Multifaker: 600 atk, Silquitous: 400 atk) attackpoints and Midsummers lifepoints. He did not seem to mind. "Her power remind me of your spider, Victor. She returns one of my Altergeists to my hand, to return your monster as well." He would get rid of Cracker Dragon soon enough, in his own way.

Midsummer's LP: 6200

"Bah! I wont let you remove my dragon! I will do it myself!" Victor flipped one of his trap cards that was simply called 'Oops'. "What the?" Scura was baffled by its name and its implementation. All of the sudden Cracking Dragon selfdetonated. "Oops allows me to destroy my own card!" Silquitous missed one of its two targets, but the other one would still be sent back to the hand. Midsummer reclaimed Altergeist Marionetter. "And before anyone asks me why I would have such a useless card. There is a reason for it! Juan always told me that there were no pointless cards. One of his few good lines!" Victor chuckled loudly as he dropped his new machine on the field. "I summon Desperado Barrel Dragon! This is possible whenever a dark machine on my field is destroyed!" The desperado machine(8/2800/2200) [Zone 3] was built to be the ultimate combination between the mechanical and the dragonic. Heavy iron wings covered its metallic red body. And instead of claws and a head, it sported three revolver barrels that pointed straight at Midsummer.

"Here is game I want to play, Midsummer. Russian Roulette! Desperado Barrel Dragon uses its effect during the battle phase. I will trigger each gunbarrel by tossing a coin. And the result determines whether or not the chamber is loaded! For each heads-up coin, I can destroy one monster on the field!" Victor allowed the game to toss three coins for him, and miraculously.. all three landed on heads. "What!?" Scura cried out. "How cruel a fate." Midsummer muttered.

"Fate has nothing to do with it, hero. This game is controlled by numbers, and I control them!" Victor followed it up with another trap at the same time. "Continuous trap: Proton Blast! This card activates three effects depending on how many heads-up coins I tossed with an effect! If there is one, I inflict 500 points of damage! If I roll two, I can destroy one more card on your field. If I roll 3, I can discard one card from your hand!" All three effects would thus activate, with the first Proton Blast clipping Midsummer in the shoulder. The second Proton blast targeted Midsummer's middle trap card: and the third destroyed the Altergeist Kunquery in Midsummer's hand. And Desperado Barrel Dragon meanwhile fired at both Altergeists on the field.

Midsummer's LP: 5700

"But the number also go against you." Midsummer flipped his trap before it could be destroyed. Personal Spoofing: each turn it would shuffle one Altergeist on the field into the deck, to retrieve a different Altergeist from that deck. "I return Altergeist Silquitous and add another Altergeist Multifaker to my hand." One Altergeist dodged the bullet hail. "Does he have to destroy his own monsters now?" Scura hoped. "No. Desperado Barrel Dragon can also destroy less than the amount of successful coin tosses." Crescent shook her head. The first Altergeist Multifaker still perished by herself. And her death made BM4 the Blast Spider fire a laser shot, to inflict damage equal to half the destroyed Multifaker's attackpoints.

Midsummer's LP: 5100

"I know your tricks, hero! Nothing can surprise me anymore! Blaster Spider, direct attack!" His Barrel Dragon could not declare an attack if it used its special power, so that left the task of battle damage to the robotic spider BM4. It unleashed another salvo of missiles upon the Altergeist master, which exploded the ground around him.

Midsummer's LP: 3700

"Kghh.. Certainly, numbers dictate who wins and who loses." The duelist waved his hand in front of his head to clear the smoke of all the explosions. "But one cannot go their entire life relying on statistics and rules. And I believe you don't either." Behind his mask two eyes stared intently at the gambling duelist. "I have no idea what you are talking about." Victor blew him off and ended his turn. "Yet I imagine you do. You know the numbers well enough to make your own fortune. You walked away with thousands after every duel your brother made in your name. Which is why it surprises me that you would want to become a part of this future without monetary value. What is in this for you?"

"You do not have to answer that. He is not one of us yet." Ulysses interrupted Victor before he could say anything. "But neither am I." Victor winced. "You know why that is." The silverfaced duelist retorted. "Is it because he cannot yet let go of the physical realm?" And Midsummer made his own guess. "Quiet! Just keep dueling you!"

-TURN 04-

"Very well. I activate Imperial Order." He calmly flipped his trap card face-up. "All spells from here on in are negated. And since I activated a trap.." The second Altergeist Multifaker(3/1200/800) [Zone 5] could be special summoned once more. And her effect this time special summoned the Altergeist Meluseek(1/500/300) [Zone 4] from the deck. "And Marionetter makes her return as well." His Altergeists laughed as they were joined by the marionette cyberwitch(4/1600/1700) [Zone 2]. This time she used her powers to set an Altergeist Manifestation trap card on the field. "Altergeist Marionetter's second effect will show its influence as well. If I sacrifice one Altergeist, I may bring back another from the graveyard." The strings were cut for the mermaid Meluseek, and her death fueled the re-summoning of the first Altergeist Multifaker [Zone 3]. This made the geists very happy, as Meluseek's own effect would reclaim one of their lost members upon her leaving the field. And Midsummer used it to add Altergeist Kunquery back to his hand.

"You duel well with what you have. But how does it compare to the current realm of duel monsters? I shall use the Altergeists Meluseek and Multifaker as the materials for Altergeist Hextia!" Darkness and water poured into the linking portal, two monsters for a creature made of bronze and fire. First came its six arms, then its snake-like body with a burning scorpions stinger. Finally the faceless horned smile of Hextia(1500/LINK 2) {Down/Right} [Extra Zone 1] emerged from the extra deck and unleashed a haunting wail like a banshee. "My link monster, Hextia, gains the attackpoints of the Altergeists she points towards. Right now that means she has the power of Marionetter by her side." Midsummer clapped his hands twice and set off the battle phase with his extra charged Altergeist Hextia(3100 atk).

"My Barrel Dragon may not be a fancy extra deck card. But I don't need things like that! Not when Desperado can set off his power during your turn as well!" Victor triggered the barrels of the dragon machine once more. "Uh..what?" But the cylinders spun too fast and overheated, causing the Desperado to selfdestruct. "What did you do?"

"Oh but confidence does blind us all. My Hextia can negate any effect by sacrificing one monster she points towards." Midsummer thought he made that clear, when Altergeist Marionetter suddenly left the field and left Hextia(1500 atk) weaker than before. "Ugh! But I can still use his other effect, its not part of the first!" The death of Desperado triggered a separate power that searched the deck for any level 7 or lower monster with a cointoss effect. "I add Twin Barrel Dragon to my hand! See, I knew you would use that power! But now you're left with just a 1500 attack point monster!" He shouted defiantly. "There is always room for more.." Midsummer flipped his trap card: Altergeist Manifestation. "What now!?" The trap special summoned one lost Altergeist: Altergeist Marionetter [Zone 2]. "Hextia and Marionetter have re-linked. So one will destroy BM-4 and the other will attack its master." The Marionette Altergeist blasted the Blaster Spider, overpowering its weapons with cyber-magic. Hextia herself saved a blast of intense fire for Victor, and made it crash down. "Graahhh!"

Victor's LP: 4700

"This is not over yet. I did not come this far to be beaten down by some miserable clown like you!" Victor seethed while his body twitched from the pain. "Why did you come this far then? Is it because you have nowhere else to go?" Before the end of the turn, Midsummer could banish Altergeist Manifestation from his graveyard. Doing so allowed him to take Altergeist Camouflage back from the graveyard.

"Hey now, if he gets to ask that then you should answer the question too. Its only fair." Cherry chimed in, and turned attention back to the nightmare duelist. "I am simply here to satisfy my own curiosity. I have always known there is more to STHEREA than simple data and executables." He stated as he glanced at his opponent. "Nonsense, this just a game!" Victor insisted. "That is what the Crown believed. But he was a fool who did not know what he had found. Ezra, is clearly no fool." He placed two trap cards down and passed the turn to Victor. "Flattery will get you nothing, Midsummer Nightmare." The Trickstar duelist smirked.

"But it is the truth. I am no fool."

"Ezra!?" Everyone gasped as the wielder of the lancer spoke to the crowd. "Where is he?" Scura immediately scurried behind Voids back. "No idea." Void could not see him, Crescent could not find him. Only his voice reached out to the duelists. "Victor Colombo. I know where your power stems from. You have manipulated the outcomes of your coin toss effects." And it reached down to Victor in particular.

"I knew it! Awp.." Scura yelled before quickly hiding once more.

"I did not cheat!" The gambler meekly challenged the accusation. He was afraid. "No. You simply monitor the randomization algorithms and strike at the proper time. But it is an advantage that you do not need." A bolt of lightning lit up the sky and caused one thing to change. "Where did these come from?" Victor felt three golden coins in the palm of his hand. "You need to let go of your artificial crutches and jump into the new world free of programming. Only then can you use Millennium's power." The gambler would have to toss a coin with his own hand.

-TURN 05-

"Fine!" Victor drew his next card. "I summon Twin Barrel Dragon! And destroy Altergeist Hextia!" A smaller wingless dragon machine(4/1700/200) [Zone 3] galloped into the battlefield, aiming at the link Altergeist with its dual barrel head. "So he has to get two heads with his own hand now?" Scura did not know if he could pull it off. But Midsummer could not chance it either, by the time he could see the outcome of the toss.. the effect would have already resolved. "Hextia negates that activation." He sacrificed Altergeist Marionetter so that the six-armed geist could burn the Twin Barrel shooter down into a pile of slag metal. "Heh! Good! Since you destroyed my monster I can special summon Desperado Barrel Dragon from my hand!" Only to find out that Victor already had a second copy of his ultimate Barrel shooter(8/2800/2200) [Zone 3] in his hand. "That was my own luck!" He entered the battle phase. "And so will this be! Just watch me, Ezra!" The test started here. He took the golden coins and threw them up. They spun around and...

Landed on heads: all three of them. "What!?" They could not believe it. "Ahahahaha!" Not even Victor thought it had really happened. Yet his Desperado monster proved that it did. Three shots were fired, along with three Proton blasts from his continuous trap. Altergeist Hextia, the face-down Altergeist Camouflage and the Altergeist Kunquery in Midsummer's hands all were shot to pieces. The final proton blasts also charged through Midsummer himself to inflict 500 points of damage. "So fortune truly does favor you." He winced. The damage began to take its toll on his avatar.

Midsummer's LP: 3200

"And so it is proven. Your future is just, and you can become part of ours." Ezra emerged again, in sound and in the flesh. "This duel serves no further purpose.." He dispelled the monsters on both sides with a simple gesture of his bony hands.

"What the.. can he do that?" Scura cried out. It appeared that he could, neither Midsummer nor Victor could activate any more cards. "What is the big idea?!" Alpha fiercely disagreed with this outcome. "I had him!" The gambler also felt robbed of a victory. "This fight was never about winning or losing." Only Midsummer seemed to understand why Ezra had broken it off. "Yes. I only allowed this altercation to see into your minds. A duelists heart is at full display in the heat of battle. And now I know that the man from Midsummer means us no harm." The lancer pierced the grass field with his legacy item and spun around. "That leaves three more heavy hearts to weigh. Crescent Aurora, Chiaroscura2, Void." His eyes burned into their souls. "Tell me... what you want from Millennium."

"They only came to help me. They did not mean any harm." Crescent was quick to speak up for her friends, as Ezra and other members of Millennium loomed over them. "Is that all? Are you sure there is not another reason?" The skullfaced man took a particular interest in Void. "What are you implying?" He would have to do better if he wanted to intimidate the duelist. "I can sense another motive, buried deep down. And I can sense animosity." The lancer's eyes drifted towards Scura as well.

"Well.. you didn't really make a good first impression. First you use me as a lure. Then one of your guys fried one of ours! Twice!" She managed to muster the courage to stand up to them, briefly. "Hey now I really wanted you into the fold!" Ulysses the silverfaced duelist felt offended.

"Then you are talking about our initial encounter. For that I apologize. We were not sure yet if you were going to be our allies or enemies. Because we already knew your master would seek to take this..From us ." Ezra raised his lance and held it horizontally in front of him. "The lance." Midsummer Nightmare approached it with great care. "Then you now realize, that we wish to be free of him. Some of us do, at least." It was clear what he wanted. "Yes. I can break what ties you to him. Just.. like this." Without warning Ezra stabbed the lance in the neck of Midsummer. "!?" He did not feel a thing, other than a slight sense of floatiness.

"!? Midsummer!? Are you.." When Crescent and the others recovered from the shock, they noticed how calm he looked. "It was always that easy.." He let out a long deep sigh. "This is perfect. My body is.. my own." There were no words to adequately describe his new experience.

"Now you are part of us, part of Millennium." Next the lancer focused on the several dozens surrounding him, excluding Void, Scura and Crescent. "All your desires are clear as day, all your wants will be fulfilled!" In one instant he pierced all their avatars with the Lance of World Legacy, bringing them the same peace of mind that Midsummer received. "Welcome to paradise!"

(To Be Continued in Line 064: Where Everyone is Happy)

**Cards used by Midsummer Nightmare  
**Altergeist Multifaker

-  
Altergeist Hextia

-  
Personal Spoofing  
Imperial Order

**Cards used by Victor Colombo  
**_SUIT OF CUP X_

-  
Hack Worm  
Cracking Dragon  
BM4 Blast Spider  
Desperado Barrel Dragon  
Twin Barrel Dragon

-  
Iron Draw  
Magnet Reverse

-  
Proton Blast  
Oops!


	64. Where Everyone is Happy

**Line 064: Where Everyone is Happy**

It came to this. "Don't touch anything. Don't even think about touching anything!" The great Vigionair had to bring people from the company itself into his private lair. "You better do as he says." Already he felt uncomfortable with the size of his current guestlist, which included the already adjusted Neo. The lord of this lair would have been okay with a few more duelists, maybe even an admin if it ever became absolutely necessary. "Asterisk, keep an eye on her.. I'd bet proper money on Hansen sending her here to steal all my secrets!" But this woman he looked at right now, Therese Hansen, had only one degree of seperation between her and CTO.

"You can trust me, sir V. I am not here to act on behalf of him." It could have been worse. Hansen only wanted to continue cooperating if at least one of his employers made contact with the mysterious employer. The fact that Arcis/Therese also worked for Exeter nicely filled in that little loophole. "He must have also sent you here to make sure you were in a safe place when he continued our planning. In a way he does care for you." The agent himself concluded. "I very much doubt that. But this would not be a problem if we could bring you and your skills to a neutral zone. There are plenty of locations within the network that I know off, that Millennium wont be able to strike." She said as she inspected the cipher hive with her own eyes.

"No thank you. The only place I trust is this one right here." Vigionair stayed put in his chair with his arms folded. "You're telling me. I don't think I've ever seen you leave this place... Does he even go offline?" Neo carefully asked Asterisk. "His sleeping schedule is.. creative." The agent put it mildly. "That explains a lot." The cyber duelist mumbled.

"Bah! make fun of me all you want. The results will make you thank me for my schedule!" V went right to work as he switched on recordings for them to stare at. "Is that what Void is seeing right now?" Arcis was not sure if she was supposed to see nothing but psychedelically glitched visuals. "That is the visual feedback I am getting, I can barely get audio as well. There seems to be heavy protection around him which I cannot scan. They might not even be in the out of bounds area, but further away." At the very least his machines could still connect to Void, so his avatar still existed somewhere on the network. "Is that even possible? How big is STHEREA?" Neo had always wondered. "This game is just a small part of it. Exeter has been using all of this 'cyberspace' for a multitude of projects." Arcis explained, calling back to her earlier mention of unknown neutral zones.

"Well, wherever they are, we should still prepare for the plan." Asterisk nodded. "Yes yes yes, if Void can pull off his end of it. But before you start, you should probably learn a few names that I picked up on the audio logs." Vigionair half-grinned. "Veyron in particular might want to know who has joined this cult."

...

"AHAHAHA! This is terrific! Juan will never be able to lord over me again!" Victor laughed out loud as he basked in his new freedom. He, Midsummer and everyone else in the new Millennium received the power of the Lance. They became disconnected from the physical world, and could stay within the network for as long as they wanted. "Finally.." Alpha also accepted this new status, albeit with a more resigned expression. Unlike the others, he did not feel very different yet.

"Hey, are you people _sure_ this is not a cult?" Scura said with a shudder. The fact that none of these people needed to be tested, like Midsummer and Victor, made her wonder if the lancer was taking advantage of simple minded people. And whatever they saw or felt, she could not register any of it. "There are no strings attached, spitfire. The network will store your body as energy, keeping it safe if you ever want to return to real life. For now that may be necessary for some. Though we do intend to make this world our home, we just are not ready for it yet." Ulysses started to explain.

"Do not bother, they have no intention of joining our new world.." Meanwhile Alpha's anger returned. "Alpha. When did you get here?" Void asked, since he did not get around to him earlier. "When I had nowhere else to go, Void. Millennium already approached me before the tournament started. I brushed them off then, but after the semifinals they gave me a place to hide, to avoid the admins who wanted to silence me. They at least know who the real enemy is, unlike the rest of this dulled blind world. Do you?" He pointed a finger at Void. "I saw you win the finals. How does it feel? Does it make you feel great? Does it make you feel just!? I doubt it. Not once Hansen had his way with you." He balled his hand into a fist. "Forget about that Mister Static nonsense, forget about the Crown... _He_ and his company are the real monster. And I know you have been talking with him. So why should we trust you? What are you really here for? You can tell us, or we can duel you just like we dueled Midsummer!"

"We already told you why we're here!" Scura hissed at him. "Oh so you came for her? Then why is _she_ here?"

"I can answer that one." Unexpectedly, Cherry joined the conversation. "It's Wagnerok. Those two have been like peas in a pod." She could tell that much just from the short time they spent together in the arena "Wagnerok?" Alpha looked at her incredulously. "It's true. Wagner I... I thought Millennium could help him. Because you were helped too." Crescent did not try to hide her motives, she did not want too.

"Cherry was fortunate, we had already given her our blessing before she joined us." Ezra spoke up again, lowering the lance. "And was it a coincidence that she joined us?" Void quickly asked. "This guy is full of questions isn't he? Doesn't that get tiring, Voidy?" Cherry just giggled in his face. "You saw how many of us there are, we were bound to have one member in whatever random assortment that Mister Static put together. Especially when I satisfy his one criteria.." She started strumming her guitar. "I love this world far more than the one I left behind. You're gonna love it too. You barely feel a thing, its like waking up while you already awake. And this paradise will really come to life!"

"...But then where are they? Do people just live here? Are you all just cyber hippies or something?" As fun as it sounded to live forever, Scura could think of better places to spend her time in than an infinite field of flowers. "Hippies?" A few of the new Millennium members took offense to that. "We're more than that! We can be whatever we want!" One of them started transforming halfway into a dragon and spread his wings to fly away into the sky. Others disappeared in random pyramids of sand or houses that sprouted from the ground like trees. They were fast learners. "Whaahahat?" Scura could not keep up with it at all. "This is our home: imagination itself. They can live wherever we want, however we want. But only those that have joined us can experience it all. My power hides them from outsiders. Though there is one part of this world that I can show you. Or rather a part that wishes to be seen by everyone." Ezra appeared to twist the fabric of space and time itself and revealed a mighty golden castle on the horizon.

"Gahh!" Scura hissed. The sun reflected of every wall, making it painful to look at.

"Yoohoo guys! Check me out!" On top of a tower sat a young girl dressed like a princess, waving at the visitors with a flag. "Lorelei?" That at least cleared up the matter of her presence. "Ayup. She's been with us all this time. She's enjoying her castle and her servants." Cherry gave her a quick wave back just as she got escorted away a royal knight. "Servants? You can even make those here?" More and more Scura felt like she was losing her mind. "You can do it too, if you undergo the procedure. But that is up to you." The trickstar duelist gave Ezra a meaningful look. "I don't know about these other two, but I don't think Aurora is lying. We don't need to duel her." Whether or not the wielder of the lance took her words into consideration could not be ascertained. His red-hot eyes disappeared in the shadows of his hood.

But, after a long contemplative silence, Ezra uttered his response. "No, we do not. Her motivations are pure. Yet to raise your lost friend, we will need to go back to where he fell." That could only be one place. "The zone? The..dark city of pandemonium." Crescent remembered it like it happened moments ago. Just beyond the maze of the palabyrinth was where Wagnerok fell to the Crusadia of the Crown.

"All the way over there? That is quite the detour, Ezra." Cherry quickly warned her companion. "It is not worth it! You will just be bringing another enemy into the fold." Alpha went a step further and tried to intimidate the trio. "One voice does not decide the will of Millennium, Alpha." Ezra accepted the former but turned a stern eye towards the latter. Even now Alpha still saw Ezra as the nightmarish undead duelist. "She came to us because we can do what others cannot. And Millennium will always live up to its promises. That is how we differ from those that see us as enemies." He looked at Crescent again and a chuckle escaped his expressionless face. "I will do what you ask. I can extend my protection to outsiders as well, they will not see us if we go together." The weather girl was too stunned to say anything back.

It sounded too good to be true. "What do you want in return?" Especially to Void.

"That is a topic for another time... Ulysses. Keep watch over Paradise and our new members. I have a pledge to fulfill." Ezra spoke to his companion with a heavy resonance. He meant what he said. "Ah. Excellent. Will you be taking the weather girl here? But what about our other guests? You want to stick around for the fun, lady Scura?" The conductor would not mind that at all. "Yeeeeaaah... I am staying with her." Scura sneered.

"You are seriously going to listen to them without a challenge?! They are just trying to find an opening to run away!" Alpha cursed. "We will not run. If Ezra can do what he says he can, then.. I can perhaps help him too." Void suddenly declared, surprising Crescent. "Void? What do you mean?" Of course, she had not been told of the plan with Hansen yet. But under these circumstances he saw an opening. "Interesting. It is decided then. Alpha, think of what matters most to you. Anger will not lead us to a better future." The lance wielder humbled the Salamangreat duelist into silence.

"What about you, Midsummer?" As anxious as she was about leaving to find Wagner, Crescent could not help also worrying about their former and now re-baptized friend. "I bid you good fortune on your quest to find the Valkyrian. And I will gladly welcome him back to the folds. But I have new realms to explore along with new possibilities." The masked duelist just chuckled to himself and vanished without leaving a trace of himself. "Well he's getting his jollies. Let's just go already." Scura could not wait to get back to where the network made sense again. "Yes. We shall leave and return with one more soul. Let us depart." Ezra took them under his 'wings' as he performed a quick jump with all three of them. "!" A flash of lightning replaced the flowers with the decaying wastelands and black thorn pits that surrounded the dark city.

...

"You sure don't waste time." Void grunted. Leaving millennium space felt just as disorienting as entering it. Perhaps this was the consequence of going back and forth from a game world to whatever reality the lance had crafted? "Time is something they follow, which makes us have to walk at their pace... for now." Ezra stood in front of the only opening of the maze. "Not this again" Scura said with a sigh. It already took them forever to get through the last time. "There will be many enemies in our way." Crescent placed her hand on her dueldisk. "There will be none" But the lancer instead pointed his weapon at the sky. "Prospero! Clear the path!" His lance absorbed the thunder, which faced them with a twisted smile. "If you say so, Ezra." Prospero blasted into the opening and started tearing up every ADI and trap along the way.

"Wha.. How can he do that? What is his deal?" Scura muttered. "As a child, Prospero has always been affraid of the storm. I helped him conquer his fears." Ezra told them with a hint of pride in his hollow voice. "Now he has taken a form that brings him closer to the network and to pure energy. It has its effects on other programs." Ezra then led them through the labyrinth, somehow instinctively knowing the quickest shortest route. "..." Crescent followed him without a second thought. "Scura, you dont have to do this." Void and the veiled duelist delayed for a few seconds themselves. Since they were back in the actual game world, she could leave again and nobody would blame her for it. "Heh. I came this far. I don't want to chicken out now." She clenched her hands and steeled herself. "Besides, I kinda want to see what crazy *&$( he is gonna do next."

"I couldn't have said it better myself." Void gave it a mystified sigh. Just how far down did this rabbithole go?

The Prospero guarantee proved to be perfectly reliable. The three duelists could safely travel all the way to the area beyond the maze in no time at all. On the other side, the city itself suffered a massive lightning storm at the hands of Prospero. "Ezra! Were you planning, to tell me, why we are wasting, our time with, this?" Prospero let out a few bursts of annoyance as he struck down more duel monsters in the vicinity. "Hey can I ask a question too? How do you take a nap? Are you like _always_ on?" No way Scura would take a form like that if she ever planned on joining. "Ezra, has told you, the story, hasn't he? Will you ever, stop with that? Why, would I not, be the thunder? Why would I not, want to feel energy, throughout my being, at, all, times!" Perhaps he was laughing. They could really hear with all the sound and turmoil

"You don't have to change how you look. Some of us prefer to be different, but the human form is fine as well."

"Huh? Who said that?" Scura did a double-take when she heard another womans voice. "Down here." A voice coming from a tiny specter floating just to her right. "YAAAH!" The veiled girl swatted at the air. "Ohwhoawhoa. Yeah I am sorry, very sorry!" The pixie put some distance between herself and the terrified Scura. "Another one?" Void flinched. "What are you? A talking gnat?" Scura could not even see what this person looked like. "A human, yeah. Just the same as you. I have a name as well, Melyria Cister." Melyria had a powerful voice for someone of her stature. "But how.."

"How can I be this small, hm? Well you have to ask yourself first, why am you that big? Because that is an appropriate size for a human to be? Eheh, because you need to have the right height to interact with this world? Those are just proportions limiting your imagination." She buzzed from one side to the other, slowly becoming brighter and brighter. "Once I freed myself, this is what I wanted to be like. Yeah.. to see the world in all of its details. People do not respect the tiny things enough, but I do. Hmm. I suppose though, for the sake of holding a proper conversation, I will need to raise myself up to your levels. Hmmhm."

Melyria, as she called herself, now stood before them with a regular sized body. Or hovered, rather. "Huh, you look almost normal.. well I mean, compared to mister thunderdome and old train for brains." Scura said, looking at this girl wearing a bareback yellow dress, ribboned stockings and a mesh shirt. "I will take that as a compliment, haha." The girl plucked a petal from the flower-headband that adorned her honeyblonde hair. "But it's all a matter of what the mind sees. That is what Ezra taught me." The flower instantly regenerated its lost petals.

"Riiight. So.. if I wanted to be as big as a mountain, I could be?" The veiled girl asked and Melyria simply nodded her head up and down. "Huh. Nobody would ever scare me again. Eheheh. Sounds awesome, doesn't it, Crescent?" She poked the other girl in the side. "I..would rather stay myself. That is difficult enough already." Crescent responded wearily. ".." Void could agree with that sentiment, because if everyone could be different, what made it special? "So you can bring Wagner back? How?"

"To explain that, we will need to go back a bit by saying that Ezra and I have gone back a long time. Very long. There is no one he trusts more than me." She smiled at her silent partner in the distance. "He will have to concentrate on maintaining our cover now. That just leaves me. But you are in luck. The power of legacy item is something we share whenever we duel. I am always at his side even when he cannot see me." Melyria hopped back one step and hovered a few inches above the twisted rocks of the dark city. "We can feel the remnants of other legacy items as well, and the damage they inflicted. Your friend was destroyed on this very spot, wasn't he?" She sensed it. "Yes." Aurora did not have her kind of powers, but she did memorize every detail of the scene like a photographer. "Indeed. Prospero. You know what to do next." She gave a direct order to the lord of thunder. Promptly he dispersed his body across pandemonium to impact on a hundred spots at once.

"Kay. What is he doing?" The weather duelist watched the process apprehensively. "He is relocating the scattered parts of 'Wagner'. You are in luck that the amount of damage prevented Exeter from simply resetting his avatar. Otherwise we would have had to create a new body for him as well.."

"You are going to rebuild him?" Void would not have believed it if he did not see it with his own eyes right now. One by one, fragments came together to craft a familiar shape. "He's.. there!" And eventually, Wagnerok looked like Wagnerok again. "How did you..Thank you!" Crescent was besides herself with joy. "I.. did nothing. It was a mere assembly of a simple digital construct." Prospero reconstituted himself into a single being of lightning as well, and seemed rather unsure of how to handle her praise.

"It is too soon, Crescent Aurora. You and him are not together yet." Ezra snapped her back to a colder harsher reality. "Wagner?" The body that stared at her, did so with empty eyes. "What is wrong with him?" Nothing living came through this pale shell. "We only finished step one, giving your friend his old body back. Step two involves locating his mind. And to do that, we need to recreate the situation that took him out in the first place.. We need to make him remember who he was and what he can do, yeah." Melyria cracked her knuckles and summoned her deck of cards. "Oh Wagner. It is time to... duel!"

Melyria's LP: 8000 Wagner's LP: 8000 -TURN 01-

"A duel? Figured it would come down to that again." Void and the others walked back a bit. "Duel." The avatar of Wagnerok reacted to the challenge, as any normal ADI would. "Accepted." It drew four cards and a skill card. "He sounds so sad.." Crescent shook her head. She heard a man trapped in deep dark prison. "When we are through, he will not need to feel sadness ever again." Ezra declared while his partner took the first turn. "But for now, pain is good. Pain makes him human, it's something all of us have to feel at least once..."

"I summon Battlewasp Sting the Poison!" A slightly metallic and one-eyed orange bee(2/400/800) [Zone 3] dropped down from the dark clouds. "Wasps?" Void winced. "You dont like them?" Scura grinned. She thought wasps were pretty neat. "Been stung once too often." He confessed. "A good thing we may never need to fight then. For now all you need to know is that Sting can add another Battlewasp to my hand if I normal or special summon him. And I did, so I add Battlewasp Pin the Bullseye to my hand. And that is a monster I can special summon when I already have a Battlewasp on my field." Naturally, she placed the tinier yellow bee(1/200/300) [Zone 4] on the field in defense position. A pronounced needle protruded from its large round head. "Pin the Bullseye can inflict 200 points of damage for each one on the field. So I wonder how your friend will feel if I just sting you once.." The Bullseye bee pinned Wagner directly with a shot of its needle nose.

Wagner's LP: 7800

The avatar stayed intact and took the damage unflinchingly. "Wagner?" It did not react at all. "he is more lost than I thougth."

"Lost? What does that mean? What others?" Crescent wanted this to start making sense soon, she could not stand to watch the duel like this. "As Ezra said, the Crown wielded a power greater than the programmed limits of the game and the avatars within, hm. And breaking those limits can have drastic consequences if one is not prepared for them. Every time he destroyed an avatar, he separated the human mind from the vessel and gave them nowhere to go towards. Nowhere. Some might find their way back eventually, as they can cling to a part of what was once theirs. Wagner had nothing to hold on to.." She placed one trap card down and ended the turn. "He.. He is not with us, he will have to find his way back."

-TURN 02-

It indeed seemed like the duelist she currently faced was more machine than man. It moved through every action like an ADI, drawing his card and stating all of his moves with a flat tone of voice. "I summon Valkyrie Dritte." Only his cards, like the redhaired Valkyrie warrior(4/1000/1600) reminded them of the old Wagnerok.

"Hmhm! Then I shall activate the effect of Battlewasp Sting. The second one, which tributes another insect to negate a monsters effect, yeah!" The cycloptic bee liquefied the body of Battlewasp Bullseye and absorbed it into its abdomen container. "So I negate the effect of Valkyrie Dritte!" Sting 'stung' the warrior lady with its new poison and made her freeze up. She could not use her power now to retrieve a Valkyrie card from the deck. "...Valkyrie Dritte attacks Battlewasp Sting the Poison." Attacks were all Wagner had left. "Haha! Then I activate Battlewasp Nest! This trap ends the battle phase when a Battlewasp is attacked. And then it summons another Battlewasp from my deck." Melyria placed a giant beehive above her head, and sounded the alarms of buzzing bees. "Ugh.." Void shuddered again as the swarm released a second Poison Sting Battlewasp(2/400/800) [Zone 4] to the field in face-up defense mode. This also meant Melyria could activate its effect. "I add Battlewasp Twinbow the Attacker to my hand!" And at the same time Valkyrie Dritte's attack halted.

"Geez. That is annoying." Bees were becoming less cool for Scura. "There is a drawback. Each time I negate an attack, I have to place a counter on the nest. And it will be destroyed if it has two counters during an endphase." One facet of the honeycomb hive grid closed up,leaving only one more exit. "So. So do not worry. I am taking this slowly. This process takes time, yeah." Wagner still said nothing more than the necessary minimum of words. He placed a trap card down and ended his turn. "Time we do not have in abundance." Ezra intoned. "But we have to save him!" Crescent pleaded. She did not care how long it would take. "And we will. We are millennium. We can do anything we want.. anything you want."

(To Be Continued in Line 065: I Think, therefor I Survive)

**Cards used by Melyria Cister  
**Battlewasp - Sting the Poison  
Battlewasp - Pin the Bullseye

-  
Battlewasp Nest


	65. I Think, Therefor I Survive

**Line 065: I Think, Therefor I Survive**

"HYDRA! YOU WORTHLESS PIECE OF SLAG! GET OF YOUR CHAIR AND HELP US ALREADY!" Bionis let out a cry of anger. "Guess he must really not be here." He concluded at the end of his tirade. "I guess not." Donna muttered. She had yet to see this invisible duelist for herself. Only she, Bionis, Neo, Zettai were at the arena beyond right now. But the place no longer felt safe. "I dont think Himiko is gonna show either." Neo sighed. They were planning to relocate to the Elemental Palace. Blanche, Sundown and Veyron were already waiting for them there at various intervals. "Well thats her loss." Bionis grunted. They could wait forever because of their timelimits and also because some of them were beginning to get tired.

"Hey Zettai. What's got you down?" Before they could go though, Donna noticed that Zettai showed no signs of wanting to leave. In fact she had barely heard her say a single word since the tournament. "She's kinda in a slump. No sense to drag her along. Someone staying behind is good in any case." Bionis said softly, to avoid being heard. "I see. Hey Zettai! Dont be down on yourself! Losing is all part of the game! How long have you even been up? Get some rest!" The wrestler growled to encourage the ace duelist. ".." Zettai did not even try to react. "Hmph. Well, she will get over it." Donna shrugged her shoulders.

"Still.. I wonder." She started thinking about other matters. "Giganoto never met anyone from Millennium. How did they get their card in his dueldisk?" She got _why_ they did it now, to mass introduce the skill card. But she did not get _how_. "If they can break the rules of the game, maybe they can literally hide a card inside a deck without going through the usual interactions?" Neo had an idea. "Like a reverse pickpocket? How would they pull that off? You would have to be invisible.. or as tiny as a fly to get away with that!" Bionis reasoned Hydra could not and would not have done this. And he had yet to see a person who could control their size like that...

...

Wagner's LP: 7800 Melyria's LP: 8000 -TURN 03-

The duel between Melyria and Wagnerok proved to be cumbersome to watch for various reasons, Wagner's zombie-like state being the primary one. Yet watching was all Void, Crescent and Scura could do... while the size-changing mistress of Millennium summoned more and more of her wasps to the field. "My turn again, Wagnerok Wagner." She already controlled two Poison Sting Battlewasps(2/400/800) [Zones 3 & 4]. And during her main phase she also special summoned a red-striped dual-stinger hornet(3/1000/500) [Zone 2]. "Battlewasp Twinbow the Attacker can always be special summoned from the hand, but I cannot summon anything from the extra deck for the rest of the turn.. Besides insect monsters, yeah. So let's do that right now, with a method that might not be very familiar to you. You, Wagnerok." Melyria took her middle Poison wasp off the field, turning it into two free floating stars. "It's a tuner?" Scura winced. Sting the Poison synchronized with Twinbow the Attacker. "Synchro summon! Battlewasp Azusa the Ghost Bow!"

Their trip into the extra deck left them with a stronger humanoid form. Azusa(5/2200/1600) [Extra Zone 2] appeared as a female bee-faced archer in a red and white armor dress. "I can also still normal summon, but you should already know that, hmm." She said before she placed down a purple and yellow-striped bee(4/1800/800) [Zone 2] with a crossbow-like stinger. "Battlewasp Arbalest the Rapidfire brings back one of the Battlewasps from my graveyard. Do you want to guess which one? Eh?" She gave Wagner a few seconds, which he did not use. "Anyone could have. Its Sting the Poison of course." Melyria yawned and special summoned the tuner wasp [Zone 3] in the graveyard back to the field. Just like the last two times, the summoned poison wasp searched the deck for a new Battlewasp to add to its users hand. "I take another Bullseye Battlewasp from my deck, yeah. I also summon it, and use its effect!" Since she already controlled Battlewasps, she could special summon the newly claimed Battlewasp Pin the Bullseye(1/200/400) [Zone 1] and 'sting' Wagnerok with a tiny shot of 200 damage.

Wagner's LP: 7600

"Ah but did you know this? Whenever a Battlewasp inflicts effect damage. The Ghostbow can inflict damage as well, equal to that wasps attackpoints! Equal to 200!" Azusa placed a small arrow on her bow and took aim at the enemy, as Bullseye only possessed 200 attackpoints. Nevertheless, that duelist seemed to reel slightly as he took a minor blow for the third time this duel. "Wagner?" Crescent thought she saw an expression on his face, but it lasted for only an instant. "I believe it is time to take the gloves off, Melyria." Prospero stated as he noted the lack of progress. Right now he saw no duel monsters to impede the duel, but he did not know when the next wave would be spawned by Pandemonium.

Wagner's LP: 7400

"I wanted to avoid it, hm. But very well, very well. I Synchro summon! Halberd the Charge! And as the tuner I will use Azusa the Ghost Bow!" Clearing the extra monster zone for a new synchro monster did not have to be very complicated, not when the current synchro monster already treated herself as a tuner. Azusa and the Bullseye wasp only jumped up one level, but their outer form changed drastically. A bloodred-winged wasp warrior(6/2500/800) [Extra Zone 2] came out of the extra deck and pointed at the opponent with its double-edged halberd. "Now we can fight, Wagnerok Wagner! Arbalest! Direct attack!" Her next strongest bee fired a stinger bolt from its abdomen, and came precariously close to striking the Valkyrie Dritte(4/1000/1600) [Zone 1].

"I.. activate Loge's Flame!" But the duelist did not plan on taking every blow. "I control.. a Valkyrie. So monsters with 2000 attackpoints or less cannot attack." A wall of blue flames raised up around the valkyrian duelist and incinerated the crossbolt to ashes. "Fight or flight. Of course. You must know the the burden of being alive and the fear of pain. But you are no better than a common worm in that regard. A worm."

"When Halberd inflicts battle damage, my opponent takes 200 points of damage for each Battlewasp I control! All!" The synchro battlewasp buzzed through the air and impaled Wagner's monster: Valkyrie Dritte(4/1000/1600) [Zone 1]. "Ugh!" First the valkyrie duelist took the damage that Dritte failed to absorb during her death. Then he suffered a hit from each wasp on the field; Halberd, the two Stings and Arbalest the Rapidfire. "Wh.." Again he regressed to his stoic stance after a few agonized twitches. "Without your Valkyrie, the flame of Loge cannot protect you. Can not!" The waspwoman waved her hand in front of her and opened a portal to the graveyard. "When a monster is destroyed by a Battlewasp's attack, I can special summon Azusa the Ghost Bow from the graveyard!" On fluttering wings, the white wasp archer[Zone 4] flew back to the land of the living. Though she could only be special summoned in defense mode, and the two Battlewasp tuners were also still in defense mode. "That was another turn, which I now end. I think you and I are beginning to see each other. Hmhm."

Wagner's LP: 5100 -TURN 04-

"Know? Do I know? I.." Wagner started to blink, to adjust to what he actually saw with his own eyes.

"Wagner! It's me. Don't you know me?" Crescent tried to take a step forward. Only to have Wagner recoil in fear. "I.. here." He took in his surroundings and flinched. "I must destroy you." Whatever memory came back to him, drove him to act with more intensity: his draws and his moves became faster. "I activate The Goddess Urd's Verdict." He even started using spells, a continuous one that gave form to the prophet goddess of the past: Urd. "I see. Now I cannot target his Valkyries with effects. You are re-learning what you forgot." The short-haired blonde goddess in a pink dress belonged to a sisterhood of two more cards. By herself she could only defend Wagner's warrior angels from the poison of Melyria's wasps.

"Those moves... You did it Wagner! But look out, you still cannot attack as long as she has her Battlewasp Nest." Aurora started to fall back in her old pattern of giving advise to her friend. Usually he did not take it. Or pretended to come up with the idea himself. "I activate the Ride of Valkyries." This was no different, and yet not the same either. "He is still not right. He loves to.." Whenever Wagner activated the Ride of Valkyries, he would turn it into the masterpiece moment of the entire duel. Here he just dropped the spell without a hint of passion or fanfare. "He is just going through the moves." Void concluded.

The Walkuren Ritt as it were special summoned only two more monsters to the field: Valkyrie Brunhilde(7/1800/2000) [Zone 1] the brunette warrior(3800/2000) who gained 500 attackpoints for each Battlewasp that Melyria controlled and Valkyrie Sechste: a young brownhaired Valkyrie(1/0/2000) [Zone 2]. The latter galloped into the city on her white pony, and carried a beam of light behind her back. "I can special summon one Valkyrie from my deck! Valkyrie Dritte!" The second Valkyrie Dritte(4/1000/1600) [Zone 3] succeeded where the first did not. It added another Valkyrie card to Wagner's hand: Fortune Chariot. This union monster treated itself as a Valkyrie monster with its first effect. "I summon.." Sechste served no further purpose but as tribute fodder. Wagner sacrificed it to normal summon Fortune Chariot the golden chariot(6/1000/2000) [Zone 2] of the Valkyries.

"And I... activate Ride of the Valkyries again." Wagner also remembered to banish the spell from the graveyard, which allowed him to add the time stealing spell card to his hand from his deck: Mischief of the Time Goddess. "And Fortune Chariot equips itself to Valkyrie Brunhilde, so now she can attack directly with half her strength!" The union monster would give him a way out. Brunhilde(3800/1000) set foot in it, and flew into the air to avoid the Battlewasp swarm. "Hm?" With a swing of the blade, Brunhilde(1900/2000) struck the duelist of the bees. Causing her to stagger backwards. "So you aren't going to bother with my Nest at all I see. Hrm."

Melyria's LP: 6100

"No.. I activate Mischief off the Time Goddess!" Wagner wanted to end the battle phase on his own terms. As he only controlled Valkyrie monsters, the mischievous Time Goddess spell shifted time forwards to his next turn and a new battle phase. "Brunhilde attacks again!" The brunette warrior circled back around to take a second swing at Melyria and nearly depleted her lifepoints down to half. "I end my turn!" Wagnerok proclaimed loudly.

Melyria's LP: 4200

"That you have done. But who is this 'I' you are talking about? Hm? You must know, others have said it to you before." No matter what it did not seem like the valkyrie duelist registered the name 'Wagner'. "Wait. I just noticed. Is his real name Wagner too?" Scura asked the weather duelist. "It's his last name." Crescent revealed. "Then what is his first?" Perhaps he would be more responsive to it, the veiled girl thought. "It's.. I do not know if he would like others to hear it. He doesn't like the name. Maybe he will just hate me more if I say it." She struggled with the idea. "Hate would at least be something.." Scura rasped.

-TURN 05-

"Yet one could argue that he is better off this way. Hate separates us from mindless machines but also leads to more pain, to us and to our environment. At least in our future, both worlds can be spared the consequences of hatred. But you dont have the mind for such topics, so lets skip them, yes?" Melyria started her turn with a new insect: Gokipole(4/1000/1200) [Zone 5]. ".. Roaches too now?" Void shuddered as he looked at this stack of round red-eyed cockroaches, remembering less than clean apartments from his past.

"Now.. Link summon! My link materials will be Sting the Poison and Halberd the Charge! Two wind monsters!" Melyria Cister gave her field a drastic makeover. The synchro wasp opened a link circuit along with one of the tuners, a green-colored circuit. "Greatfly! From now on all wind monsters gain 500 points and all earth monsters lose 400 points!" A bizarrely muscular mutated red fly(1900/LINK 2) {Downleft/Downright} [Extra Zone 2] took their place. While it hummed in the air while and gestured its curved blade claw at Wagner, Azusa(2700/1600) and the other Sting the Poison(900/1300) gained more attack and defense points. Gokipole(600/800) on the other hand grew weaker. Thankfully this implied to Void that it would not be around for long.

"Since I can summon up to two synchro monsters at once, lets do that for one right now! Right! Now!" She smiled and special summoned yet another Battlewasp Twinbow(3/1500/1000) [Zone 1] from her hand with its own effect. "Synchro summon! Battlewasp Hama the Conquerer!" The second Poison Sting Battlewasp took its own level stars to mix them with the levels of Gokipole and Twinbow, creating a warrior wasp three degrees stronger than Azusa. The archer knight Hama(8/3300/2500) [Zone 3], in his brilliant green wasp armor, would conquer the field for all insects like it. And it waited for one more servant. "Heh, Gokipole may have gone to the graveyard. But a roach is hard to kill. I can activate his effect now to add one insect to my hand, hee. And if I choose to add a normal insect.. I can special summon it to the field instead!" So why would she not? Melyria hummed along with her insects and special summoned the masked ranger hero "C" Ranger Shine Black(4/1500/0) [Zone 1] to the field. "Also, that monster will destroy another monster with more attackpoints than himself! So Ranger Black destroys Valkyrie Brunhilde!"

"No. You will..not!" Wagner cursed as the black ranger with his golden symbol and insect wing cape tried to land a heroic punch to defeat the Valkyrie leader. "Fortune Chariot.. is destroyed first, if the monster it is equipped to is attacked or harmed by an effect." Alas, it could only make it as far as the golden chariot, destroying it instead and leaving Brunhilde without her direct attacking enabler. "Of course. I knew you would do so, yeah." Melyria shrugged and activated a new spell: Revival Swarm. It acted as a special summoned for any Battlewasp in the graveyard: including the synchro wasp Halberd the Charger(3000/1100) [Zone 5]. "I know what you can do. The question is, do you?" The dreaded phase came at last, the wasps started their attack run. "When Halberd attacks a superior enemy, it halves their attackpoints! So he will be the first to strike!" Needless to say, Wagnerok would lose the entire duel if he did not change his act soon. "Hey! Are you just gonna let her win!?" It even drove Scura to a point of frustration. They did not come all the way out here for nothing.

"Win? No.. The one who wins.. is me. It is always me!" Wagner snapped with a sudden ferocity and activated the one card he still could: his skill. "Divine Judgment Force, halve their power!" Holy winds blew the wasps back, cutting the power of Greatfly(950 atk), Ranger Black(750/0) Azusa(1350/2100), Halberd(1500/1300) and Hama(1650/2500) in half. "He used his skill! He remembers it now!.." Crescent gasped. "And now she cant attack him!" None of her monsters were strong enough to pass the flames of Loge.

_Divine Judgment Force, Skill Card_  
_When an opponent's monster declares an attack: Halve the ATK of all monsters on the field until the end of the turn._

"Wait." Seeing it now also explained why he never bothered to use it against the Crown, it would not have helped him survive the attacks from the Crusadia. "Why didn't he use that to help us back then?" It did not escape Void's attention that Wagner could still have minimized the damage against Sundown and Bionis and the like.

"An interesting memory: the man does not act if he cannot save himself as well. But even now, you are not complete out of the woods yet, Wagnerok Wagner." Melyria moved to the end of her battle phase. "See. When I am denied battle damage, Hama can instead inflict effect damage! He burns you by 300 points for each Battlewasp in my graveyard!" The Conqueror nocked his own arrow of blue light, fueled by the spirits of Arbalest, Twinbow, the two Bullseye wasps and the two Poison Sting Battlewasps. "!" 1800 points of electric damage tore through the chest of the Valkyrian. "Kgah! You.."

Wagner's LP: 3300

"And now Azusa the Ghost Bow follows that up with her own effect! My monsters attackpoints may be halved, but she calculates the damage based on Hama's original attackpoints!" The female bee archer launched her own arrow right behind that of the Conqueror. "Damn.." Wagner nearly keeled over as he got shot in the stomach. "Stop it! Please! What if he.. " Crescent did not know what would happen if Wagner lost the duel here again. She did not know if she could see him disappear before her eyes again either. "Melyria. What will happen if Wagner cannot win this duel?" But things did not look good for the duelist regardless, and Void wanted to be prepared for the worst outcome. "Just dueling is not enough. He needs to win, hmm, if he wants to be who he used to be. Otherwise, his mind may forever be lost to the network." The answer only solidified their worst fears.

Wagner's LP: 500

"Of course, I wonder if you truly want him to return. It sounds to me like he was not all that kind to you, yeah." Melyria made a rather cold statement at the end of her turn, during which the attackpoints of her monsters turned back to normal. "How can you say that?" Crescent angrily lashed out.

"Not all of us deserve to live in the new world." Ezra broke his own silence to add his morbid input. "And do you decide who does?" Void countered. "Judgment does not come from me, it comes from the creator. If the mind of Wagner does not find the strength to pull itself back together. Then this creation could never sustain him. But that does not mean we wish for him to be lost. Even now I can sense him struggling to pierce the veil. He just demands one more push." At first, Crescent did not have a clue as what she could do with such information. "But.." Facts and logic were always her safety net. "But what.. if.." Wagner never cared for it, probably the reason he wanted to be near her in the first place. "He still deserves better than.. Oh!" So she would have to do as he would, act on a flight of fancy.

"Wagner! Your music!" Crescent activated her dueldisk to access the song database on the network. Of all the music in all the world, there was always one piece that he would play during his greatest moments. Trumpets, tubas, flutes, strings: all kinds of instruments started to echo throughout Pandemonium. "Wag, ner?" Prospero stopped in mid-air to take in the atmosphere. "That, is, interesting."

The operatic ensemble reached the ears of the composers namesake as well. "Valkyries.. That is.. That is my song!" Wagner bellowed. "My Valkyrie song!" He normal summoned the Valkyrie Vierte(3/1400/1400) [Zone 4]. "Is it working?" Void wondered. Wagner still did not acknowledge anyone, but he sounded and acted more animated. "He is regaining his senses, keep it going." Melyria smiled. Victory now stood between a future of hope and future of despair. "Valkyrie Vierte activates its effect! I excavate one card for each Valkyrie on my field! And if there is a spell among those cards, I can draw it!" Wagner turned over the next three cards of his deck and..

Saw the key to victory. "I add Pegasus Wings to my hand!" Vierte took a spell with a white winged horse on it. The other two cards went back into the deck. "Pegasus Wing can be activated since I have a Union Valkyrie monster in my graveyard! I can use it on all my Valkyries to give them the power to attack directly this turn! And I will use it!" The magic of Pegasus added wings to each horse ridden by a Valkyrie: Brunhilde(4300/2000), Dritte and Vierte. "Go my ladies of war! Go while the sun shines in the north! Attack the enemy from all three fronts!" Each warrior soared across the blackened sky, far out of reach of the Battlewasp legion and their nest. "Ah, the light wins." Melyria closed her eyes and spread her arms to welcome the three sisters. They slashed across her body with their holy swords. Though Pegasus Wings halved the damage they could inflict, she did not have enough life left anyway to keep standing afterwards. "Yes! I win! Of course I win! I am Wagnerok! I am the supreme! I am... Hey. Crescent? Why are you looking at me so weirdly?"

Melyria's LP: 0

"Wagner.." He had his voice, his belligerent expression, his resolute stance. All the things that made him Wagner were back in this one avatar. "Crescent. You're..." On the other side he looked at a girl he had never seen cry before, with tears welling up. "Oh for pete's sake, just go hug him or something." Scura tried to hider her own emotions, she could not stand the joy in the air and in herself.

"Wait, what is this?" It now dawned on the revived man that everyone looked at him oddly, even those he did not recognize. "Void? Scura? Where did the Crown go? Who are those guys? What kind of monster is that?" As far as he knew he'd been dueling Anders in this place just a few minutes ago. "This monster is the one who helped save you, Wagner." Melyria smiled as she turned off her holograms. "What? Saved? Him? What is going on?" If he did not get an explanation soon, he would start yelling. "Wagner.. I can tell you everything." Crescent walked up to him and held his hand. She would not hug him, this was enough for now.

"You have done it." Void witnessed a miracle. "We can do it again and again. There is no limit to our power." Melyria and Ezra turned towards the remaining heroes. "Does that frighten you, or excite you?" The Lancer inquired with his deep voice. "It.. excites me. It means that you can do what I couldn't." At first Void believed Ezra to be a charlatan. Now he could not be so sure anymore. "Yes, and yet our abilities are still restricted. We do not have total freedom yet, no perfect paradise. I can sense your doubts, Void. You fear the prospect of immortality. You wonder what would happen to us if Exeter were to simply 'pull the plug'. But I believe that they cannot do it. That they cannot destroy STHEREA, because they did not create it. There is a voice in the world, that I heard. A vision that I saw, when I closed my eyes and let my imagination do its work. That is how I came to find this.." He pulled out the lance of legacy. "I also sense that you are not ready yet, to make the crossover. Why is that?"

"Because I did have another reason to see you. It involves Exeter. You, you want the Millennium items don't you? That is why you tried to make peace with the Crown." The cyberse duelist let out a deep sigh. Here is where the lie would start, though some of it did reflect his own feelings. "Exeter has one. They have known about the legacy items all along, and never told us. The World Chalice he calls it. They say they don't know what it can do, but I do not trust them on that. He still asked for my help, since his own people have failed him once too often. But I saw who I was dealing with, and I knew I could not let him have any items. But I didn't tell him that, and he expects to see me again soon." The trap had been set. "So... I will help you get to Evert Hansen. He is the one you want."

(To Be Continued in Line 066: The Sound of Betrayal)

**New Cards used by Melyria Cister  
**Battlewasp - Twinbow the Attacker  
Battlewasp - Arbalest the Rapidfire  
Gokipole  
"C" Ranger Shine Black

-  
Battlewasp - Azusa the Ghost Bow  
Battlewasp - Halberd the Charge  
Battlewasp - Hama the Conquering Bow

-  
Revival Swarm

**New Cards used by Wagnerok  
**_DIVINE JUDGMENT FORCE_

-  
Valkyrie Sechste  
Fortune Chariot

-  
Goddess Urd's Verdict  
Pegasus Wings

-  
Loge's Flame


	66. The Sound of Betrayal

**Line 066: The Sound of Betrayal**

"Whatsup! White lady in the white house!" Blanche gave the occupants of the lord palace her special greeting as she entered the halls. With the doors opened for the heroes, she could quickjump right into the place. "Nothing is up." Sundown scowled. Only he, Asterisk and the big chief of Exeter were there to receive her now. "Oh. Did I miss anything?" She wondered if she did anything to deserve the gunslinger's scowl. "Just a false alarm. Where were you?" He made himself pretty clear. "Huh? Just taking care of some things, like you do. We all have to get out from time to time. When did you last log out?" That was the reason for alternating shifts after all, duelists like Neo and Bionis couldn't fight off their exhaustion any more either. "I only went away for as long as was necessary. We cant sleep now. They could strike at any moment." Sundown claimed, while he sounded like had not taken a nap in ages. "Or do _you_ have a solution for that too?" Time worked against them, since they were facing duelists who did not _need _to obey the time limit.

"Hmph. There is an exemption for employers and admins, but the limit is hardcoded into every player avatar and I cannot just simply upgrade you. This is why I don't see why Therese wanted your help, I can just summon an army of CIDs if I needed numbers. They tend to offer less complaints." Hansen clearly did not feel happy with his arrangement, having to wait for a call from Void just to step into a dangerous confrontation while being yelled at by duelists like Donna or Sundown.

"Therese? Oh you mean Arcis. Heh, you should tell that to her face buddy. She is listening, isn't she, Asterisk?" Blanche guessed the brother found it easy to talk behind her back. "Oh yes." Except the agent maintained a direct line with Vigionair, who still shared his lair with the witch duelist. "She knows what I mean!" The CTO offered no apologies to them or to her. "Well you are welcome to call the champions, if you like them more than us." Sundown taunted the man with a casual smirk. "I would if I could, but they have to act as the face of the company right now. Do you have any idea how hard it was to calm down the playerbase after the way the tournament ended?! Let alone all the lawyers that I had to bring in. You are lucky I took time out for this at all!"

"Yeah yeah. Before I forget, what is this about a false alarm?" The white lady grew bored of the subject and turned to another. "Oh. V claims that Void and the others had briefly left the space we could not scan. But they did not come here, they went to Pandemonium instead. Signals got scrambled shortly after, but from all accounts it appears a miracle has happened. They brought Wagnerok back." Asterisk himself could barely believe what he was saying.

"Wagnerok!? You mean.. they pulled a Cherry Anise on him? Wow. So they showed you up, huh?." The news stunned but also amused her. It meant that Crescent had been right in a way. "Tchah! No service like that is free of cost. That girl might as well have sold her life away with pen and ink." Hansen heard the story of this miracle before, and it made him as nervous then as it did now. He fidgeted in his chair and kept looking at his desk. "For now the world thinks Millennium is just a group of weird hackers. But that wont last. With that power they really can cause all sorts of havoc. Who knows what evil they are up to right now."

...

"And that I believe is the whole suite. How did you like it?" Cherry Anise asked at the end of her long routine. "How can one guitar make all that sound? It sounded perfect." Wagnerok just heard her play his entire favorite musical piece, every snare and brass instrument, with just a few strings on the guitar. No device like this could have been made by human hands. "What you hear is also just a trick the mind plays on you, Wagnero. Its just information sent right into your brain! But down here the brain is all that matters, and we can tell it what to hear! With a little practice, you can be as good a composer as the actual classics." What she said sounded like nonsense to him. Then again everything he heard since he came back from the death, including the story of his return itself and this endless flowerfield that he now found himself in, seemed to be too wonderful to be true. "And you do this often here?" But they treated it as a fact, the people from Millennium. "Yeah of course. Sometimes you just gotta unwind and let go off it all. We're not all about dueling here. Allthough that is fun too to pass the time."

From a few meters away, Crescent watched Wagner with unrelenting awe. "Heh. Careful now. She might try to steal her away from you." Ulysses approached the weather girl with a minor taunt. "What!?" She took it as a serious threat. "Easy. East, it was a joke storm maker." He quickly apologized. "A joke? A joke is supposed to be funny." She muttered.

"Heh. Good One." Scura snickered as she joined the group as well. "If anyone here is fawning over people its you. I guess you already replaced me with another girl in your fantasies." The veiled girl gave Ulysses a dirty look. "Of course not, spitfire. You have my respect. If I wanted a fantasy, I could create one for myself right here and now. But it wouldn't mean anything. Living in a dream is nice, but not when you're all by your lonesome." The conductor placed a hand on his chest and sighed. "But have you two already decided if you want to join? You came what you got for, and from what I hear your friend already has given us something in return..." He would not force them to stay, if it came to it. "I.." And Crescent never thought that far ahead.

"What did Void do?" Before either of them could answer, Alpha came back to the scene. "You are letting them go? Am I hearing that right? Just what did the great hero and champion tell Ezra that would make him so suited for your new world?"

"A new legacy item." Declared the wielder of the second item, as he stepped into view of everyone. "Guh." Alpha recoiled. "Yeah he loves popping up out of nowhere. You will get used to it." Ulysses let out a little chuckle. The fire duelist recovered quickly anyway. "Another Legacy Item? Really?" Alpha looked at Void, who stood next to Ezra along with the once again very tiny Melyria. "Yes, Exeter has the World Chalice. And I do not trust them with it." Void replied. "Trust huh? So even you found a clue. Heh, good." The Salamangreat duelist liked what he heard either way.

"I bet it does something gross, like melt people into slime or something. Eheh... But do you guys even need another one? That pointy stick already seems pretty broken to me." Scura could only imagine what one could do with two items at once.

"That is the eventual endgoal of Millennium. We can only truly be free if we fully control this world. STHEREA created these items for a reason, so that we can make a new paradise. And to do so, we will meet with Evert Hansen." The deliverer went on to say and shock Alpha. "Hansen? The CTO. You know his first name too?" His admiration turned back into glares of accusation. "He told me that when he told me... us.. about the item. We arranged for another meeting. He thinks I am coming to help him." The bait had been planted. With only Alpha seemingly being skeptical of it. "Oh. So he thinks he is just getting you, but he is getting Millennium on his plate instead? And I suppose you cannot become like us until you have finished this meeting, or else Hansen would be not accept you? How convenient."

"Nevertheless, we shall make a move against him." Ezra insisted upon this questionable path. "What!? Right now? You have to let me come along!" And knowing it was inevitable, Alpha insisted on his inclusion as well. "You have a lot of fire, sunshine. But this mission sounds like it requires finesse." Ulysses pulled him back with his hand. "Rgh?" The conductor possessed a surprisingly strong grip. "Ulysses is correct. I will take only myself and my closest circle. And Void."

"!.." Void figured he would have been asked to do this. "Of course." It would help sell the deception. "What about us?" Scura had to ask, though she did not like the idea of palling around on that trip. "You can stay, see paradise through the eyes of others. I expect a new wave of family members soon, you can join us with them. If you should so choose." Ezra quickly put her at ease. "Yeah, we wouldn't want to break up the lovebirds either." Cherry Anise joined the circle, letting Crescent and Wagner talk to each other in peace. It would seem that the Trickstar Duelist, Ulysses, Prospero and Melyria formed the upper ranks of Millennium.

"But they cant stay forever. They haven't been converted..." Void noted that the time limit should still apply to them. "Do you feel tired, Void? Hungry?" Ulysses asked out of nowhere. "What? No.. No I don't." The answer surprised him too. "Yeah that's because this is not a game anymore. Paradise counts as its own world. each time you enter it, you reset your time limit. So in a way that golden card you used was a starting gift. Though you are still at risk of your STHEREA setup glitching out. So we always recommend to join as soon as possible." He saluted the hero. "Either way lets hope your gift can match ours..."

...

"He sent the message." Asterisk stated as he looked at his chat screen. "Now? Well that is terrific. Most of you are not even here!" Hansen immediately complained. "You still have your backups. According to Void he is coming in with just a handful of followers." The agent gave his assurance. "See. We have the upper hand. Just act as you normally would and try to look surprised when the big guy shows up." Sundown did not plan this far ahead just to lose to bad timing. "Yeah you have Exodia. Dont be scared of him." Blanche dryly supported the CTO as well, having experienced his 'power' first hand. "Hmph. I do not need moral assistance from children." Indignant, Hansen logged into the network and activated his avatar. "Out of my way. Do not let yourself be seen." He waded through the duelists and stormed out of his virtual office to open the doors of the elemental palace at the other end of a great hall.

"Ah there you are! You kept me waiting!" Void stood alone in the field outside, and the supposedly unaware man from Exeter walked right up to meet him.

But after a few steps he was greeted by the additional sight of the skullfaced man and his entourage. "You!?" He did not expect Ezra to drop the pretense this soon! They walked out of thin air like apparitions. "How.. Why... You betrayed me!" To keep up the act, Hansen turned anger towards the cyberse duelist. "..." In turn, Void said nothing back. Neither did Ulysses or Cherry Anise.

"Evert Hansen. We need to speak." Ezra would do the talking alone. "Is that really what you want?" Even if this was part of the plan, Hansen had a bad feeling about this. "About the Chalice." Ezra took a step forward. "The chalice?" Hansen looked behind him, at a man made from thunder. Prospero surrounded him like an electric cage, giving him nowhere to flee too. "I think not. I know what a man like you wants." He sighed and took out his cards. "You will have to duel me to get it!" What challenge could the helpless companyman bring now? Surely Ezra would take this enticing offer. "Well?" Yet Ezra said nothing and did nothing. "Don't you want to find out?"

"...Void. Why don't you duel him?" Ezra's face snapped harshly towards the cyber duelist. "What!?" Void and Hansen gasped at the same time. "Is there a problem?" The lance wielder inquired. "No I.." Needless to say, Void did not account for this.

"Are you scared of me?! You, the leader of Millennium!?" Hansen tried to taunt his way back unto the proper course. It would all be for nothing if they discovered his exodia skill' while dueling Void. "I am no leader. Anyone can do what I can. I merely unlock their full potential, and now it is his turn." Ezra pulled out the lance of legacy. "!?" It was this close, Hansen could not contain himself anymore. "Then you wont mind if I cut your flock down! Admins!" He sounded the alarm to bring in the full complement of judges that were at his disposal. "Yes sir!" They stormed out of the palace, along with hundreds of hazmat-wearing CID units. "Ah, so it was, a trap after all." Prospero scoffed as now he was surrounded along with his fellow duelists. "As if I would go anywhere unguarded! You were a fool, Ezra! And now you will pay for..."

He stopped in the middle of his sentence. "How.." Instantly, Millennium duelists materialized around the palace, the same army that ambushed the tournament yesterday. "How long have they been standing there?!" They were hidden the same way Ezra and his close circle had been. Invisibility came easy to the master of the visual. "Did you think I would come alone as well? Where would you have gotten that idea?" Ezra asked the CTO while his hollow eyes stared at Void besides him.

"!?" The cyberse duelist kept himself from flinching in fear. _"Did he know? Did he tell me he would only bring a small group, just to fool anyone who has been listening in?!"_ When did Ezra begin to suspect him? What could he do know? "Even so, you are still outnumbered!" The admins yelled, standing behind their swarm of CID units. "Yeah? So you wanna duel us this time? Or are you gonna try that lovely suspension button again? Heheh. That's not gonna work this time!" Cherry laughed. She only pretended to be banned the last time they met. "Numbers are nothing. You own, an army of mindless machines, that cannot, think for themselves. We may, not be the Crown, but we can take care, of them."

The world around the palace turned dark, obscuring everyone's sight. In the darkness, one by one CIDs malfunctioned as Prospero charged through them. "How?" Void saw one drop to the ground before him or slip into a endlessly repeating routine spouting gibberish. "We learned a few things from the Crown. He shared the code of your creations with us, and their weaknesses." A few of the hazmats could still duel, but the odds turned against Hansens men who were disoriented and separated by the shadows. "Kgh! Take them!" Hansen himself did the only thing he could do, retreat. His skill would not help him if he could not duel Ezra himself.

"He's getting away!" Ulysses could see him sneak out of the dark and back into the palace. "Leave him. Dueling him now will just cause needless casualties. The enemies we take down today are those who profess to spread his laws!" Each Millennium duelist took up dueldisks against the remaining admins. "Cherry, watch over Void. Make sure he sees this." Ezra said with a deeply threatening tone, and once again joined the lord of thunder to manage his cloud of confusion. "But Hansen is not here anymore!" Void cried out. The situation got out of hand too fast for him to keep track off. "Relax, we'll get to him sooner or later." He was stuck inside this black prison along with Cherry Anise and a random male judge. "Besides! The show goes on with or without the VIP!"

Cherry's LP: 8000 Judge's LP: 8000 -TURN 01-

"Heehehee. Let's go Trickstar Candina!" She would put on the fastest show she could imagine, and such events always started out with the yellow dressed caster Candina(4/1800/400) [Zone 4]. "When Candina is normal summoned I can add a Trickstar card from the deck to my hand!" She planned to add Trickstar Light Stage to her hand, as most would already know. "Dont get cocky, just because we can't suspend you! You are dealing with an official duelist now! I activate Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring!" Including the very judge that she dueled right now. "Heh?" The admin duelist discarded a zombie girl with red hair from his hand, and burned the Candina Trickstar to ashes. " We received intel about your dueling tactics, lady Cherry Anise! That includes your tendency to thin your deck! Ash Blossom can negate any effect that sends cards from the deck to the hand, field or graveyard! With this one move, I have smashed your entire program!" No Candina meant no Light Stage meant no Lilybell meant no Holly Angel and so forth.

"Aw boo on you. And boo on that snitchy Asterisk for spilling the beans." Cherry pouted and placed one trap card face down. "Or were _you_ the one tell them about my Trickstars, Void?" She cast a subtle smile towards Void. "No. I would never." Void told the truth there at least. "Be quiet. I will get to you too. At least some of your friends were good for something.." The judge then planned his next move as her turn came to an end. However..

-TURN 02-

"Just a sec! I wasn't done playing yet! I activate Fata Morgana!" The trickstar duelist had a skill up her sleeve. "I can special summon Trickstar Lycoris from my hand now, and we both draw one card from our deck!" She induced a hallucination of a new monster, of the pink and black baton fairy Trickstar Lycoris(4/0/1200) [Zone 4]. "What? If we draw then.." The judge added a sixth card to his hand, and took 200 points of damage due to the continuous effect of Trickstar Lycoris. "What was the point of that?"

Judge's LP: 7800

_Fata Morgana, Skill Card  
__Special summon 1 level 4 or lower monster from your hand with its ATK reduced to 0. Then each player draws 1 card._

"Shush-shush-shush! I still need to show you this card: Droll and Lock Bird!" Cherry's grin grew extra wide and sinister, as the true theme of her show came to the forefront. "No!" The bunny-eared wizard and his pet lock bird activated from her hand in response to him adding a card to his hand. For the rest of the turn, Droll & Lock Bird would cancel out any draws from the deck. "What? I thought you liked hand traps? Especially when they say something about taking cards from the deck! Like... this!" The next chained trap hardly came as a surprise, yet still broke the fighting spirit of the duelist admin. "Trickstar Reincarnation! All cards in your hand are banished, and you have to draw new ones for each banished card! Only you cant do that now, can you? Whoopsie!" Five cards were claimed by the trap, five cards were denied by Droll & Lock Bird.

"This is what you were after all along." He did not have anything in his hand, on his field or in his graveyard. He only had a skill that could only be useful when combined with another card. "Well duh. Oh and I almost forgot! Since I damaged you! I can special summon Trickstar Narkissus!" A new trickster fairy dropped down, a blonde girl(4/1000/1800) [Zone 5] in a green dress with white petals around the rim and white boots with heart symbols on them.

-TURN 03-

"And now its my turn!" Nobody could stop her from doing her thing now. "Link summon! Trickstar Holly Angel!" Narkissus and Lycoris transformed into the deadly fairy of the thornwhip flail: Holly Angel(2000/LINK 2) {Downleft/Downright} [Extra Zone 1]. "Now of course the name Reincarnation is not just for laughs! When I activate Trickstar Reincarnation from my graveyard I can special summon a Trickstar from my graveyard!" Cherry declared as her banished trap reincarnated Trickstar Candina [Zone 1]. "but what am I doing? You already know all my effects, eheeheehee!" Cherry's laughter rose and rose with each move. Since the revived Candina linked with the Angelic one. Holly Angel could inflict 200 more points of damage to the judge with her special holy blessing. "Ngh!"

Judge's LP: 7600

"Lets do that again!" She also normal summoned the Trickstar Lilybell(2/800/2000) [Zone 3] and linked her to the right marker of Holly Angel(2200 atk). Once more, her link Trickstar fired a blast of holy energy at the hapless opponent. "You think a few needlepricks are going to defeat me?" He cursed. "You don't see where this is going yet? I thought Exeter hired the best of the best." She was right. Void did see it, there was no way for her to lose anymore. He wanted to say something, to tell her that he did not have to finish him off. But he could not. And she did not want to. She would draw out the entire massacre.

Judge's LP: 7400

"Candina, Lilybell.. attack directly!" The ponytailed blonde and pink pigtailed fairy launched their strikes from both sides, and brought the judge down to his knees with powerful soundwaves from a megaphone and giant bell. "Gahh!" This pain he felt a lot more.

Judge's LP: 4800

"I think my fans are asking for an encore! Can you hear it too?" The battle damage caused by Lilybell also allowed her to add a Trickstar from the graveyard back to her master's hand. So she would reclaim her superstar: Trickstar Lycoris. "I activate her effect, so come on out!" Lycoris special summoned herself(4/1600/1200) [Zone 2] and returned Trickstar Lilybell to Cherry's hand. "!?" That meant that Lilybell could special summon herself [Zone 3] back to the field as well, since she had been added to the hand by a card effect. Her renewed link with Holly Angel(2400 atk) incited the third blast of holy blessing, dropping the duelist down one more notch. "Rgh! When is it enough for you?"

Judge's LP: 4600

"Enough? It will never be enough. Not as long as people like you are around to choke people like us! I've had to deal with your unfair laws and rules for far too long in my life! You represent the system, and we are gonna tear it all down!" Cherry fired off two more direct attacks with the returned Lycoris and the resummoned Lilybell. "It never ends.." The admin started to wheeze.

Judge's LP: 2200

"For you it will, because you chose the side of mortals. Or do you wish to feel freedom after all?" And just at that moment Ezra appeared behind him to await his inevitable fate, giving him one last choice. "Screw you!" The judge made his answer clear. "Heehee. Okey dokey!" She accepted his answer and sent Trickstar Holly Angel(2600 atk), powered up by the same amount of effect damage that she had already inflicted, to deliver the final blow. Her thorned flail tore through the sky, smashing several columns of the palace along the way and plowed into the body of her enemy.

Judge's LP: 0

"Gyaaah!" At the same time Ezra drove the lance of legacy in the back of his neck to disconnect his mind from the network and to force him far away from their world. If it meant just eliminating one foe forever, he would do it. "Come, Void. We have many more enemies to give our choice." Still the cyberse duelists could not pull free. Ezra and Cherry walked him through the shadows to yet another duel against someone who could not possibly win...

...

And such was the scene across the palace fields. One by one the admins fell to the duelists of Millennium. For every member they lost, the judges lost ten times as many members. The CIDs could not even count one victory among them. "How did this happen?" Sundown Mephistar saw only darkness outside and dwindling numbers on a screen. The chaos outside could spill through the doors any second and it would be suicide to dive into the black mist. "They knew exactly where to hit us. And Hansen revealed his ace in the hole too early." Agent Asterisk, Madam Blanche and him were the last line of defense between them and the CTO's office. Hansen had already logged out, running past them without ever looking back. How could a man with Exodia in his pocket be such a wimp: Blanche wondered.

"Even then! Even if that guy forced Void to tell him, he didn't know the cavalry would be waiting for them too. Something is up.." The gunslinger did not consider himself a scholar, but he knew a good setup when he made one. And this plan should not have gone awry this soon. Unless. "Unless.. he sent someone ahead to spy on us." He muttered the revelation to himself. "Hydra!" The only explanation could be provided... by an invisible duelist. "Hydra saw us! He is one of them now!" A duelist who could have been watching them right now..

(To Be Continued in Line 067: Devil-Dealers)

**New Cards used by Cherry Anise  
**_FATA MORGANA_

-  
Droll & Lock Bird  
Tricktar Narkissus

**Cards used by Admin  
**Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring


	67. Devildealers

**Line 067: Devildealers**

"Hydra?" Only that name came to Sundowns minds when he tried to figure out how Millennium predicted the ambush. "You're saying he is working with them now?" The theory did not immediately land with the duelists around him like Madam Blanche. Though Asterisk did not immediately discard the possibility. "It would explain it. He could have gone ahead and scoped out the area, then returned to Ezra to warn him."

"I told Hansen that he shouldn't have added so many of his own men to the plan." Sundown grunted. Now those men paid the price were being defragged by the dozens. "Are you sure? What if the scout was the woman with the wasps? She could make herself really tiny, right? And Ezra seems to be pretty good at hiding himself too." Blanche offered a few other suggestions, since they did now know about Melyria thanks to Void being bugged. "Ezra was with Void the whole time; V is pretty adamant about that. And from what we can tell, they cannot pass through solid objects yet. They could not have gotten inside where we were all hiding anyway. But Hydra, we cannot account for his talents. He has always been able to go where others cannot."

"Hydra! Show yourself!" Sundown heard all he wanted to hear. "I know you're hearing us! If you don't come out, I will challenge you here and now!" Except the voice of the invisible duelist, who looked everything except innocent in his eyes. "No answer?" There was always one way to flush someone out. "Then I challenge you to a duel!" Maybe Ezra could decline a showdown, but he doubted that his helpers would have the same liberty. "Oh dear." Asterisk's eyebrow raised. They got their answer when the lifepoint meter on the dueldisk switched on and registered an opponent as well.

Hydra's LP: 8000 Sundown's LP: 8000

"Violence is your only answer is it?" Hydra's voice echoed across the halls, confirming Sundowns suspicion.

"You're one to talk! What do you call that chaos outside? Hydra! Did you join them? Or did they force you to spy on us?" The gunslinger would be getting more answers with or without violence. "Everything I did, I chose to do." The accused replied while never once giving away his position. "But you told your new friends that they were gonna be ambushed." Asterisk pointed out. "I did." He did not deny it.

"Then you are a traitor! Why? Because they formed the tightly knit community that you always whined about?" Sundown growled. No explanation would really satisfy him. "Better the lawless than the soulless, Sundown Mephistar. You have made your contracts, as have I. And yours lie in the way of mine." Words would not convince them now. "Well you're only going further in over my dead body!" Sundown prepared his cards. "So lets duel, Hydra!" He would take the second turn, Hydra the first. "If you insist."

-TURN 01-

"Ooh. A gunfight." Blanche sounded halfway giddy at the prospect of the upcoming duel. "Quiet. I need to concentrate on this." Sundown pulled his hat down and waited for Hydra to make the first move. He would not make a shot til he saw the whites of his monsters eyes. "I set three cards." Hydra sadly did not grant him that pleasure, he showed only two unknown spells or traps [Zone 1 & 3] and one face-down monster [Zone 5].

-TURN 02-

"Coward! One way or another my bullets will find you!" His Musketeers would blast through his defenses first then. "I summon Kidbrave the Magical Musketeer! And give him the Magical Musket Desperado!" The youngest cowboy outlaw(3/1600/200) [Zone 5] entered the duel. With his short red hair and a yellow cape draped over his shoulders, he seemed like an easy mark. However he wielded a giant missile launcher, thanks to the trap [Zone 5] Sundown activated. "Oh that is right. He can play Magical Musket cards from the hand as long as he controls his Musketeers." Asterisk missed his duels usually, but he had familiarized himself with the archetype. "Magical Musket Desperado destroys your monster! Whatever it is!"

"It was a Shellrokket Dragon." A salvo of missiles targeted the set monster: a mechanical bullet dragon(4/1100/2200) [Zone 5] that transformed out of its golden shell briefly before melting into a golden slagpile. "Eesh. Sundown, you're not gonna like them." Blanche recalled that each destroyed Rokket would replace itself with another during the endphase. "That's not soon enough for this guy!" The Desperado trap triggered Kidbrave's effect since it activated in his column. "Kidbrave discards one Magical Musket card to draw two new cards!" He discarded Zakiel the Magical Musketeer to have a hand replenishment of his own. "And why dont you eat some lead now?" He entered the battle phase and made the Muskeeter kid fire a shot with his own pistol.

"You will need to find me first. I activate a quickplay spell, Quick Launch." Hydra made his move faster than Sundown could act, and flipped the spell on his left. Quick Launch special summoned a new Rokket to the field in attack mode, a Magnarokket Dragon(4/1800/1200) [Zone 3]. "Kgh! Stop!" At the last second Kidbrave pulled his gun aside and let the bullet ricochet away into the dark halls.

"I guess a small bullet is no match for a dragon made of bullets." Blanche snickered. "Whose side are you on?" Even Hydra seemed surprised by her nonchalant attitude. "Well his, I am sure. But I cant really help him so.." It was not as if she was lying, Sundowns options were limited to doing nothing or even less than nothing. "Feh. He was quicker on the draw this time, but that is all. I set a card, and end my turn." Now the destroyed Shellrokket Dragon activated from the graveyard.

-TURN 03-

"I special summon another Magnarokket Dragon." In this case Hydra made a second Magnum-head dragon(4/1800/1200) [Zone 1] join the first, also in attack mode. "And then I summon Metalrokket Dragon." And the piercing thin bulletheaded Metalrokket(4/1700/1400) [Zone 2] rounded out the trinity, which would soon become a one-sided pyramid. "I link summon Booster Dragon! Its materials are two Rokket dragons: Metalrokket and Magnarokket!" Hydra's link monster took the form one came to expect from the sniping duelist: a mechanical dragon(1900/LINK 2) {Downleft/Downright} [Extra Zone 2] made from gunparts. And like the more devastating Borrel dragons, its wings were made of energy and its head was nothing more than a short gunbarrel and cylinder. "Once per turn, Booster Dragon can target one other monster on the field and give it 500 attack and defense points." Hydra's aim was obvious as well. If Booster Dragon targeted Magnarokket, the magnum dragon would selfdestruct and explode like a bullet to send one of Sundowns cards to the graveyard.

"Think again!" But this time the gunslinger would pull the trigger first, since Booster Dragons effect could not be activated right away. "I activate Call of the Haunted, to special summon Magical Musket Mastermind Zakiel from my graveyard!" The card he discarded earlier was none other than the demon angel behind the musketeer's dark magic. Call of the Haunted [Zone 5] brought Zakiel(8/2500/2500) [Zone 5] right back to life so that... "And then I activate Magical Musket Cross Domination from my hand to strip your monster of it attackpoints and effects!" ...he could take full advantage of his arsenal. Kidbrave took out two guns at the same time and fired bullets in a cross pattern to pin the gunhead dragon (0 atk) down. Of course, Sundown activated the spell in Kidbrave's column so that Kidbrave could swap one Musketeer in his hand (Wild) with two draws from the deck again.

"Good call. His link monster cannot be chained too once its uses its effect." Asterisk noted that the speed of Booster Dragon matched that of the Borrel dragons. "I was not born yesterday, hmph." Sundown saw that effect coming from miles away. "You caught me there. But can you catch this as well?" Hydra revealed an equip spell card. "Parallel Panzer. My link monster is moved to a zone it points towards, and then it can destroy one card in its new column." He added yet another layer of firepower to the Booster Dragon: a dragonheaded warmachine attachment with a chaingun coming out of its steel jaws.

"You're too late there too!" Knowing that the dragons [Zone 5] new position put it on a parallel course of destruction with Zakiel, Sundown made the necessary moves to save it. By blowing Booster Dragon up and good. "I just drew another Desperado, so guess what? I'm using it!" The rocket launcher activated from his hand and ended up in Zakiels's hands. Each missile of Desperado reached its target: destroying the Booster Dragon permanently.

"I special summon Magnarokket Dragon." Unfortunately, destroying the Booster Dragon caused it to special summon a dragon monster from the graveyard. Hydra chose the second Magnum bullet dragon [Zone 5] and used that to start the battle phase. "Magnarokket Dragon attacks Magical Musket Kidbrave." Its attack came via a golden blast of fire, tearing a major hole through the body of the kid musketeer and slaying him brutally. "Feh. I barely felt that, Hydra." Sundown smirked. Zakiel still survived, and during the endphase he would get to draw one card for each Musket trap or spell used this turn. "We have barely begun." Hydra calmly stated and placed one trap card face down. "Take your best shot."

Sundown's LP: 7800 -TURN 04-

"My best shot? Tch. You bastard. Are you enjoying this?" Sundown felt his blood starting to boil. Not that he had any in this form. "Yeah you're kinda cockier than usual, Hydra." Blanche also noted. "That is only because I am finally in a place where I want to be. Millennium can give me what nobody else could, and I was a fool to not realize it. And it is not brainwashing, I am doing this of my own free will. Nothing you can say will change that fact." He still waited for his opponent to take this turn. "But a good kick to the head might!" Sundown felt done with the conversations as well. "I summon Magical Musketeer Starfire!" He knew where to get new demons and new weapons from: the desert femme fatale starfire(4/1300/1700) [Zone 3]. "She lets me summon another Musketeer from my deck in defense mode, if I play a spell or trap card in her column!" And to achieve that condition, he activated Toon Table of Contents.

"Oho? A toon card?" The spell allowed a duelist to add another Toon card to their hand: even something as simple as another Toon Table of Contents. "Ah I see. It is ammo." Asterisk smirked.

"Yes! First Starfire summons Magical Musketeer Calamity!" The first Toon spell fueled the magic of the starshooter and she called out the fierce redheaded Calamity Jane(4/1500/1000) [Zone 2] to aid her. "I also add the second Toon Table of Contents to my hand, and use it to get the third!" Round two of the toon cycle made Calamity use her power, which special summoned a Magical Musketeer from the graveyard in defense mode. "I summon Magical Musketeer Wild, and use his column to activate Toon Table of Contents the third!" The sequence finally ended as he resurrected a long darkhaired and bearded warfighter(4/1700/900) [Zone 1] who carried nothing but massive guns and ammo belts on his bare chest. "Wild returns three Magical Muskets from the graveyard to the deck, and draws a card afterwards!" The last Toon Table spell activated this effect, and the wild one shuffled the three Musket cards (Desperado, Cross Domination) back in with his other cards. As a result, Sundown gained a new spell. "Hmph. You got anything to say yet, Hydra?"

"Do you not like silence?" Hydra made no attempt to stop Sundown, which did not ease the others concerns. "I am not a fan either. It's way too quiet right now, dontcha think?" Blanche kept side-eyeing the darkness just outside the palace, waiting to see a glimpse of Ezra, Void or anyone at all. But they werent attacking the three heroes yet. "Ezra knows better than to make too many enemies at once. We did not come here for you.. Besides, sometimes patience is rewarded." Hydra offered a cryptic response. "Indeed. And sometimes patience can be undone by more patience. How long have you been watching us?" Asterisk saw his chance to ask the hidden duelist some questions. "Not long enough. I only learned of this elemental palace once Void told us the story. I do not know how your trap would have worked, but I saw no reason to let it play out. I imagine your plans would have been successful otherwise, Sundown Mephistar. Take some comfort from that." Hydra said a morbid sense of honesty.

"Comfort? Why don't you take comfort from this? I activate my skill: Unfair Standoff! When I control more monsters than my opponent, I can banish one of yours from the field! I target one of your Magnarokket Dragons!" All three of his monsters drew their weapons and started firing destructive bullets at the Magnum dragon. "Then I will destroy it first, once I activate Squib Draw." This was when Hydra revealed his first set card: a quick-play spell destroyed a Rokket dragon to draw new cards. "He is selfdestructing? I... Rgh." Though Sundown could negate the effect with a card in his hand, his eyes fell on Hydra's other set card before he could finalize that decision. "I.. what? Do nothing?" Hydra resolved Squib Draw with Magnarokkets destruction and a double draw. The Unfair Stand-Off ended with no immediate casualties.

_Unfair Standoff, Skill Card  
__If you control more monsters than your opponent [Min 2], target 1 monster your opponent controls: banish it._

"You're hoping I will get mad enough to fall for your trap. But I wont do it. You will tip your hand before I tip mine! I link summon Magical Musketeer Max!" The defending Calamity turned into the link material for the one-marked gunman. Max(1000/LINK 1) {Down} [Extra Zone 1] stepped out of the circuit, in his leather bound coat and feathered hat. In his demonic claw he held a hunting rifle that would never miss. "I thank you for that." But Hydra did not let Mephistar enjoy this moment for long. "Since you performed a link summon, Fantastical Dragon Phantazmay can be special summoned from my hand. And I can draw one card for each link monster you control, plus one." He matched the Musketeer with a dragon in golden and black armor: Phantazmay(7/2400/1800) the wielder of the blue flame. "Draw?"

"Yes. You control one link monster, so I draw two cards. But I must also send one card back for each link monster you control." Hydra shuffled a random monster back into his deck. "And yet when a monster is special summoned... I can activate Torrential Tribute!" And unleashed a wave of water high enough to splash against the ceiling of the palace.

"Oh crap. That is not going to.." Blanche could feel the drops already. This would not end well. "So there it is!" But Sundown could block this before it came crashing down. "I activate the countertrap: Magical Musket Last Stand! I can negate the activation and effect of one spell you control!" A single shot from the determined Musketeer Zakiel caused the entire waterfront to scatter harmlessly against the walls on the side. "I guess I've been dry long enough." The white lady sighed as some water did still rain down on them. "I caught you this time! Magical Musketeer Max adds one Musket card to my hand for each monster you control!" He laughed wildly as he added a second Last Stand trap to his hand, along with a second Steady Hands spell.

_"Have_ you caught me? You lack the firepower to bring my lifepoints down to nothing. And if you try to destroy my monsters outright, you will not succeed. Phantazmay can negate any effect that targets my monster by discarding one of my cards." Currently the only monster that could defeat Phantazmay was Zakiel. "I know what I am doing. Do you?" Sundown could still target his own monsters however. "Magical Musket Steady Hands doubles my monsters attackpower!" He gave the steady sniper rifle to Starfire(2600/1700). With it she managed to land a piercing blow to the Fantastical Dragon, which ultimately made it collapse into sparks of blue.

Hydra's LP: 7300

"This time I am not gonna waste my ammo on your fodder dragons!" He held on to Desperado and fired a second normal attack with Zakiel's unholy revolvers. Two shots to the head and torso managed to destroy the Magnarokket Dragon. Afterwards Magical Musketeer Max fired wildly into the air. "Nph." The link monsters' direct attack eventually found its target. "So you can still feel pain when you join Millennium huh?"

Hydra's LP: 6300

"Of course.. Moreso than ever. They all choose what to keep and what to lose. I want to keep my pain, it keeps me steady." Hydra laughed back from every corner of the building. "But that does not mean I am close by, Sundown Mephistar. I do not have to see you to duel you, so do not try to find me this way.." Whatever he felt did not do more than inconvenience him briefly. "Tch, are you telling me you arent even in the same room as us? Argh! Hey, Asterisk, are you sure your friend hasn't found a way to cancel his damn cloak by now?" Sundown asked the agent behind him, as he ended his turn.

"I wish I could I say otherwise, but no. Near as he can tell he is using his own algorithm to scramble his location. He is not really invisible, he is just not 'present'. He duels through some kind of proxy." Asterisk shook his head. "I am impressed he figured out that much. But he will never unravel my connection, I can change my vantage point and my settins at the drop of a hat. The instant you come close to the source, I will be somewhere else." The invisible duelist said with mild satisfaction. "That may be so. However.." That tone vanished when the Agent continued. "V did discover the nature of your long range sight, sir Hydra. It is quite fascinating."

"He did what now?" Blanche reacted with surprise. "When did he discover that?" Hydra had already guessed the how. "When you still helped us, when you used his program it let him analyze yours. Though he only did so after your disappearance, to see if we could locate you again. It helped us see how you see the world. Because you aren't using an avatar, you cannot picture us at all from that distance. You just get lines of code and data. In a way that is perhaps more useful than pure sight." The agent clearly was impressed as well with Hydra's handiwork. "So wait, does he even know what we look like?" Blanche scratched her head. "Of course. I know what your avatars are. But I do not need to see the faces as I duel them. Once I thought being able to see would make me... us.. closer. But these false images only create more distance. So that is why I decided not to create a false image of myself at all. Though.. I did try to be different once."

-TURN 05-

"It does not matter now. Soon Millennium will make me truly invisible to the world." The two Magnarokket Dragons in the graveyard activated their effects. They summoned an an Anesthrokket Dragon(1/0/2200) [Zone 4] and another Shellrokket Dragon(4/1100/2200) [Zone 3] to the field. "Link summon! Booster Dragon!" Both turned into link materials for an old friend of Hydra. "Another one?" Hydra owned two Booster Dragons evidently, because he was definitely seeing this second one(1900/LINK 2) {Downleft/Downright} [Extra Zone 2]. "Try something else for once, Hydra! Because I can do the same thing over and over too! Cross Domination!" The quickplay crossfire spell, given to the wild musketeer, shut down the Dragon(0 atk)'s powers and attackpoints before Hydra could load it up with one of his Rokket Dragons. "Magical Musket Wild uses his power!" And Sundowns demon returned three more of his bands weapons (Last Stand, Steady Hands, Cross Domination) to draw another card.

"You want something else? You got it. I activate Boot Sector Launch." Hydra went on without a care and played a field spell. "Guess you forgot about this! Last Stand!" Sundown could easily shut that spell down just like had done with Torrential Tribute. Only... "Huh?" Hydra countered the counter. "I activate Red Reboot. I negate your trap and set it back on your field." The Last Stand left Sundowns hand only to land face-down [Zone 1] on the field. "He has handtraps too now?" Blanche's eyes widened. "Red Reboot is a counter trap that can be activated from my hand, at the cost of half my lifepoints. So yes, I do have them. This card will also place another trap from your deck down on the field, if you want to. But you cannot activate trap cards for the rest of the turn." Effectively, Sundown was now firing a shotgun with just one barrel.

Hydra's LP: 3150

"Damn you." Sundown placed Magical Musket Desperado [Zone 3] down behind Musketeer Wild. "You might regret that on the next turn." He would be running out of ST zones at this rate, since Call of the Haunted still existed alongside Zakiel. "Maybe. Maybe not. Either way, I activate Boot Sector Launch and special summon Rokket Dragons from my graveyard until I control as many monsters as you do." The revolving sector launched three bullets again: two Magnarokket Dragons[Zones 2 & 4] and Metalrokket Dragon [Zone 1]. It all tumbled down from there. "Link summon. Twin Triangle Dragon. The materials are two level 4 or lower dragons." The two Magnarokkets combined into the triangle holding dragon(1200/LINK2) {Down/Left} [Zone 3], who linked with Booster Dragon. "I activate its effect and special summon Fantastical Dragon Phantazmay." Hydra then paid 500 of his own lifepoints and moved the fantasy dragon[Zone 4] with the sword of blue flames to the zone on the field marked by Twin Triangle Dragon.

"And I normal summon Triggering Wurm.." Then came the last card in Hydra's hand: a red metal dragon worm(2/600/600) [Zone 5] with a green visor and trigger-shaped spikes on its back and front. "To use for the link summon of Topologic Trisbaena! The link materials are two dark-attribute dragons!" And finally he revealed his newest cyberse: using Booster Dragon as two link materials and Triggering Wurm as the third. "Trisbaena!?" Before Sundown stood a draconic robot(2500/LINK 3) {Downleft/Up/Downright} [Extra Zone 2] of white and black cybersteel. Its long claw-legs and were strapped to giant hoverhweels that glowed with the colors of the rainbow. The same kind of flight generators were attached to Trisbaena's shoulders like wings. "When a monster is special summoned and linked with Topologic Trisbaena, it banishes that monster and banishes all spell and trap cards as well! Then you lose 500 lifepoints for each of your banished cards!" Hydra explained the impending devastation..

..which he triggered with Triggering Wurm [Zone 5]. "It came back?" The Trigger dragon possessed the ability to special summon itself from the graveyard, if it got sent there as a DARK monster's link material. "Yes. And now the trigger is pulled!" Trisbaena blasted across the field and created claws of green light from its arms. On one side it cut down the Triggering Wurm. "!" On the other end it used both claws to banish Boot Sector Launch, Magical Musket Last Stand, Desperado and Call of the Haunted. Not only did this cost Sundown 500 lifepoints a piece, it also robbed him of Zakiel the Magical Musket Mastermind. That monster could not stay on the field anymore now that Call of the Haunted had been destroyed.

Sundown's LP: 6300

"When Triggering Wurm is banished by a dark link monsters effect, I can draw 1 card." The destroyer calmly talked amidst the chaos he caused. And what struck the hardest here, were the claws of the Topologic cyberse itself. "Ngah!" Three slashes lingered in the gunslinger's body, marking his avatar permanently. "Sundown!" That damage looked just like the damage inflicted by the ADIs. "Ghaha.. I felt that this time." Sundown laughed. "I guess you want to turn me into another example like Imperius huh? Heheh.."

"The opposite, Sundown. You have always been a man of great anger. I do not presume to understand the cause or experience, but I do know this.. Millennium can free you of that burden. I am dueling you so that you can join us as well. They saw my greatest fear, and eliminated it. They did not even need to ask me if I wanted to join them afterwards. It will be the same, for all of you."

(To Be Continued in Line 068: Blind to the Bigger Picture)

**New Cards used by Sundown Mephistar  
**_UNFAIR STANDOFF_

-  
Magical Musketeer Kid Brave  
Magical Musketeer Wild

-  
Magical Musketeer Max

-  
Toon Table of Contents

-  
Call of the Haunted  
Magical Musket - Last Stand

**New Cards used by Hydra  
**Shellrokket Dragon  
Fantastical Dragon Phantazmay  
Triggering Wurm

-  
Topologic Trisbaena

-  
Squib Draw  
Parallel Panzer

-  
Red Reboot  
Torrential Tribute


	68. Blind to the Bigger Picture

**Line 068: Blind to The Bigger Picture**

Hydra's LP: 2650 Sundown's LP: 6300

All spells and traps across the destructive path of Topologic Trisbaena(2500/LINK 3) [Extra Zone 2] turned to dust. "Wait? We're back to this?" And the damage done to the gunslinger's avatar did not heal, he bled like a digital lifeform. "I thought it was the Crown that made us hurt each other like this? Can the Lance do it too?" Many questions, for which neither he nor his companions had the answer. It seemed like Static's rules were once again at play here. Though Hydra did not sound like a man who wanted to utterly destroy his opponent. "Static never promised us complete freedom from such scars, only for duels that did not concern him. And Anders has already proven that with the right amount of firepower, one can do more than 'scar' a player. It does not have to be that way. Ezra has already shown compassion go Wagner and Midsummer, he can do the same for all of you. But I can also be merciless.."

"Like you were with Imperius I know. I don't need your mercy, Hydra." Sundown spat on the ground.

"Remember those words, Mephistar." Hydra acknowledged his rejection by performing another link summon on the spot. "The link materials are three monsters!" Twin Triangle Dragon(1200/LINK 2) separated into two vortices while Fantastical Dragon Phantazmay(7/2400/1800) and Topologic Trisbaena(2500/LINK 3) were turned into singular materials. "?" Blanche wondered what would be worth giving up a Topologic monster for. The answer did not look unfamiliar. "Borrelsword Dragon!" Hydra brought out his ace dragon, the sword winged demon dragon(3000/LINK 4) {Left/Downleft/Up/Down} [Extra Zone 2]. "The sword?" And it would prove a dangerous foe for Hydra, one that could wipe his lifepoints away in a single turn if he let him. "The battle phase begins. Metalrokket Dragon attacks." The other dragon that remained by his side, Metalrokket(4/1700/1400) [Zone 1], launched a concussive blast against Magical Musketeer Max(1000/LINK 1) [Extra Zone 1], reducing him to dust in the wind.

Sundown's LP: 5500

Two targets were left to pick from: a defending Magical Musketeer Wild(4/1700/900) [Zone 1] and Magical Musketeer Starfire(4/1300/1700) [Zone 3] in attack position. "I activate Borrelsword Dragons power! It switches one monster in attack position to defense! And then Borrelsword can attack twice in one battle phase!" He would destroy both. "Twice?" The dragon of swords targeted Metalrokket Dragon, which only caused it to selfdestruct. "Metalrokket sends every card in its column to the graveyard!" Borrelsword absorbed the destroyed metal bullet into its cylinder body and give it a whirl. The trigger connected and fired off a round, killing the strongman musketeer on the spot. Only the star musketeer stood between the invisible and the defenseless. "Borrelsword attacks!" His link dragon took to the air, spreading cutting gales with its sharp wings and sending the blade on its tail into the heart of Starfire.

"Now you walked into it, buddy!" Sundown smirked as they entered the damage step. "I activate Honest! My monster of light gets your monsters attackpoints!" A heavenly warrior angel descended, giving his power to Starfire(4300/1700). She got a quick hit in with her crossguns, before the blade reached her. "Ah it seems the sword is not mightier than the bullet." Asterisk chuckled. "Yeah but.. his sword is not shabby either." Blanche noted.

Hydra's LP: 1350

While Starfire's counterattack did repel the first attack, Borrelsword received no injuries from the counter-blasts. "Damnit. That thing can't be destroyed by an attack?" Sundown cursed. "No, Sundown. I knew you were in prone to using Honest in a pinch. There was reason to believe you had it in your hand already." Hydra called his monster back to prepare its second attack. "Oh yeah? Is that what your fancy data is telling you?" Everything action the invisible duelist took, he based on statistics and written information. "It is all I needed to be told. Borrelsword Dragon activates its second effect! It halves your monsters attackpoints and adds them to his own!" Suddenly the gunblade dragon fired a rapid round from his mouth and drained power right out of Starfire's body(2150/1700). "Bastard!" With that stolen power Borrelsword(5150 atk) cut the woman of the desert down at the waist and scattered her to the sands. "Graahhh!" More gashes were carved into her master as well.

Sundown's LP: 2500

"You kept me from ending it all here and now. It would have been easier for you that way." Hydra placed a trap card down on the field and ended the turn. During the end of that turn, the destroyed Metalrokket Dragon special summoned another magnum bullet Magnarokket Dragon(4/1800/1200) [Zone 3] in defense mode. "Easy? Just like it was that easy to betray us for them? I expected it of Midsummer, that freakjob. But for a short while I really did think you were one of the good ones. That shows what I know."

-TURN 06-

"Rgh." Sundown inspected his hand. There were no monsters he could immediately summon and therefor no Muskets to fire off. "I activate Reload!" He shuffled the three cards in his hand, including Toon Cannon Soldier, back into the deck. Then threw three new cards. "I bet you saw this coming too then, if you know so much already. I summon the Magical Musketeer Doc! I will use him to.."

"Once again your body is slower than your mind, Sundown Mephistar." Hydra interrupted. "Borrelsword activates its effect! It targets Magnarokket Dragon and switches it to defense mode!" Whereas Booster Dragons shots could be avoided during ones own turn, Borrel dragons provided no such security. The quick effect of the sword dragon turned the Rokket into a selfdestructive beam of golden light. "Magnarokket Dragon sends Doc to the graveyard!" A piercing shot required a direct line of sight. The magnum bullet could kill anything anywhere, and so too did the medical sniper Musketeer(3/1400/1200) die just as he arrived on the field. "And I thought Borreload was annoying.." Blanche sighed.

"I will get square with you, Hydra. If it is the last thing I do." Sundown placed one card face down. Nothing more than that could be done. "Getting square. You mentioned this before: that there is a person you seek revenge against. Is that still so? Have you found him yet?" Hydra waited before he drew his next card, which frustrated Sundown. "That is none of your business!" He shouted and cursed. "But is he here? is he in the network?" The invisible duelist's curiosity only increased. "He is. He is a duelist like you. Hell, for all I know he IS you." Sundown did not have any information on his opponents identity after all. "A grudge is an awful thing to carry around, Sundown. What happened to start it off?" Asterisk became interested as well.. and concerned. "He took something from me and my family. And I became a duelist to avenge them and get back what was lost. But that is all I will say about it. I don't need your help in finding him, and I dont need Millenniums help either! I know what you were going to offer, and you can shove it up your barrels!"

-TURN 07-

"Revenge. Such a nebulous goal with such a small frame. You need to think about others, Sundown. I learned this myself..just two days ago." The usual Rokket rechambering took place during the passing of the turns. Magnarokket in the graveyard special summoned a new Rokket to the field: the automatic bullet-styled bronze dragon Autorokket(4/1600/1000) [Zone 3]. "When Autorokket Dragon is targeted by a Dark link monster, it will destroy itself and send one spell or trap card on the field to the graveyard!" All of that happened after Borrelsword switched the dragon to defense mode. The blast traveled through the revolver dragon and fired into Hydra's facedown spell: Mortslag. "A bluff?" Hydra sounded mildly surprised. Though none of the information available to him indicated a remaining threat. "So this is how it ends then..." Borrelsword could attack twice. Once would be enough. "Direct attack."

"Heh."

"You're laughing?" He instantly regretted it. "Yeah I am. You just said something you can't take back!" Sundown still possessed one single card: a monster that activated from his hand. "When you declare an attack, and I have no other cards on my field or in my hand... I can activate the Goddess of Sweet Revenge!" He saught his sanctuary through the power of the long greenhaired goddess. She waved her winged staff around and slapped the energy attack of Borrelsword Dragon right back at him. "In this case Sweet revenge means the destruction of all your monsters! And I can summon any monster I want from my deck!" Its own blast blew Borrelsword to kingdom come. What energy remained got absorbed back into the body of the Goddess, who the breathed life into another Magical Musket Mastermind: Zakiel(7/2500/2500) [Zone 3]. "Now do you still reckon that payback is pointless? Hahaha!"

"You sound like Alpha. He could never let go of his past either." Hydra muttered as he accepted his wasted battlephase. "Alpha? You know that guy?" Blanche asked loudly. "Of course. Alpha has become one of them too." Sundown filled her in. But he would soon come to regret those words.

"Sundown.." Asterisk muttered under his breath. It was too late now. "Oh so you knew that as well. So you did not just send someone to lure Ezra into an ambush, you used them to spy on us as well. Didn't you, Asterisk? You gave Void, Scura or the same program that you gave to me. Did they even know? You might as well tell me, I know how to find it. I removed it from myself after all. You cannot hide anything from someone you cannot find."

Hydra activated a spell card: Monster Reborn. The 'reborn' would be none other than Borrelsword Dragon [Zone 2], who Hydra special summoned from the graveyard. "I thank you for telling me what I already suspected, Sundown. Now we can truly end this." He placed a card down and let Autorokket Dragon special summon a new Metalrokket Dragon(4/1700/1400) [Zone 3] to the field in attack position.

-TURN 08-

_"Metalrokket?"_ Sundowns eyes widened. _"That one will.."_ He already took a hit from the piercing bullet dragon before. _"Destroy everything in its column."_ It stood face to face with Zakiel and nothing else... yet. This, combined with the card he drew, gave him an idea. "Hmph. If that is true, Hydra. Then how did I manage to catch you off guard? You had me in that turn. All you needed to do was not destroy my spell card with Autorokket Dragon, and I would have been helpless. But you let my bluff fool you." Hydra's mistake would have cost him the match, if he had not drawn into the revival spell that turn. "A risk has to be eliminated, no matter how insignificant it may be." Hydra retorted. "Yes, but everything looks insignificant from your point of view. You're so far away, you may as well be pixel hunting! You can't replace real interactions with data!" Even avatars with their limited expressions would say more than numbers. "So can you tell me, if I do not have another Honest or Magical Musket in my hand right now?! Because I am going to attack your monster, and you will have to stop me! Because I wont!"

"What?" Hydra stammered. Zakiel came right at Borrelsword Dragon. "But you can not.." To do so was suicide, unless the enemy did have another attackbooster card in his hand. And if it was Honest, not even his trap would be able to stop it. "Sundown?" Asterisk was shocked as well. Since he knew the truth. But Hydra could not see. "Borrelsword Dragons effect activates!" The invisible duelist saw no choice but to shoot before the damage step started. Borrelsword targeted Metalrokket to begin the chain of destruction along its entire column.

"So I guess you at least aren't looking over my shoulders. Or else you would have seen this coming.." Sundown used Zakiel's effect to activate a Magical Musket from his hand. "Fiendish Deal! As long as I control this continuous trap: the Musketeers cannot be destroyed by effects!" Metalrokket's blast traveled along the straight line, and failed to kill the demon mastermind. However, it did destroy the continuous trap [Zone 3] activated right behind Zakiel. "Oh!"

"You're damn right! When Fiendish Deal is destroyed, I can add one Magical Musket card from my deck to my hand!" Sundown drew the quickplay spell: Steady Hands. He felt more comfortable using attackboosters since he knew his opponent had a few destruction negation traps in his repertoire. Sundown needed battle damage, over 1350 points of it. "Steady Hands doubles the attack and defense points of a Magical Musketeer! But then you already knew that at least!" Still on the same path, Zakiel(5000/2500) gained the powerboost from its new sniper rifle just as he and Borrelsword entered the damage step. "It's the end of the line for you!"

"You were right." Right before the final step of battle, Hydra did something unexpected. "There are some things that I cannot see through the eyes of another, through a machine. That is twice now that you tricked me." The space behind Borrelsword became distorted. "!? You're.. here?" It warped to take the shape of a human, with limbs and all. "Now that I am with Millennium, I can freely switch places with my proxy. Though doing so causes my cover to drop." The features broke through the veil one by one: a black uniform with long boots, a pilot's cap, black hair and red eyes. "H-hey!" They knew this face.

"Schwarzwald!?"

The Black baron, that was the true identity of the invisible duelist. "You made me want to look you right in the eyes, Sundown. You got me.." The battle continued, and Zakiel fired with every weapon in his hand... To no avail. The bullets bounced off of Borrelsword Dragon(5500 atk)'s body and it retaliated by impaling Zakiel on his frontal blade. "Trap card: Execute Protocols. Also known as the gunslinger executioner: a fitting name perhaps. But the effect matters more, as it let me banish a dragon link monster from my graveyard and pass its attackpoints over to a Borrel monster on my field." The tip of the blade punctured Sundown's shoulder. Behind Borrelsword the spirit of Topologic Trisbaena with its 2500 ATK linged to fuel his extra powers. "Guh." Borrelsword then retracted his sword and let Zakiel bleed out its digital sparks

Sundown's LP: 2000

"Wait wait wait. You were the Baron all this time? Mister number one fan?" On one hand this explained why Blanche felt so weirded out by his moves. And it explained why Schwarzwald seemed so knowledgable about the heroes' tactics. On the other hand she did not see or hear any of that goofball's mannerisms in Hydra's personality. The man that revealed himself only looked like Schwarzwald. "That was just an act, in part. You did leave an impression with me, miss Blanche. I felt you and I were alike in certain ways, and I wanted to know what it was like to be as you are.. Free of spirit. That is why I created Baron Schwarzwald. But that was all a lie, _his_ words did not connect with me. Not until I met Millennium. Ezra helped me bridge the gap between myself and who I wanted to be."

-TURN 09-

"And you made sure that I could take the next step, Sundown. I am thankful for that. I should have come out of hiding a lot sooner. So I am giving you one last chance, something the old me would never have done." Control passed back to Hydra, since Zakiels death left Sundown with no more cards to play. "Surrender and join Millennium. They can help you find the one you need. And then you will finally see that you never needed to find him at all." Borrelsword raised his sword for one final swing. "..." With nothing left to fight with, Sundown did not even know if he wanted to keep fighting at all. It would be so much easier to let others take care of him. "Go to hell." Easy and impossible. The voice that echoed in the back of his head would not let him quit. A voice not his own. ".." Hydra said nothing back, he simply let the attack happen and did not care how much damage it would cause.

Sundown's LP: 0

"Not today." The veil of darkness flooded into the palace and broke apart at the same time. "Ezra?" The wielder of the Lance stepped in between the black baron and the defeated gunslinger. "You are giving him a stay of execution?" Though this intrusion slightly upset Hydra/Schwarzwald, he did not dare speak against Ezra. "What? I dont need your damn kindess!" Sundown loudly cursed.

"You might want to listen to him, Mephisto Star." Cherry Anise appeared from the sinking shadows as well, and Void was still forced to tag along. "Ah. Guys.." He quickly realized it as well, the true nature of Hydra/Schwarzwald. But he did not know what Hydra knew, which kept him from saying almost everything. "Void. If you are here then.." Asterisk peered beyond them and the opened gate. There he saw bodies strewn out across the void, Admins and CIDs alike. Yet he also saw a few admins among the ranks of the Millennium duelists. Ezra had used the lance on them already, by their own choice. "They turned on us." Sundown growled. "Dont make this personal. Those guys just wanted to be free. Some others ran away. But most are down for the count, permanently." Ulysses also came into the hall with a chuckle.

"Most. Not all." The living thunder followed him, and spread his electric essence across the columns and walls of the elemental palace. "Why, have these three, not been given the, choice yet?" Prospero surrounded them from every degree and angle. "Maybe he has a soft spot for us?" Blanche hoped. "Is that true? Ezra, you always, go too easy. Enemies will remain, enemies." Unlike Hydra, the man of lightning had no problem talking down to the skullfaced duelist.

"The world is not that simple, Prospero. And they all deserve the chance to make a choice. Four of you have already joined us. They have seen the light that your other masters cannot even imitate. But I do not intend to punish everyone who does not feel like joining our family, not while our paradise is still incomplete. Friendship is all I ask for. A guarantee that you will not fight us again." In comparison Ezra spoke with a much more gentler and inviting tone. It could make almost anyone believe that they were talking to world's kindest man. "Tch. Like hell. I made my standpoint clear! As far as I am concerned, you and Hansen and the Crown are all the same!" Not Sundown however.

"Hansen! Shoot! I forgot about him!" The silverfaced duelist gasped and rushed to the end of the palace hall. "Bah. It's no use. The old boss sealed off his access port, it's just dead cyberspace in there now." The whole floor that used to house Hansens office turned into an unrendered black void. And they could not go up or down either. "That's right. You wasted your time." Sundown took that as a victory regardless of his own current position. "We did not. We vanquished our, enemies. Hansen is running, out of puppets, to hide behind. Soon there will, nobody be left, to stop us. Ezra, this one will, never see, eye to eye, with us. Remove him, from the equation." Prospero tolerated no half-measures. "I agree, sir Ezra. I know these people, they do not care if a few of them have already walked over to us. They will only start to fall in line if some of them fall down the abyss." Hydra stated with an unhappy look on his face. That seemed to be his normal expression.

"...Is that what you believe?" Ezra listened, and raised the lance. "Void? What do you feel is right?" And he pointed it at the cyberse duelist. "What? I.." He gave the others one look. "I do not want to see them hurt. They aren't guilty of Hansens crimes." And gave the answer that he hoped Ezra wanted to hear.

"Are they now?" Briefly the flames that were the lancer's eyes burned intensely. "..." Asterisk and the others knew better than to argue. "Perhaps so. But they should ask themselves why they are fighting for him." The fire dimmed and he turned away. "You don't want them to join us?" Hydra could not believe it. "It is not the time yet." Those words were enough justification for the other members of Millennium. Ezra created a new veil of darkness to cover their retreat and they all followed... including a reluctant Void. "..." The cyberse duelist turned quiet. Ulysses on the other hand, gave a farewell from the whole group. "Hey if you change your mind, you know what to do! Hold on to those golden shiny cards, alright!?" With a salute, he backstepped into the shadows and left the trio with their thoughts.

"..That could have gone worse." Blanche claimed and let out a long deep sigh. "But also better." Asterisk frowned. "Friends? Us? Never!" Sundown punched the darkness. But they were already gone. "Hydra, Ezra, bastards! All of them! You may run, but we will find you!"

...

Ezra's entourage returned to the outskirts of his paradise and most followers dispersed. Void, who did not spot Scura or the others yet, was forced to stay. "You still should, have eliminated, them." He watched as Prospero and Hydra argued with Ezra. "We do not need more martyrs. We need a way to acquire the Chalice. Confronting Hansen directly is not an option anymore" Unlike before, the lance wielder's voice lacked power. "But they are spying on us! Sundown said so himself! We cannot have them in our ranks!" In fact Ezra seemed to have gotten weaker as soon as they got here. He even recoiled when Hydra lashed out at him.

"Ezra!" The situation made Melyria Cister grow to human size again, and she placed her hand on his back. "What.. is wrong with him?" The baron also looked surprised by this turn of events. "He used, too much power." Prospero scoffed. "I will regain it, Prospero." Ezra silenced him. Even in this state, he could easily overpower dissenters. "Come, they don't need you for now." Melyria supported the weight of the lumbering lancer. "Very well. We will return. We can continue this discussion then." The two walked up a set of strange spiraling stairs and vanished into a place Void could not make out. It seemed that the throne room of Ezra could only be seen by those who accepted the Lance.

"So there is a weakness. Is that what you are thinking, Void?" Hydra walked up to Void with an accusing glare. "What are you.." The now visible duelist saw right through him. Void did immediately ponder how this revelation could help them, and how it probably explained why Ezra pulled everyone back in the first place. "Did you plan this ambush with Hansen? Tell me the truth, Void. I know you were bugged once, back when you abandoned me. Is that still the case?" Hydra knew too much. "Everything I said was true, Hydra. Hansen must have suspected my subterfuge, or maybe Asterisk did not trust me and kept me bugged. If I still am, I don't know about it now. And I didn't want to abandon you. I had no idea where you went." Void at least managed to keep his cool, and had his listening program already deactivated. Though he wondered if the situation could be salvaged at all "There is only one way to know for sure, you have to become like me." Though that would be impossible right now with Ezra missing in action.

"No. There is, another way." Prospero stated, and intensified his electric aura.

...

"Well that was an unmitigated disaster!" Vigionair cried out. "I knew Evert would find a way to ruin it." Arcis Da Vinci moaned, she also heard enough to realize that the plan to have Hansen duel Ezra never made it beyond the first stage. "What? No not that! I already expected his human nature to create problems. It's Hydra: that two-timing camouflaged heel is spilling everything! They know about me now! They know we are listening and watching!" The panicked encrypter screamed and ripped a few hairs out. "But what is the worst they could do? This place always moves, doesn't it?" Arcis stated. While Void did have quickjump coordinates, they were already out of date by now. "Yes. Yes you are right. But they might still find a way to trace it back to me." Vigionair managed to calm down a little. "I will have to shut down monitoring from my end too now. That might be bad for Void but... Heh?" Unfortunately, his screen offered new bad news. "Why is Void activating his emergency escape function?!"

A blast of lightning exploded the virtual console. "Gahh!" Vigionair fell from his seat as two beings warped into the center of the room: the duelist Void and the Thunder lord Prospero. "So, we meet, at last. V."

(To Be Continued in Line 069: Comfort Inside Statistics)

**New Cards used by Sundown Mephistar  
**Goddess of Sweet Revenge

-  
Reload

-  
Magical Musket - Fiendish Deal

**New Cards used by Baron Schwarzwald/Hydra  
**Autorokket Dragon

-  
Execute Protocols


	69. Comfort Inside Statistics

**Line 069: ****Comfort Inside Statistics**

A heap of bad news awaited anyone who came to visit the Arena of the Beyond. "Well that sounds like a recipe for mayhem alright. I should have been there damnit!" Duelists like Donna had missed out on the attack on the palace due to their own schedules. "Don't blame yourself. We have enough of that going on around here." Blanche told her the whole story, including the parts that caused Sundown to anrgily sulk against the walls of the collosseum. "But what about Hansen?" The wrestler duelist would have expected to see them back at the palace, not here. "His assistant Walter gave us a friendly warning to vacate the area. Mister Hansen will not be coming online in the foreseeable future." The blue-eyed girl explained while making airquotes with her fingers. "So that bastard has given you the cold shoulder eh? Typical." Donna snorted and stomped on the floor. The CTO had never bothered to give her an update on the Giganoto situation either.

"Hey Asterisk, you're being awfully quiet. What's up with that?" Blanche interrupted the talk to address the more nervous than usual agent.

"You noticed. I did not want to raise any alarm, but I worry that something has gone wrong with V." Asterisk revealed with a dead serious tone. "V? That was your friend right?" Donna felt a little behind on her facts. "He'd rather call himself my colleague or teacher, but yes. And now I cannot get in contact with him anymore." Normally Asterisk could always call Vigionair when he needed. He never saw the man neglect his channels and at worst at least received an automated response.

"Can't you just quickjump to him then?" Blanche suggested. "I would if I could. Either he's switched his coordinates without telling me, which he has never done before, or he has set his base in lockdown mode. But it would take dire circumstances to make him do the latter." He could not come up with a reason for it, yet no other explanation seemed possible. "Is that bad then?" Donna scratched her head. "Very. Therese is still with him. And she needs safety even more than him.."

...

"Void? What? Who are you?" Arcis da Vinci heard the stories. But that did not prepare her for what she saw: a man made out of thunder. "You, know, her?" Prospero entered Vigionaire's lair with Void in tow, he looked as shocked as she did. "We both dueled in the tournament. That is all." Void lied. Their presence here was already a disaster. The last thing he needed to add on top of that was revealing her identity as Hansens sister.

"Ohoho! You are certainly something!" But nobody felt as displeased with their intrusion as the host of the lair. "How did you do it? You forcibly activated his emergency escape routine and traveled along with him?" Vigionair would have been impressed if he were not already livid. "But you did not get an invitation, so make yourself lost!" He pushed a button on a wall and reconfigured the entire layout of his room to transport them all to his matrix arena. The energy grid cast its light upon Prospero and trapped him within a glowing cage. Anyone caught within would be immediately teleported out.

"You, want to expel, me? You can, Not!" Prospero exploded with another burst of power and shattered the cage. "Gah! Damnit! I guess we will have to do this the hard way!" Vigionair grumbled and activated another function of his hideout: transforming his avatar into his duelist mode. "V? What is happening?" Arcis still did not understand why Prospero was here. "This is one of Ezra's subjects. In all likelihood he showed up here to destroy my property and remove me as a threat. I expected nothing less. But he is gtrealy mistaken if he thinks I will let him do it!" He activated a dueldisk and drew four cards along with a skill card.

"I, am no subject! But the rest, is all true." Prospero created his own cards from pure lightning. "Vigionair, I didn't think this would happen." In the mean time Void apologized. "You did what you had to. Just stand back and let me do what I have to. The same goes for you miss da Vinci. I will have this invader taken care of before you know it. Because this is my home! And you should not have come here!"

Prospero's LP: 8000 Vigionair's LP: 8000 -TURN 01-

"And, I am Prospero. There is, no place, I cannot enter." Prospero claimed the first turn. "I summon, the Aloof Lupine." Prospero's first creature, a calm and stoic silver wolf(4/1700/300) [Zone 2] clashed harshly with his thunderous presence. "When this card is summoned, I banish one monster, from my hand. To banish one monster, from my deck." The Lupine howled twice and targeted the cards of Thunder Dragonroar and Thunder Dragondark in Prospero's hand and deck respectively. "The roaring thunder, special summon a thunder monster, from my deck, when it is banished. And banishing, the thunder of dark, adds another thunder creature, to my hand." Dragonroar's effect special summoned a copy of himself, the lionic blue-scaled maned Thunder Dragonroar(6/2400/0) [Zone 3], from the deck. Dragondark's effect then drew the Thunder Dragonhawk monster card. "When I discard ThunderdragonHawk, I can special summon, one banished Thunderdragon, to the field." Once again Prospero electrified the field and raised one of the dragons to life: the devilish winged serpent Thunder Dragondark(4/1600/1500). "Link summon, Some Summer Summoner."

"A summoner from summer huh?" Vigionair appreciated the tongue twister that came with the jolly thundergod(1600/LINK 2) {Downleft/Downright} [Extra Zone 1] on top of his cloud. "And you have such a peculiar dialect. I must know, where did you pick that up?" Forgetting for a moment that this entity broke into his base, the encrypter could quite enjoy this duel. "My power, is limitless. If I, do not temper, myself, I can never, stop." Prospero stressed as the sparks laced every word like static. "Set trap, end turn." And all this time Void could only watch and wonder if there was a way to escape without Prospero noticing it. But if he did so, he would have to abandon Scura and Crescent to their fates. He could not do that either.

-TURN 02-

"Well. If you are suggesting you will stop for nothing, I would like to test that theory." Vigionair initialized his turn with his trusted rainbow winged cyber dinosaur(4/1600/800) [Zone 4]. "Since you bothered to summon a monster from the extra deck, I can special summon Cipher Twin Raptor from my hand! And when it is on the field, yours truly can also discard a card to special summon a Cipher monster from the deck!" Vigionair discarded Cipher Etranger from his hand to special summon a more humanoid warrior: Cipher Mirror Knight(4/0/0). At the same time he drew the Rank-Up-Magic card Cipher Ascension from his deck. "That's right, since I sent Cipher Etranger to my graveyard, it let me add another Cipher spell to my hand! Next point: now that I control a Cipher monster, I can special summon Cipher Wing!" The six-winged cyber cube(4/1400/1200) finalized the set of three variables needed to summon the key component of a Cipher's deck. "And once I sacrifice Cipher Wing, all Cipher monsters gain twice their original level!" The cube dispersed into firely-like data bits, which enhanced and illuminated the Cipher Raptor(8/1600/800) and Knight(8/0/0).

"I am sure he already knows all of their effects, sir V." Arcis stated. "Of course! That does not make it any less exhilarating to espouse all of these facts to my adversary!"

"You are no, adversary. You are an, obstruction." Prospero acted as fast as lightning. "The effect of Some Summer Summoner! It discards, one thunder monster, to revive, one thunder monster!" The card Thunderclap Skywolf left his volatile hand and incited a storm inside of the summer god's cloud. "I summon, Thunderclap Skywolf! It destroys, all your monsters, when it is special summoned from the graveyard!" Skywolf came back down from the clouds as a howling thunderbolt shaped like a fierce wolf(7/2500/2000) [Zone 3]. The electric fur that he shed to reveal his blue maned body, rushed across Vigionair's field. The Ciphers did not stand a chance on their own.

"Well, now is as good a time as any to test this out!" In response, Vigionair activated his skill card. "I'd like you to join my test, mister Prosperous! Tell me, does your skill happen to be Legacy of the Millennium?" The sound of a bell rang and the room's gridcolors shifted from red to blue. "Looks like it is!" And a beam of light left Prospero's hand. "What, is this?" Only to wind up in V's own clutches. "Skill Encryption! Your skill is now mine!"

Vigionair's LP: 7000

_Skill Encryption, Skill Card.  
__Pay 1000 LP: activate your opponents skill card on your side of the field.  
__Your opponent takes no damage until the end of the next turn after this card resolves._

"You..." Prospero clenched his hand when he realized Vigionair had taken him of his most precious card. "Brilliant, isn't it? I cooked this countermeasure up when Scura handed me an example of your golden card. It might not have worked on yours if I hadn't integrated its properties into this room's settings. You made one big mistake: challenging me in my own lair!" The stolen skill activated as if it were his, making his monsters immune to destruction and to spells and traps. The clap of the skywolf failed to claim a single life. "Now were where we, miss da Vinci? Void?" Vigionair asked his audience.

"What? You were going to XYZ-summon your ace card. Presumably." The lady could not tell if he had truly forgotten or if he was only fooling around. "Right! XYZ-summon! Wonderful idea! I overlay Cipher Twin Raptor with Cipher Mirror Knight, and summon Galaxy-Eyes Cipher Dragon!" He could always rely on his XYZ-monster, the majestic and galactic Cipher Dragon(R8/3000/2500) [Extra Zone 2]. They would have a lot of fun, once he detached Cipher Twin Raptor from the dragon it orbited. "Galaxy-Eyes Cipher Dragon takes control of your monster, Thunderclap Skywolf! Its attackpoints will be raised to 3000 and its name will be changed... into Galaxy-Eyes Cipher Dragon!"

"First you take my skill, now you take my monsters?!" Prospero cringed as his lightning breathing wolf assumed a different identity. The visual appearance of the Cipher dragon got pasted over it(3000/2000). "That's what it appears like, doesn't it? Hoho.. " The cipher and his enslaved copy entered the battle phase. "First we will send your other monsters to the grave." A joint strike of cipher beams decimated the Aloof Lupine and Some Summer Summoner in short order. "But, the destruction of Aloof Lupine, returns one banished monster, to our hand!" Prospero countered where he could, using Lupine's demise to reclaim Thunder Dragonroar. "So it does. And if I were to end my turn now, you would also get your big Skywolf pet back. But.. I took that into consideration already!" Vigionair moved to the second main phase. "Because a duelist, like me, can always rank Cipher Dragon up, to summon a Galaxy-Eyes Blade Cipher Dragon! Or was that Cipher Blade Dragon? Either way!" He performed the deed: placing a rank 9 XYZ monster on top of the rank 8 dragon. "I'd like for you to meet it!"

"Cipher, Blade." As the dragon underwent its rank-up transformation, it(R9/3200/2800) [Extra Zone 2] grew in size and blades of stellar light grew out of its arms. "Correct! Cipher Blade can take one of its materials and turn that into a wave of destruction! And the card I destroy is mine right now, so it will not be yours again!" The swords of the new Galaxy-Eyes turned against the fake Cipher Dragon and cut through the disguise to kill Thunderclap Skywolf. "There, now everything is taken care of! No, wait." Vigionair activated a spell card. "I can use this now: Galactic Charity! I discard one card, Cipher Mirror Knight, to draw two new cards. And that's all because I have a Galaxy XYZ monster on my field already!" He drew two traps, both were placed down on the field along with the spell of Cipher Ascension. "And seeing as how I did discard Cipher Mirror Knight this turn. That means I can add a new Cipher card from my deck to my hand during my endphase! I choose Cipher Interference!"

"So this, is the preferred, order, of your dueling." A scoff could faintly be heard between the electric bursts that were Prospero's words. "I do prefer to keep things neat and orderly" Vigonair scoffed right back at him. "The words of, a fool. Order, Chaos, Light, Dark. One cannot exist, without the other. When you seek, to impose one, on us. You give us, no other option, than to fight back, with the other.."

-TURN 03-

Prospero started his turn by banishing three monsters from his graveyard: Thunder Dragondark, Thunder Dragonroar and Thunderclap Skywolf. "Chaos, Dragon, Levianeer. I summon it, by removing dead monsters, of light and dark." The effects of the re-banished thunder dragons triggered all over again. The roaring lions thunder special summoned a Thunder Dragondark(5/1600/1500) [Zone 3] from the deck in defense position. The black dragondark thunder added a new Thunder Dragon card to Prospero's hand: Thunder Dragon Fusion. And all this banishing also facilitated the awakening of chaos: of the white unicorn horned dragon Levianeer(8/3000/0) [Zone 4]. "Levianeer destroys two cards, when, it is special summoned, by banishing both light, and dark!" Energy of dark and bright light flowed across each of the dragons wings and collided against each other at the tip to form a blast of twilight.

"Good lord!" Vigionaire's Blade Dragon and face-down Rank-Up spell suffered instant annihilation within the duality sphere of destruction. Prospero knew exactly what cards he wanted and needed to target. "Chaos indeed. Fortunately Cipher Blade Dragon can special summon the basic Cipher Dragon from my graveyard, should it ever be destroyed by you!" Vigionair chuckled and placed the original Galaxy-Eyes Cipher[Zone 4] on the field in defense mode.

"More laws, more restrictions. Pile on, as many, as you desire. It shall not, help." Prospero continued his turn and revealed the spell known to all duelists: Allure of Darkness. "I draw two cards, and banish, a dark monster, Thunder Dragonroar." Aloof Lupine's reclaimed card had some use after all, even though only one of the lesser Thunder Dragon effects could be used each turn. "...And then I, activate Thunder Dragon Fusion!" It was in fact essential for his next attack. Thunder Dragon Fusion could fuse banished Thunder Dragons and there were three fusion materials right now: Dragonhawk, Dragondark and Dragonroar. "I summon Thunder Dragon Titan!" Each card got shuffled into the deck, yet left behind a spark of their power in each of the Titans three heads. The fused dragon(10/3200/2800) [Extra Zone 2] of trinity emerged from the clouds of tempest.

"Gah!" Vigionair let out a cry of anguish as he saw electric bolts striking the equipment of his lair. "Isn't it enough that you broke into my space? Now you have damage it as well?" All the renders got bugged out, it would take hours to recode it. "This whole area, will be destroyed. That is the prize, for interfering with the next, world." Prospero showed no mercy, not through his words nor his actions. "Return of, the Dragonstorm! I special summon one, banished monster. Thunderclap Skywolf!" His trap flipped up to 'return' the lightning spewing wolf(7/2500/2000) [Zone 5] to the stormfront. "And then we will tear down everything else created in the name of order!" He switched to the battle phase.

"Are you serious? Exeter built this world! If you take them down, who is going to maintain it for you? You're mad, all of you!" Arcis shouted. "It must seem, that way, to you, who has grown up, with lies. Exeter, did not create, anything." The thunder lord rebuffed her claims. "What are you talking about?"

"We are not talking about Exeter yet! It sounds to me like you are the one who has a problem, Prospero!" Vigionair took advantage of the distracted duelist and snuck in a trap card activation: Crackdown. The continuous trap would target Thunder Dragon Titan and take permanent control of it. "You will not." But Prospero had plenty of time and opportunity to counteract it. "Take anything, from me, again! I will not stop!" He discarded a card, Thunder Dragonmatrix. "When the Matrix activates, a Thunder Dragon gains 500 attackpoints! And when I, discard a Thunder Dragon, to use its effect, the Titan will destroy! One card, you own!" Twice did the matrix orb of lightning charge up the already turbulent fusion titan dragon(3700/2800), whose controlled storm spread out and destroyed the Crackdown trap to smother its effect. "Be, gone!" Thunder Dagon Titan headed straight for Galaxy-Eyes Cipher Dragon.

"Hmph. The first run was a failure. Well, no choice now. I activate Photon Mode!" Prospero would not be facing that version of Galaxy-Eyes for long. "Photon? Mode?"

"Photon Mode, Prospero! It is a continuous trap for switching Galaxy monsters on my field with Photon monsters in my deck! And what will I use it for?" The Cipher dragon vanished into the cosmic graveyard, relinquishing its zone for another creature with the eyes of the galaxy. "Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon!" This dragon(8/3000/2500) [Zone 1] looked similar to the XYZ-variant: a photonic bright blue body armored by darkblue scales. The only difference were its smaller wings and lesser focus on crimson plating. "When Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon battles an opponents monster, it can banish that monster and itself from the field until the end of the battle!" Neither monster would die, but that did not discourage Prospero from attacking anyway. "It will, be removed, regardless." Thunder Dragon Titan disappeared alongside Galaxy-Eyes: leaving Levianeer and Skywolf with the defenseless Vigionair. "Damn." He took the full voltage. The Chaos dragon unleashed its twilight flames and the Thunderclapping beast shocked his body. "Ghwaaaahah!"

Vigionair's LP: 1500

"Vigionair?" It startled Void to see an avatar react to an attack this way. "Marvelous.." Yet the pain thrilled the cipher duelists as much as it hurt him. "This is not just a simulation of impulses. You have found a way to stimulate my physical nerves into inducing a reaction. One that I can feel in here. I guess... this is what Asterisk felt like, when you tortured him." He reveled and smoldered. At this point both Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon and Thunder Dragon Titan [Zone 3] returned to the field.

"Pain, is what you choose, as a companion. You are old, you cannot evolve, anymore." Prospero placed another card face down before the end of his turn. As he did, Thunder Dragondark flew back into his hand. A monster special summoned by Thunder Dragonroar could only be kept on the field for one turn. "Hmph. And you are just a young fool. Pain is just another instrument to help us learn from our mistakes. But I wouldn't call it my companion. I already have a protege to teach me when and where I go wrong. And he has his friends. That is all the company I can stomach." He sighed. "Protege?" Void assumed he was talking about Agent Asterisk. "Yes, and we were silly enough to think we could change this world together. I even started to tolerate his whims of fancy.."

-TURN 04-

"But I see no reason to ever tolerate the likes of you!" Vigionair summoned another dragon from the cosmos, a baby-sized Galaxy-Eyes(1/300/250) [Zone 3]. "That thing? I could destroy it, with ease!" Prospero boasted. "Yet you wont, and I know why." His opponent laughed. "I would sacrifice the monster with Photon Change first, and your monsters effect would miss!" One way or another, V would summon an XYZ-monster. And since the Thunder Dragon left the Galaxy dragon alone, he would get that XYZ-monster from his graveyard. "When I tribute this card, which is called Galaxy-Eyes Cloud Dragon, that is when you see will a cosmic rebirth! it special summons one Galaxy-Eyes from my graveyard!" The galactic child dipped into a nebula and expanded it. Eventually it grew to a size that could reshape an entire Galaxy-Eyes Cipher Dragon[Zone 3]. "And then, if I banish Cloudragon from my graveyard, it becomes an attachment to Galaxy-XYZ monster!" Cipher Dragon breathed in the remnants of the galaxy portal and made it orbit its body as a new XYZ-material.

"He is still not reacting?" Arcis did not understand, the Millennium duelist possessed the firepower yet not the will. "I will, not, blink first." Because he wanted to wait for the true threat, the dragon that could be summon by Rank-Up-Magic: Cipher Ascension. Back when he destroyed Blade Cipher Dragon, he also sent another Cipher Mirror Knight to the graveyard. That knights effect claimed a second Cipher Ascension spell card from the deck.

"Can you even blink anymore? Well, I guess it is up to me then! But it wont be the kind of blink you expect!" The Cipher Dragons bright eyes fell upon the Thunder Dragon Titan, and it detached its new material to take control of the fusion. "You, would give up, your direct attacks?" This forced Prospero's proverbial hand. He had to activate the Titans effect while he still controlled it, and he did so by discarding Thunder Dragondark from his hand. "Then die! Titan destroys, Galaxy-Eyes Cipher!" While the dark dragon effect drew a new Dragondark from the deck, the shrieking fused dragon's effect blasted the XYZ-dragon right in the middle of its cipher-process. The effect still managed to take control of Thunder Dragon Titan and turn it(3000/2800) [Zone 4] into a visual duplicate of itself. And despite everything, Vigionair could still activate his Rank-Up spell to save his doomed Cipher Dragon.

"Rank-Up Cipher Ascension changes my rank 8 monster into the rank 9 Neo Galaxy-Eyes Cipher Dragon! And he gains 500 attackpoints for each level 4 or higher monster I control!" The Galactic dragon(8/5500/3000) [Extra Zone 2] reached a new state of power, with more vibrant color and brimming energy surrounding its wings. At the same time, as all dragons were known to do upon ascension, Neo Galaxy-Eyes grew two extra dragon heads that covered its shoulders. "I detach one material from him as well, and take control of Chaos Dragon Levianeer!" Neo Cipher too would claim one monster that Prospero used to call his own, taking control of the chaotic dragon and giving it a new identity as a second Neo-Galaxy Eyes Cipher Dragon(4500/0) [Zone 5]. "What does it matter? The only monster, that could, attack directly this turn, remains the dragon, that I killed!"

"But the only monster I need to attack, is Thunderclap Skywolf!" Vigionair activated the spell that put everything together: Cipher Interference. "That card huh.." Void already knew, and the others realized it as well. This spell did not exist in the network normally. "My home, my rules. Neo Galaxy Eyes Cipher Dragons attackpoints will double, because he is battling while a monster with the same name as him is also on my field!" With three highlevel monsters under his control, Neo Dragon(6000/3800) already benefited from an ascended attackpower. But now its(12000/3800) power went through the roof. "Twelve thousand?" Arcis rarely saw numbers like that.

"You believe, you can, end me? I will not, fall here. Not now, not ever!" Prospero could only count on his trap now. "Oh I accounted for that too!" Vigionair snapped his finger and reactivated Photon Mode. The Continuous trap sacrificed Thunder Dragon Titan, now a Galaxy monster, to add a Photon card to Vigionaire's hand. "I take this and activate it, Photon Stream of Destruction! Since I have Galaxy-Eyes on my field, I can banish your card!" The original Photon Dragon used the quickplay spell to fire a burst so destructive, it left no trace of Prospero's trap card: Storming Mirror Force. "I take no chances, Prospero!"

"Neither do I.." Prospero stated with a deepening tone. "What.. are you doing?" Void took a step back when he saw the thunder lord's body spread out. "As much damage, as I can!" Lightning bolts struck the walls, the digital software, everything Vigionair had built. "You can't be serious!" Arcis yelled. "I am! You can choose, to flee.. or attack me, and be destroyed, along with me!" He did not bluff. The room began to rumble, warning sirens sounded. He was simply too much for this place.

"We will see about that!" V's patience had been strained too much already. "Void, miss da Vinci! Get out while you can! And Neo Cipher Dragon! Attack Thunderclap Skywolf!" The only way to save anything at all, was to end it now. The three dragon heads fired their blasts, and a burst of lightning consumed all.

Prospero's LP: 0

(To Be Continued in Line 070: A Court Made from Glass)

**New Cards used by Vigionair  
**Cipher Mirror Knight  
Galaxy Eyes Cloudragon  
Galaxy Eyes Photon Dragon

-  
Galaxy Eyes Cipher Blade Dragon

-  
Galactic Charity  
Photon Stream of Destruction

-  
Crackdown  
Photon Mode

**New Cards used by Prospero  
**Aloof Lupine  
Thunder DragonRoar  
Thunderclap Skywolf  
Chaos Dragon Levianeer  
Thunder Dragonmatrix

-  
Allure of Darkness

-  
Return of Dragonstorm


	70. A Court Made From Glass

**Line 070: A Court made from Glass**

"Victor." It took a while for the truth to finally reach him, but found him it did. Now Veyron, Juan, knew where his older brother had gone. "Why would he? Are you sure?" Even he never dreamed of Victor becoming this desperate. "We did not see him. But if V is sure, then we should all be sure." Yet those were the facts Blanche and the other heroes gave him. Though the actual source of this data could not be contacted at the moment. "Then.. that explains why some detectives were at my doorstep when I woke up this morning." He sighed to himself as the parts known and unknown fit together too well. "Detectives? Did they bother you?" His comments drew the attention of the already irate Donna. "Not as such. They said they were pursuing leads in a string of mysterious disappearances. My brother could not be found anywhere, and I couldn't tell them where he had gone off too either... Disappearances. Like Cherry Anise. Do you think it's even possible? To just hide in the network completely?"

"Who knows. I dont trust this though. I wouldn't be surprised if those detectives were on Exeter's payroll as well. Otherwise, why hasn't the world made a bigger fuss about these people vanishing? Something fishy is going on." Donna contemplated while she loosened up her shoulders. "Exeter? So Hansen knows about my brother?" Veyron asked without wanting to sound too condemning. "Well he didn't hear it from us. The big company cheese probably has people to tell him whenever a user disappears from the register." Madam Blanche theorized. Though that also implied that Victor had already taken the same steps as duelists like Cherry Anise. "Then again. Perhaps the old chief is getting more paranoid."

"What makes you say that?" Donna grunted. The word 'paranoid' never led to good things. "Well, most of his admins have either been kicked off or joined with Millennium. There are users every hour who streams themselves activating the Millennium skill, just to get some minutes of online fame before never being seen again. People may not be talking about the disappearances, but they are talking about this promised land of Ezra. The champions cannot oversee every sector, and the higher ups at Exeter are undoubtedly looking for a quick fix and a scapegoat. Add them all up and you have a recipe for a disaster."

"He has a right to be paranoid. Nothing is certain anymore." Said the despondent gunslinger. "Thanks for joining the conversation, Sundown. You're starting to sound like Zettai." The blue-eyed duelist sighed. His comments had all been in this tone for the last hour or so. "At least I am here." He retorted. "She is still unwilling to fight. Himiko and Zanbatou have been silent since the tournament. Crescent, Midsummer and Hydra betrayed us. Lord knows where Scarlet is hanging out! And then there's Void." He retched as he uttered his name. "Void? What is wrong with him?" Veyron felt he lacked some context there. "He's our man on the inside. Or did you forget that Sundown?" Blanche stuck up for the cyberse duelist. "I did not. But what if _he_ did? What if he fell for their pretty lies? He blends in with so many crowds after all!" Sundown never got the impression that Void possessed much mental willpower.

"But we have no reason to assume the worst, do we?" Veyron stated. "We do. Asterisk cannot connect with whoever his partner is. That could mean that he is in danger, from Millennium. And Void knows where to find that guy."

"Not even I am willing to entertain this train of thought you are going with, Sundown." Asterisk cut him off, trying to remain polite despite his obvious stress. "But something is definitely not right. It has nearly been a half hour now and he has not so much as sent a single message. He can usually resolve any problem, but this seems beyond him." Nothing like happened to them before. This was uncharted territory for the agent too. "Then this is serious. There must be something you can do. That we can do!" Donna shouted. "I struggle to come up with a solution. If he does not want to let anyone inside, then nobody will."

"That sounds like a challenge." Scarlet Fever mused as she entered from the arena concourse.

"Scarlet?!" The doctor returned to the house. "Hello Donna. It is good to see you again." She looked different from before; her crimson labcoat now resembled that of a vampire hunter with belts and cybernetic gadgets attached to her waist. The same horned gasmask still framed half of her devilish face however. "Wha..how..when? How are you here?" The agent stammered, his composure shattered. "I do not believe my invitation was ever rescinded Asterisk? I can tell you are distraught but please try to calm down." She spoke with mild amusement.

"Sure took you long enough though. Was it hard to come up with an apology?" Blanche immediately cut in by reminding her of why she left in the first place. "There is not enough time in the world to waste on sentiments like that. I said what I wanted to Void already. And I do not see him around anyway." If the woman regretted anything, she hid it well. "Then why are you here?" That did not make her the most welcome of surprises. Both Sundown and Asterisk glared daggers at her. "To help you of course. With your friend's predicament."

"You know? Ugh, of course you do." The agent groaned, realizing that the woman must have been listening for quite some time now. "Yes I do, Asterisk. Now you can either accept it and tell me what I need to know, or you can decline and try finding your friend by yourself. Its is not my problem after all." She left the choice in his hands. "You can find him?" He did not have a choice at all, really. "Yes, provided you give me his last known coordinates and messages." In this instance she possessed a skill that he did not, and he would have to admit that. "Give it your best shot then. And do it quickly." That did not mean he had to be polite about it. He simply sent her the data through his dueldisk and waited to see the results. "Thank you. This will take a minute or two, but I should be able to trace his location on the network simply by matching current metadata with the metadata of those past coordinates. I am sure you would have come up with it yourself in due time." She smiled to herself and began calibrating one of the scanners attached to her arm.

"Two minutes. Then I suppose I have time to ask you, why now? Why do you want to help us now? Do you think this will earn you forgiveness or return favors?" The Agent could not guarantee either of those. "No. I accepted long ago that I cannot keep everyone pleased at the same time. So I started focusing more on myself now. You wont have to forgive me. Just accept that I have every intention of seeing what lies at the end of Static's game." She casually stated. "That does not answer the question." Sundown snarled. He and the others grew curious as well.

"Oh... Because I had always wanted to meet his friend, and this may be my last chance." The beeping on her machine intensified. "What is that supposed to mean?" Neither her words nor devices sounded very reassuring. "That we all have our enemies, miss Donna." Equally unhelpful were her cryptic replies. "And you are _sure_ you are only doing this for a special meeting?" Blanche asked. Because to her the doctor seemed like a person who only acted when they saw something they wanted to have. "Ah! Found him." What that was she would never hear, because Scarlet found the more immediate matter to tend to. "Show me where!" And the Agent could not wait any more than he already had. She was certain and so was he, that they would see Vigionair on the other side.

...

"No.." They only found the crater that he left behind. Blue and purple flames colored the scene of devastation, and tears in cyberspace marked dimensions that had been occupied until recently. "Scarlet? Asterisk? What is this?" Donna did not understand what her eyes were seeing. "It is all that is left of V's domain. Something or someone destroyed it. Possibly he did it himself to prevent the enemy from getting their hands on his information." Asterisk spoke melancholically and carefully studied what remained. "Selfdestruct? No wonder he didn't want anyone to drop by. Except.. " Blanche did not really want to consider what happened to anyone already inside. "

You brought us here too late!" Donna already assumed the worst, and blamed the doctor for the delay. "We would never have been on time. This event took place 5 minutes ago. And that is not the only thing I can tell you." She adjusted her scanners. "I see no traces of avatar data. Nobody was here when the whole place went up." Though she could not see where they had gone off too. "That means.."

"Huh?" At that moment Asterisk received a call on his own dueldisk, a call from the real world. "V?!" He knew only one man who could reach him from that distance.

_"Of course! Did you really think I would go down with my own ship!?"_ His confident tone filled Asterisk with renewed hope and joy. "It is good to hear from you again. I had imagined the worst. What happened? Where are you now?" Still, he needed to know what happened. _"Only in the worst place possible, my own office! I would have called sooner, but I am affraid I made a mess of my physical data. I didn't even know how to contact you while you were in that arena... __Wait?! Are others listening in on us?"_

"Just us." Blanche announced herself. "Ah, Blanche. Donna, Veyron and... Miss Scarlet." V's tone soured a bit when he found out who else could hear him. "You noticed. Very clever of you, mister V. Are you using a simple tracking system, or do you have everything mapped out?" She cared more about how he could technically see her, rather than emotionally. _"You would like to know. Even up here I have enough backup programs to keep myself properly informed._ _Though it is a shame that I had to destroy the lair. It is going to take some time to properly recreate it, since I wrote all of its source code on actual paper. There was no way I was going to put copies of it online after all. And by that time Exeter might have already improved their security. Even they can catch up to genius over the course of a few years!" _He laughed to himself.

"Okay so you did blow it up. How? And how can it be on fire?" The white lady could not resist asking, considering data did not normally burn like actual matter. _"Ha! As if the death of my home could be anything but a masterpiece as well! I added the greatest pyrotechnic animations so that its end would be remembered in.."_

"V." Asterisk coughed. _"Oh right! Right right! You want to know what happened! I will keep it brief, since I am pressed for time! Our mutual electric friend invaded my territory using Voids evacuation protocol as his own entry pass. I managed to outwit him in a duel, but he did not appreciate that. He overloaded my entire system with his own body and would have destroyed the place himself if I didn't stop him. I did, though I have no idea what happened to him afterwards. I was focused on damage control. The 'damage' was already done, I barely had enough time to execute the zero-protocol. At least that way I would minimize the destruction somewhere far away from any duelist on the network. I also ejected all of us before we got caught in the deletion radius as I like to call it. I had to log out... because I didn't want to become a part of STHEREA's buffered memories. But Void and Therese Hansen should still be online."_

"_That_ was brief?" Blanche tilted her head. "And Void was there too? Where did you send them?"

_"Usually my expulsion program just sends a user back one of their previous locations. But I have no idea if 'paradise' has an effect on that, since it is also not part of the game." _Of course the encrypter had lost that data in the explosion as well. "So Void went right back to Millennium maybe?" Blanche was not a fan of that possibility at all. "With Arcis perhaps at his side. It is a worrying notion. But one we can do little about." There went Asterisk's relief. Vigionair made it out, but the others likely did not.

"Void? Ah yes, the infiltration mission." Scarlet mused to herself. "What? How did you know about that?" Asterisk cringed. "I have my ways. Aren't you happy now that I am on your side still?" Her information could easily have gone over to the Millennium side after all. "You havent done much for us yet." Asterisk bitterly noted, seeing as how her earlier assistance came too late to make a difference. "Ah! 'Yet'! That means you are giving me a chance after all. And I know how to do it. Just let me survey the terrain here. I may be able to salvage something from the wreckage." She did not wait to hear a response, the doctor already went to work on the digital tears. "Hmph. What should we do now, Blanche?" Donna Monday scoffed. "Dunno. Ball's in Voids court. Lets just hope he knows how to play."

...

"You know. I always wanted to have a castle. Or even just be in one." Wagner said out loud as he marched along the battlements of a golden fortress. "Wow. Big dreams. Don't they have like a million castles in your country?" Scura and Crescent walked right alongside of him. The former felt more comfortable up here than down below with the more fanatic members of Millennium. "No. Not where we live." Crescent bluntly revealed. She never left Wagner's side now.

"So do you like it?" Of course this one did not actually exist either. The Golden Castle of Stromberg was a product of Lorelei's imagination and she graciously welcomed any visitors. "Parts of it." Scura murmured as she stared at the various manservants and knights walking about the place. They were not real either, yet they could help the mistress of the castle in any way they wanted. One provided her with a bottle of wine as they spoke. "...It is magnificent. Yet.. I know it is not real." Wagner let out a moan. "How long have you been here?" He asked Lorelei. "Me? Three days now." She openly admitted, unsettling him. "Days?"

At that moment, he overheard some noise a few feet away. "That voice. Is that Hydra?" He could hear it alarmingly well. "Hydra?" Scura and Crescent followed his gaze and looked down at the field of flowers. Alpha spoke with Baron Schwarzwald, Cherry Anise and a slew of other duelists, and not too kindly either. "Wait? That oaf was Hydra?" The connection between the identities of the Baron and the Rokket duelist only became clear to them now that the former had started using the voice of the latter. And Crescent realized something else. "They came back.." Ezra's attack on Hansen came to an end: a confusing end. "Where is Void?" A worrying amount of duelists did not re-appear along with the main returning force. "I dont like that new guy. He makes a lot of noise." Meanwhile a disinterested Lorelei walked back into the keep of her castle, while Alpha kept arguing. "I guess they screwed it up then." Scura concluded as the Salamangreat duelist evidently yelled about how he should have gone with them, and asking where Ezra had run off too.

"So they really were going to attack Exeter?" By now Wagner caught up with the broad strokes of what he missed. But it did not dawn on him until now that all of this started because of an item just like the Crown. "Hey... Crescent. We should leave." Wagnerok proposed, as quietly as he could. "What!?" The mere idea startled Crescent.

"Yeah. Good luck." Scura cackled. "And since when are you affraid of anything?" Every time she saw the valkyrian duelist before, he always acted like someone too idiotic to know fear. "I am not affraid! I just.. I see no reason to stay here where it is all tense." Even when trying to refute her words, Wagner did not raise his voice. "Wow, you really have changed." The veiled girl muttered. "What?" He flinched and turned to Crescent. Though the aurora duelist did not say it, he could tell that she agreed with Scura. "They promised us.. that we could leave whenever he wanted. You do not have to whisper. But why?" She did however keep her voice loud and clear, louder than usual in fact. "Because I miss my folks. And I am sure they miss me too. I'm glad these people brought me back and all. But I cant stay 'Wagnerok' forever. And you cant stay down here either. I mean, that is just insane."

"Insane?" She blinked. "You know what I mean." Wagner quickly backpedaled. "I mean, you don't want to stay here either do you?" He asked Scura instead. "Hey don't shift this to me." She hissed back. "..Wagner. If you go, then you will wake up in that hospital. You might not be able to do what you want, see who you want. I wont be with you anymore. Not for a long time. And they wont let you go back either." Crescent could not tell him if he even physically could return, since his body had been disconnected from the network for several days now. "I will have to risk it. And.. wait. Does that mean that you want to stay?" He had not even considered her feelings up until now. Or rather, he could not imagine that kind of feeling in the first place. "I want to go with you. I do. But also I.."

They did not get a chance to discuss it. As the event that took place next caught the attention of everyone around the golden castle. A bolt of lightning hit the field of flowers and scorched everything within a ten foot radius. "Wha.. Did thunderpants do that? NHey! No it's them!" Scura recognized the two figures at the impact center: Void and Arcis Da Vinci. "Therese.." Instantly Crescent's voice grew cold and bitter, as she saw that woman again. "That is her?" Wagner heard Crescent mention the sister of the CTO in passing, though could not guess why she showed up here along with the cyberse duelist. The two seemed dazed and confused as well, and they were soon surrounded by very interested duelists.

"You returned. What happened?" Baron Hydra inquired, not even giving Void the chance to talk to a very dazed Therese. "It.. It happened so fast. We were there, at Vigionaire's base. That is where we came from." He answered as best he could.

"So it worked! And did you find out whether or not the old man was spying on us? I am guessing he is old, he sounds old." Cherry was less patient with getting answers. "I am affraid not. Vigionaire dueled Prospero and managed to defeat him. He had a counter to the millennium card. He then made sure to destroy his base, but we were expelled before everything blew up. At least that's what I think happened." In truth Void only heard half of what V shouted at them before he initiated his final protocols. But he knew he made it out intact because of that. Though he probably did not intend for them to end up here. "Prospero lost? Is that his reason for being a no-show?" A marginally worried Ulysses asked. "Best I know, he stayed behind with the destruction." Void could only assume Vigionair didn't use a lot of moderation when building his selfdestruct program

"So he went and destroyed himself? Pfah! Werent you people bragging about being invincible?" Alpha laughed out loud. "You better mind that tongue, salamander boy. Or else Prospero might singe it when he returns." Ulysses chided him. "If he returns." The first flame scoffed . "He always comes back. He may have lost the battle, but not the war." The silverfaced man replaced his concern with bravado. "Besides, that Vigionair guy obviously cheated. An anti-skill? How lame is that " Cherry Anise added with her highpitched laugh. "Hmph, doesn't change that I keep seeing signs of weakness. First your leader disappears after every mission to go to his special little tower. And now one of your top players has gone missing too." These setbacks only emboldened Alpha. And nobody would silence him.

"And why are you here? Since when did you join with these hero kids?" He glared at Arcis Da Vinci, recognizing her from the tagteam tournament. "I.." Neither she nor Void could think of a convincing lie right on the spot. She would log out, except..

"Therese Hansen." The truth prevailed regardless, when Crescent Aurora showed up. "Aurora?" Arcis gasped. She'd forgotten that she would run into her here. "Did you just say 'Hansen'?" Alpha's left eye twitched. "I did. That is her name. She is the sister Exeter's CTO." The weather girl held nothing back. "Crescent. Why did you.." Void did not understand. "Because she hates me." Arcis did. "Hate?" More than Crescent herself. "I do not.. hate anyone. But you lied to me. I wont let you lie to anyone else." Whatever emotion ran through her right now, she refused to give it a name.

"Interesting. Did you know this, Void? Or did you, spitfire?" Ulysses tossed the question at Scura, just as she started wishing she had not followed Crescent down here. "Uhr.. yeah sorta. But you never asked!" She countered, causing the man to chuckle heartily. "You have me there. But this development is a tricky one to move on from. What do you think we should do, sweet lady Therese Hansen?" The conductor tried to smooth-talk their new guest, causing Cherry to roll her eyes. "Letting me leave, is a start."

"And have you run back to Hansen? Hah! I don't think so!" Alpha declared. "What are you trying to do?" Void got in the way instinctively. Who knew what a man like him would do to the sister of the CTO. "Are you soft on her already? She's one of _them_! She will do everything she can to stomp us into the dirt! We cannot let her go! And you cannot stop me!" Alpha kept walking, into Void... through Void. "Ugh!?" The man phased in and out as if he were a ghost. Their avatars were not the same anymore. "You didn't let Ezra free you, so you cannot do what I can." He smirked and advanced on the woman.

"Do you think you can keep me then?" She figured she could still simply log out if she wanted too. "Huh?" Except her disk did not let her. "Sorry, we didn't expect uninvited guests. But you can only leave our paradise if you have one of these." Cherry said and teasingly dangled the golden millennium card in her hands. "Damn it." Of course she had torn up her copy of that skill when she first received it, she never thought that would backfire on her now. "So you intend to use me as a bargaining tool?" She inquired. "Sounds like a good idea to me." Alpha sneered. "Well then I hate to disappoint you. But I don't think my brother would care that much." Therese Hansen knew Evert Hansen well, too well. "Oh? really? I guess you are useless to us then! So why don't we crush you instead?" Alpha activated his dueldisk.

"What!?" Wagner had been quiet up until now, but he found that getting increasingly more difficult. "What are you talking about?" Scura rasped. "Easy, easy now. We have a law for this. We make someone choose between leaving the network forever, or joining us. Course I doubt she would ever take the second option. So she gets a chance to defend herself. The lance does not let us just 'zap' everyone unwillingly." Ulysses not only allowed this, he wanted everyone to watch. The conductor clapped his hands and turned the meadows into plain hills of glass and crystal, setting the stage for their duel.

"If anyone duels her, it should be me." Crescent spoke up at that time, surprising Alpha. "You? You were her tagteam partner!" He protested. "Exactly why I should do it. I know her the best." She stared at the woman with unflinching eyes and an unreadable expression. "Aurora. If that is what you want." Therese would not fight it, if this were to be her fate.

"No. Neither Alpha nor Crescent should duel her." But Hydra had other plans. "It should be you, Void." The finger pointed in the cyberse duelist's way. "Me?" He winced. "Your loyalty has been questionable as of late. This might be what proves it at last, a duel will bring out your true desires. Ezra may not be here, but I am sure this is what he would have wanted." Ulysses and Cherry nodded to those words. Even Alpha did not mind this idea. "I bet he wont do it. He is too weak after all." He taunted the duelist.

"... Therese Hansen. They are right." And so Void grabbed his deck and activated his disk. "We cannot be on the same side."

(To Be Continued in Line 071: Merely Hatred Through Proxy)


	71. Only Hatred Through Proxy

**Line 071: Only Hatred through Proxy**

No avoiding it; the test came to him and the CTO's sibling would be his opponent. He did not hate her, or even distrust her. And therein lied the problem. "Very well, Void. I accept your challenge." If Therese Hansen lost, she would be banished from this world. Because she would never join Millennium. If he lost, the same could happen to him. He did not want to see either outcome. They wanted to see at least one, and he could not say no to the many. "Then it is settled. Duel!" They locked disks on the field of glass. It seemed like she too saw how he had no other choice.

Therese's LP: 8000 Void's LP: 8000 -TURN 01-

"I normal summon Summoner Monk." Arcis Da Vinci, Therese Hansen, began the duel by calling out the red-eyed and white-haired praying monk(4/800/1600) [Zone 4] in attack position. Though one of his effects switched him to defense mode immediately. "Shouldn't he be doing the summoning?" Cherry Anise giggled. The others just watched, waiting to see who would crack first. "He will, once I discard one spell, I pick Witchcrafter Creation." Therese brushed their jests aside. "Now he summons one level 4 monster from my deck: Witchcrafter Schmietta!" The magical exchange brought life to the redheaded witch blacksmith(4/1800/600) [Zone 5]. And she in turn discarded another spell from her master's hand: Witchcrafter Scroll. "Schmietta takes one spell and her own life, to special summon a Witchcrafter monster from my deck! I choose Witchcrafter Madame Verre!" The Witchcrafter of flames burned herself down to pour out a throne of glass. And on that throne sat the Madam witch of light: Verre(8/1000/2800) [Zone 3].

"Bah. She always starts with that card." Scura grunted. The glass madam caused her a lot of headaches back when they dueled. "I am sure you must be enjoying this then, to see Void go against her." Ulysses smirked. "Ehhh sorta? All it does is prove that he can do what I cant though." Of course she did not really want to root against either. But her own history made it easier to pretend to hate Arcis, or Therese, or whatever she had to call her now. "..." Crescent on the other hand, expressed her genuine loathing without even uttering a word.

"Aurora.."That did not escape the notice of the witch duelist, but she had other people to focus on. "Void, I activate the Witchcrafter Schmietta's effect from my graveyard. She is banished and a spell of the Witchcrafters is sent to my graveyard." Schmietta ignited cauldron one last time, and incinerated the Witchcrafter Collaboration spell card from the deck. "Then, I can use the Spellbook of Knowledge to send my spellcaster from the field to the graveyard. In return I shall draw two cards!" The Summoner Monk opened the book and its infinite information consumed the monk in body and mind. He died, so that Arcis could claim new cards from her deck. "I set a card face down to end my turn. That is when I can reclaim all Witchcrafter spells that were sent to the graveyard this turn: Witchcrafter Creation, Scroll and Collaboration!" Since she had not used the on-field effects of those spells this turn, she could activate their grave-effects instead. The spells of Creation and Collaboration returned to her hand while the continuous Witchcrafter Scroll spell placed itself on the field. "That was it. Now you may go."

-TURN 02-

"Alright." Void did not look forward to this. "You have defended yourself well, Therese. But I have seen your barriers before." Neither of them could hold back. "And I know how to break them! With Segmental Dragon!" A robotic dragon(7/2600/2400) [Zone 1] flew out of his hand and crashed down hard on the diamond floor. Wires tangled along parts of his body, and its segmented wings released an eerie blue light. "Segmental Dragon does not need tributes for its normal summon, instead I halve his attack and defense points. However, now it can tribute itself to destroy all monsters with less attackpoints than him! And your Madame Verre does not gain her attackboosts until the battle phase!" Segmental Dragon unleashed its effect via the electric rod on its tail, which zapped the crystal witch and shattered her completely. "Well done, Void." She complemented him as his monster died along with hers. There was little she could have done to save Verre.

"That was all?" Still, Alpha muttered. It felt too easy and it _looked _too easy.

"I have yet to attack! I activate One-Time Passcode!" Void's own spell card created a temporary security-drone token(4/2000/2000) [Zone 1] in defense mode. "This normal monster becomes a link material for Link Spider!" The token became the cyberspace spider(1000/LINK 1) {Down} [Extra Zone 1], whose marker pointed down to the zone where now a normal monster could be special summoned. "I also activate a spell card, Pinpoint Landing! Now I can draw one card whenever I special summon a monster from my hand! So I will let Link Spider special summons Leotron!" And he would not be showing off any weak Bitrons of Datatrons this time around. Void placed a white lion robot(4/2000/0) [Zone 2], whose mane was made from electrically charged panels.

"You got that card from Blanche, didn't you?" Therese referred to the spell that Void now used to draw a new card. "Yet you abandoned her all the same." She said scathingly. He knew she only did so to make the act more realistic. So he retaliated with anger. "Leave them out of this, Hansen! This is our battle!" Both Leotron and Link Spider set upon the wide-open witch duelist. She took a hit of lightning flares and laser web beams, pushing her back several feet. "Ngh. I felt that, Void."

Therese's LP: 5000

"No. This is not right." Alpha started mumbling even louder. "Are you feeling sorry for her now?" Hydra questioned his motives. "No. Of course not! But he is too soft on her! It's fake, his anger is fake! All of it is fake! I do not believe it!"

"Believe what you must" Void used Leotron as a link material for Link Disciple(500/LINK 1) {Down} [Zone 2], and used both link monsters as materials for Double Byte Dragon(2100/LINK 2) {Left/right} [Extra Zone 1]. "I never hold back in a duel." He activated the continuous spell, Cynet Recovery as well. He really had dueled as he normally would. That was the easiest part of this act. "Nor do I!" Therese in turn flipped her trap card. "Magicite of Spell Salvation! I can turn this trap into a monster with the same level as a monster in my graveyard!" The magicite imprisoned the Summoner Monk's soul in a shard of magic crystals(4/0/0) [Zone 3], banishing the monster card itself. "Then, if I activate my skill. I can turn that monster into two tokens! I activate Sawn in Half!" No longer bound by the rules of the crossover tournament, Arcis could reveal her personal skill card. Like a proper magician, she sawed her current Magicite monster in half. In its place two separate blocks of crystallized monk(2/0/0) appeared.

_Sawn in Half, Skill Card  
__Tribute 1 non-link monster card you control: special summon 2 tokens in defense position, with the same attribute and type as that monster card, but with their ATK, DEF and level/rank halved (rounded up)_

"What are those good for?" Wagner asked, if only to possibly get Crescent to talk again. "There is only one reason." She did know the ins and outs of Therese's deck after all. "She is going to link summon." And right now only one a small selection of cards could destroy Double Byte Dragon.

-TURN 03-

"The materials are two spellcasters! I link summon Crowley the first Propheseer!" The two magicite shards combined into a proper spellcaster: a middle-aged greenhaired wizard(1000/LINK 2) {Downleft/Downright} [Extra Zone 2] with a monocle on his right eye and demonic spikes growing out of his body. "The effect of the first Propheseer adds a random spellbook card to my hand." She showed Void her three choices: Spellbook of Secrets, Wisdom and Life. "The middle one." He could pick one, but the randomization shuffle made his choice moot. "Wisdom it is." Nor did it matter to her. The witchcrafter only needed this random spellbook as discard fodder. "I activate Witchcrafter Creation and search my deck for a Witchcrafter card: Witchcrafter Edel! And then I normal summon her!" Therese pulled off her next magical trick; tributelessly summoning the redhaired witch(5/2000/2300) [Zone 5] in the sparkling purple dress.

"Your Propheseer allows normal summons of highlevel spellcasters." Void saw through the effect immediately. "Of course. And Edel herself can also special summon Witchcrafters from my hand, if I discard a spell. I have plenty to spare." She smiled and discarded a Metalfoes Fusion spell card. "Edel summons Haine, in attack mode!" Edel's magically fueled effect opened a path of radiance for the dark dagger witch Haine(6/2400/1000) [Zone 4]. Light could summon darkness, yet it could also create more light. "Edel has another effect. If she tributes herself, one of the Witchcrafters in my graveyard will come back to take her place!" The witch in purple Pulled out a bizarrely enormous caliper weapon and pried open the dimensions of space and time itself. The temporary rift absorbed her, but special summoned Madame Verre[Zone 5] back to the field in attack position. "Ah now I see." Ulysses snickered. The path to a complete victory became clearer and clearer.

"Metalfoes Fusion activates from my graveyard! If I return it to my deck, I can draw one card!" First the witch acquired more magical resources: drawing a new random spell with the help of the returned fusion spell. "And I activate Witchcrafter Collaboration, which allows Haine to attack twice in one turn!" Reducing her resources in turn increased her damage output. Thus only one obstacle remained. "And now the battle phase: Crowley attacks Double Byte Dragon! And Verre will use her power on Crowley instead!" The witch revealed the two spells that she kept in her hand: Spellbook of Wisdom and Magical Dimension: powering up the prophetic wizard(3000 atk) with two thousand-sized powerboosts. Crowley raised all the elements themselves to pulverize Double Byte Dragon and send the two-headed cyberse to the final trashbin. "And I can draw a new card whenever I destroy one of your monsters in a fight, because I have my spell Witchcrafter Scroll on my field!" The witch duelist gained yet another spell, Witchcrafter Holiday, and added it with the others.

Void's LP: 7100

"I have spells too, miss Hansen! One that responds to my monsters destruction as well: Cynet Recovery can bring a non-link cyberse monster back to the field!" Void repurposed the data remnants of the destroyed dragon to recreate another: Segmental Dragon(2600/2400) [Zone 3] at full power. "I know. But Haine will destroy that too!" Therese shut that defense down immediately. Witchcrafter Scroll could be tributed on the field to satisfy a Witchcrafter's effects. And Haine used it up to vanquish Segmental Dragon with her destruction effect. "Three attacks remain, Void!"

"Then I will block them with Lockout Gardna!" One last card could save Void now, his plug-in robot(4/1000/1000) [Zone 3] "When you attack me, he summons himself in attack mode and will take all attacks!" Lockout Gardna could not be destroyed through its own power. Yet such powers were easily taken away by others. "Is that so? Madame Verre says otherwise!" Therese discarded Witchcrafter Holiday from her hand: in order to activate Verre's power of negation. Now Lockout Gardna could not even survive the first attack from Haine's colored dagger vials. "Two attacks!" Haine's second strike targeted Void himself, who took a yellow dagger to the shoulder. "Argh!" Afterwards Madame Verre visited him with her crystal staff. She slammed it right into his side to knock him to the ground.

Void's LP: 2300

"Argh, Void." Scura cringed. "You know, she does not really duel like I expected. Not like a company stooge I mean." Cherry nodded. She enjoyed the duel so far. "What does it matter? Up or down the ladder, she is still representing Exeter. And she is still Hansen's sister." Alpha did not care if she at least could actually duel.

"Alpha." That was one comment too many. So Therese spoke up. "I looked into your story ,myself, as much as I could find. But if there is any truth to it, then I can only apologize for you and your friend. The company has kept their records buried deep within physical archives, no trace of it exists on the network." She did believe him, she simply could not help him prove the story. She was in fact very much surprised to not even find a trace of data.

"What do you know about my friend?" He felt offended that she would even mention them. "I only know what you told me. But I do know your real name, Alpha." And if she knew, then they could be certain that her brother knew. "Is this a threat veiled behind an apology? Bah! You do not get to say sorry for the sake of Exeter!" The flame duelist fumed. "And yet you are willing to condemn her for the sake of Exeter?" Void questioned his logic. "And you are not?!" As much as one could argue logic born from hatred. "I do not trust her. That does not mean I believe defeating her is the same as defeating Exeter." He tried nonetheless. "That may be. But you can't really afford to be nice to her either, can you?" Cherry reminded him of the terms of this duel. "No." He took a deep breath. He felt like they were channeling their anger through him, while he had no negative feelings towards her at all.

-TURN 04-

"My turn!" He could have enjoyed being a hero. He could not enjoy being an avenger. And yet the duel continued.. "I summon Launcher Commander. It can sacrifice one cyberse monster to destroy one of your monsters! So I special summon Boot Staggered from my hand too!" The missile commando robot(4/1700/1200) [Zone 1] appeared first and the antlered cyber-specter(5/2300/500) [Zone 2] used the cyberse's normal summon to special summon itself. Void did not forget to draw a card with Pinpoint Landing either.

"That leaves me no choice then. Verre negates their effects!" Therese preempted Voids combo with perfect timing. The crystal witchcrafter discarded the Spellbook of Wisdom and blocked the powers of Launcher Commander and Boot Staggered. "But I can still use them for link materials! I link summon the Backup Supervisor!" Voids latest cyberse from the extra deck took on a familiar form. It was the Backup secretary in a new bluer tint. Instead of a cape, the Supervisor(1200/LINK 2) {Downleft/Downright} [Extra Zone 1] carried two wired in cyber-lamps behind her back. "And since I link summoned a monster, I can activate Cynet Regression!"

"Regression?" Therese recognized the trap. "Now he can destroy 1 of her monsters and draw a new card at the same time? Heh, what a cheeky trap." Scura snickered as Cynet Regression started eroding dataspace around one target: Witchcrafter Haine. "Then before she dies, I activate her power on your link monster!" Haine's effect could still be activated in the same chain and she made the source of the regression her target. "But when Backup Supervisor dies, she summons her original form! And Cynet Recovery's effect will also activate!" Though Haine and the Backup lady destroyed each other in a clash of cybermagical crossfire: Void gained two new cards out of the ordeal. Supervisor special summoned the original Backup Secretary(3/1200/800) [Zone 4] from his deck, and Cynet Recovery special summoned Leotron [Zone 5] back to the field.

"Well that was pointless." Cherry said as she waved her hand around. "Was it?" Ulysses rubbed his chin. It did not seem like the sister of Hansen to waste resources unless she meant to.

"That was your mistake, Therese. And now I think I know what link monster to use for you." Two cyberse materials were demanded by this next link monster. "I link summon Cyberse Witch!" Leotron and Backup Secretary vanished into a crimson link circuit. "Witch?" This new cyber-spellcaster fit in better with the aesthetic of Arcis Da Vinci. Cyberse Witch(800/LINK 2) {Downleft/Down} [Extra Zone 1] appeared as a redhaired witch in silver armor and purple/white cape. "Yes, Cyberse Witch! When a monster is special summoned to a zone she points too, she can add two cards to my hand!" Void started explaining as he special summoned the Link-Infra Flyer(2/0/1800) [Zone 2]. The infra kite could be summoned to any marked zone after all. "And those cards are Cynet Ritual and a cyberse ritual monster!" The two cards came out at once: the cynet ritual spell and a level 4 ritual monster called 'Paladin of Storm Dragon'.

"Ritual?" Crescent gasped. "Did he always have those?" Wagnerok would have though his strategies only involved link monsters. "He shops around a lot." Scura figured he bought these cards along with stuff like Firewall Dragon. "Where did he get the credits from?" The Valkyrian could barely afford his own special cards. Then again he spent a lot of gems on avatar cosmetics himself. "He defeated the Crown and won the tagteam tournament." Crescent gave him the shocking facts. "A tournament? And _he_ won it!?" He looked at Scura who simply nodded. "You could have told me that too!"

"When Cyberse Witch uses her first power, I can also special summon a cyberse monster from my graveyard! I choose Launcher Commander!" And so the Launcher commander [Zone 3] returned, and all of its destructive tendencies with it. "I sacrifice Link Infra Flyer, and destroy Witchcrafter Madame Verre!" While the Launcher Commander did add 300 attack and defense points to all other cyberse monsters on the field, Link Infra Flyer(300/2100) would do far more damage as a sacrificeable missile. Launcher Commander 'launched' the kite right into the witch on her crystal throne and shattered both simultaneously. "It would seem this archetype was tailor made for you, Void." Therese could only smile at this development. "I suppose I owe part of this to Exeter too, they helped make these cards and pushed me this far. But what I do with them is my own input." He had no reason to delay it any longer. "I activate Cynet Ritual! I sacrifice the Link Streamer card in my hand, a level 4 cyberse, and ritual summon the Paladin of Storm Dragon!"

A gold and silver armored knight(4/2200/1200) [Zone 1], wielding twin lances, flew over the glass plains on top of a draconic cyberse creature. The paladin took after the popular paladins of the blue and black dragons, a feature Madam Blanche surely would have approved of. "I could use her temper right around now." Void thought to himself. Millennium claimed to be a tightly knit community. Yet everywhere he looked he saw cracks waiting to burst. "Paladin of Storm Dragon can tribute itself to special summon a highlevel cyberse monster from my deck, Therese! I think you can follow the math!" The card summoned by the ritual monster would not be able to use its effects this turn. He did not mind, since he only needed one thing. "I summon Dual Assembwurm!" Attackpoints, which the red/blue cyberdragon(8/3100/1300) of duality possessed in spades. "5900 attackpoints." A wide open field and an overwhelming attacking force. If Therese still had any hope of winning, Crescent made sure she would think otherwise. "Attack!" Defeat came, via dual-colored lightning, launched missiles and cyber-witch magic spells.

Therese's LP: 0

"Finally!" Alpha cried out. "Now destroy her! Destroy her avatar!" Though the duel had already ended, Therese's body did not take enough damage to collapse just yet. "Ugh..is what what will make you happy?" She clutched her torso, which was missing a few data chunks. The damage would heal, but as she was now she could not duel anymore. "Yes! Do it, Void! Then you will be one of us!" The one cyberse duelist shouted at the other. "But how?" Void yelled back. Of course he did not want to destroy 'Arcis Da Vinci' either. "Like you always do! Like Hydra did!" The first flame cursed and gave the other 'heroes' burning glares. "That was between us. She is not one of us." Hydra/Baron Schwarzwald explained coldly, though he did not care if she got destroyed either.

"You can do it if you try! It is possible here! Do I have to do it!? Or how about you!?" Alpha turned towards Crescent as well. "Me? I.." And as much as she knew that her feelings for Therese were now mostly colored negative, she could not tell what she actually wanted to do with her. "Fine! It's up to me! Hansen, prepare yourself!" He could end it all, he visualized Salamangreat Heatleo as a real monster and roared at his victim.

"I am prepared." The witch duelist sighed and closed her eyes. "Damn it!" Scura did not want to watch anymore. Void did not know what he could do or say. And Crescent stared intently. The lion would sink its claws into Arcis and remove her from the network for good.

But it would never come to that. "Hah?!" Alpha retracted his hand not due to his own feelings, but due to the maze of pale blue flames that arose around every duelist. Their heat got so intense that no one dared to pass it, and destroyed the Heatleo monster at the same time. "What. Is the meaning of this." Only their creator could. Ezra marched through the fire untouched and unburned. "Ezra! Hey! We were just.." Cherry started making excuses. Only to have them ignored. "Yes, Prospero found the one called Therese Hansen and suffered because of it. I know what happened, I am not blind in my isolation. However, my question was meant for you.." The red eyes of the lance wielder pinned down Alpha and only Alpha. "What did you intend to do here and now?"

"So you recovered. Hmph. If you are trying to intimidate me or make me regret what I was about to do.. It wont work! You were not around. Someone had to deal with our enemies!" He remained defiant and came close to just walking through his fiery prison himself. "And yet you let him duel the woman from Exeter for you: pitting your rival against a receptacle of your anger. You once told me you sought justice. Is this how you seek it? It looks like vengeance to me: a petty meaningless pursuit." Instead Ezra crossed the final flame wall to put Alpha in his shadow. He towered over the Salamangreat duelist, seemingly taller than ever. "She is the sister of the CTO. Getting rid of her would have sent a message." The duelist tried to keep arguing, but his words were clearly beginning to lose power. "What do we need to send another message for? This is not a revolution against those that fear us, this is a liberation for those that need us. And we need them. We need her." Ezra clenched his hand and extinguished his labyrinth of fire. "We need Therese Hansen."

"Excuse.. me? I already told you that my brother wont care if you use me as a hostage." She carefully looked up at the imposing man, while she let her avatar slowly restore itself. "We have no intention of using you in such a way. But you under-estimate your value, Therese Hansen. You know things that we do not, things that your brother would not want us to know." The deliverer lowered the lance of legacy and made himself appear and sound less threatening. "And why would I tell you about these things?"

"Because you lost, and now you have to face the choice. And because you know what your brother is capable of. You yourself spoke these words: he does not care for the lives of others or even his family. Does a man like that deserve to have full control over those lives? All I ask of you is information. Tel us everything you know, no matter how insignificant. If you can do that, then the lance will not strike you today. Or you can choose to leave now, but you will never be able to return to our world and help those that are part of it."

Once more, the choice did not exist at all. "You know I cannot afford to leave this behind." The consequences were too unpredictable, she had no idea what Hansen could do. "And I.." She looked at Void, who was just as trapped as her, and she looked at Crescent.. "I owe you." She turned away and stared the skull straight on. "I too want to find out what my brother is hiding as well. I know a few places outside the game that he has a special interest in. I can show you them. But I want to come with you." She almost sounded like her brother as she laid out her terms. "Good. We can accept this. Welcome to the family, Arcis Da Vinci."

(To Be Continued in Line 072: Modern Day Witch Hunting)

**New Cards used by Void  
**Segmental Dragon  
Leotron  
Paladin of Storm Dragon

-  
Backup Supervisor  
Cyberse Witch

-  
Pinpoint Landing  
Cynet Recovery  
Cynet Ritual

**New Cards used by Arcis Da Vinci/Therese Hansen  
**_SAWN IN HALF_

-  
Summoner Monk  
Witchcrafter Edel

-  
Crowley the First Propheseer

-  
Spellbook of Knowledge  
WitchCrafter Scroll  
Metalfoes Fusion

-  
Magicite of Spell Salvation


	72. Modern Day WitchHunting

**Line 072: Modern Day WitchHunting**

Therese Hansen, given the choice between permanent exile and leaking information, decided to go with the latter. "There are several spots on the grid that normal users cannot even see. I only know about them because of my position at Exeter. I can access a few, like the hologram database, the card registry and a few private zones for employees. But you wont find anything there, Exeter hides its special projects far away, yet still on the network itself. They are trying to build something more than just a duelist haven, that is certain. They would not be using so many STHEREA assets if it were a simple project. And Evert does not know that I learned the coordinates for a few of them. But I think he will figure it out, as soon as we visit one spot. And I cannot guarantee that we will find the chalice at one of them."

"It will be a start either way. What we learn from just one such sector can turn the world upside-down." The information satisfied the lancer for the time being.

All the while, Crescent Aurora watched as the CTO's sister from a distance as she gave her story, focusing on her words. "You are going with her aren't you?" And Scura watched her. "...I..Yes." It was a decision Crescent reached only this instant. "Too many people have lied. I want to know the truth as well." Such was her reasoning. "Wagner.. What will you do?" She turned to her friend one last time.

"I'm sorry. I don't think I am changing my mind on this." Wagnerok's own decision clearly tore him up inside, primarily because she on her end did not seem torn up at all. "Then.. you have to go. I cannot keep you here." She did not try to argue, she never did. Before, she would usually at least follow him everywhere. That became an impossibility, physically and mentally. "You realize what is going to happen to you.." Void pointed out. "Gonna be confined to a hospital room for a few days. I know. I have to take it. I feel like the longer I stay here, the harder it will be to wake up." He took a deep breath, it would be now or never.

"Then go.. all of you can go. You do not have to stay for me." And Crescent turned away. "Huh? Why are you... I can't do that!" Scura realized Crescent meant those words for her too. "You can. I finally found a place where I can belong. That does not mean you have to feel trapped if you do not know if you want to be here. The only reason I haven't taken the next step yet, is because you are still here." She meant every word she said. But that did not make things any less confusing for the veiled girl. "I'm not so sure we aren't trapped. You say you don't like liars, but aren't these people just living in one big lie?" Scura countered. No matter how powerful they became, they were still just fooling around inside a large imaginary playground. "It does not feel like a lie to me." The weather duelist answered matter-of-factly, though she lacked the ability to adequately explain why she felt that way.

"If that is what you want. But I am staying as well." If Void left now, everything he did would be for nothing. Earlier Ezra made it clear that he would not allow Void to join unless he proved himself in some way. If he ran now, he would never get a chance to find out what Ezra's weakness was. And he did not know if Prospero would ever return. He did hope that Vigionair had made it out okay though.

"You are..." Wagner also came to a decision. "Aurora, You are free too. That's what they said, and I hope to god they meant it. I wont be trapped forever.. so don't forget me." He waited for a response, but she only nodded stiffly. "... I will be seeing you, Aurora. Goodbye." Wagnerok disappeared, his avatar left the world of dreams and games. "It... was always that easy?" Scura could not believe that in the end nobody from Millennium stopped him.

Neither could Alpha. "I still say it is a mistake to let anyone leave. What if they will go back to Hansen and tell him what they know?" Though humbled, he still vented his concerns at anyone who would listen. "Let them. We have nothing to hide and no one to fear. There is only one door into this realm, and we control the keys." Ezra still did not care. Though he did allow the fiery duelist to join them on their upcoming venture. "Now, miss Aurora Crescent. We are leaving for the first location on Therese's list. Your wish was to come along, was it not?" He would take as many duelists as he could. While Cherry and Ulysses guarded over the fields. "Yes, it was." Crescent walked passed Scura, not even looking back at where Wagner once stood and where Therese stood now. "Well, I guess this is goodbye then." Scura did not imagine she would be seeing her in a while. "Goodbye then." Crescent said lifelessly as she joined Ezra's group. A moment of silence later, the gathering disappeared behind the shadows.

"Then, you're going as well?" Void meanwhile turned to Scura, who lowered her head. "Y-yeah. Wagner may be an oaf but he has a point. The longer I stay I...I think I stretched this out as far as I could." If he could ditch Millennium, why not her as well? And she would rather do it now while nobody payed attention. "Then I wish you luck." Void whispered. "Yeah. You do what you gotta.. I.. Bah. I am out!" The veiled girl hated saying goodbye more than any other part of a conversation. So she did not even give Void a chance to prepare for it. She simply closed her eyes and shifted away.

...

_"I made it!"_ She did not log out, she quickjumped to the most populated sector she could think of and landed on the large stone bridge in front of the castle city. She was free! _"But now what?_" There were oddly no players around, just ADIs running their usual routine. It felt eerie. "_Did everyone die and turn into a zombie or something? Maybe I should have just gone to the arena.."_ Scura shook her head. That was the not the question on her mind right now. What she should have done was log off and go back home. _"But.."_ She did not, because she did not want to. _"Mom.. "_ She could predict what would happen upon her return. Though she lived alone, her family might have figured out what happened to her by now. How long had she even stayed inside the game? Either way they would get mad at her, yell at her again, tell her that she left the house too soon and could not make decisions on her own again. _"They wouldn't, ban me from STHEREA would they?.."_ She could risk losing everything, she could risk losing the only people she sorta considered to be friends. Was it even a good idea to go back at all now?

"Hello, Chiaroscura!" She did not have to make a choice yet, fortunately and unfortunately. "What the hell?" A cubical barrier surrounded the girl suddenly, trapping her on the bridge. "What did I do?" She cried out as she recognized this prison as an admin elimination box. "A very good you come with us, Chiaroscura. We can figure it out." Only she did not see an admin at the end of the stone path. "Hey. You're.. that crazy champion lady." She saw Heleil the Odd-eyed duelist.

"Crazy?" Heleil raised an eyebrow. "Uhhh.. Maybe I am thinking of someone else? But wait! What is going on? Why me? I am not going anywhere until this makes sense!" She just got away from one tense situation, why did she find herself in another right away? "You don't have to be afraid if you did no wrong. I just want to get some answers, in a more secure location." Heleil started walking towards Scura. "Well I am afraid! This box does not help either!" Scura reached for her cards. "A duel? Why bother when we both know how that is going to end. I could also just freeze you in place. Please don't make me.."

"HAYAAA!" Shouted the man whose giant silver fist punched through the barrier. "What the %$#$!#" In the back of her head, Scura had secretly hoped that a proper duelist would come to save her, since she saw no hope of winning on her own. She never would have expected her savior to take this form. "Good evening ladies and ladies." Ulysses clenched his hand as it lost its metallic coating. Then he removed his silver mask. "What seems to the the problem?"

"Did you just... punch through my shields?" Heleil said with an expression of bewilderment and shock.

"Mind over matter they say. If you don't mind the shields, then they dont matter. Haha! Of course, I could have broken through in any number of ways." He walked through the opening until he stood in front of Scura. "Of all people, this is the guy to come to my rescue. How did you know where I was?" Elimination boxes were supposed to be invisible to people on the outside. "Millennium has its ways. Truth be told I wanted to at least give you a proper farewell, if you were leaving us for good. But then I found out, you hadnt left at all? Maybe because a part of you hates reality just as much as we do? Hmm?" He smirked. "Tch. That does not prove anything." She hissed back. "Ulysses." Meanwhile Heleil verified the identity of the intruder. "You are one of Hansens most wanted duelists." Her priorities started to shift. "Fine then." She activated her dueldisk and issued the challenge. She knew this man would not go down without a fight. "Ulysses, you are coming with me!"

Heleil's LP: 8000 Ulysses' LP: 8000 -TURN 01-

"Oh really now? Where are we going?" He laughed. "I am not telling you anything til you are down for the count! I set the scales, Performapal Odd-Eyes Persona Dragon and Odd-Eyes Arc Pendulum Dragon!" Thus the pendulum swung, between a bright red winged Odd-Eyes dragon (scale 1) and a rockpale and crystalhearted Odd-Eyes dragon (scale 8) on opposite ends of the backrow. "And I pendulum summon the Performapal Pendulum Sorcerer!" The endresult of that oscillation was only a tophat wearing red circus magician(4/1500/800) [Zone 3] however. He would announce the next act of her turn. "The Pendulum Sorcerer destroys my card, to add another Performapal to my hand!" Heleil got rid of the lesser scale, Persona Dragon, and claimed a more beastly performer from her deck: Performapal Silver Claw. In that same scene, her remaining pendulum spell activated its effect. "When you or I destroys an Odd-Eyes card, Arc Pendulum Dragon can special summon another from my deck!" The arched dragon carved out a path of prismatic light, and paved the way for the rainbow-winged Odd-Eyes Phantasma Dragon(8/3000/2500) [Zone 4].

"Great. I guess she can duel even while adlibbing." Scura groaned. Feeling kinda insulted that Heleil had deemed her less important already. "This will not be a performance, Chiaroscura. This will be my new style!" Heleil normal summoned the other gift from her deck, the silver-clawed performapal wolf(4/1800/300) [Zone 2]. "I overlay Silver Claw and Pendulum Sorcerer! To XYZ-summon the Hope Magician!" Beast and mage became one, but not in a way one would expect a pendulum duelist to allow.

"An XYZ-monster? Interesting." A golden glow washed over Ulysses, as he stood in front of a silverhaired magician(R4/2500/2000) [Extra Zone 1] in white and gold robes and armor. "Dont tell me this is your way of honoring that other guy." Scura saw a lot of Number 39: Utopia in this card, statwise and lookwise. "His name was Acrates! And the companies made this card to symbolize our new bond as crossover champions! Or as I would say it: it will be the end for you!" She declared and ended her turn by placing a trap face-down. "The champion of the XYZ made his choice. But I am glad that I get to confront my preferred monster types at champion level after all." He smirked and reactivated his silver mask to hide that smirk. "Just for that, I will make sure to send you to the wherever he ended up."

-TURN 02-

"Am I supposed to just watch this by the way?" Scura wondered what would happen if she just legged it through the barrier hole that Ulysses made. "I think you should! I can think of no better audience for this duel here than you spitfire!" Ulysses drew his card. "Just stop that already." She muttered her muted swears while the mechanical duelist put down a tiny scrap collecting robot(3/900/1200) [Zone 1] on wheels. "I summon Scrap Recycler! And when I do, why I get to send a machine of the same element to the graveyard! Earth machine it is!" The card he 'recycled' was the more familiar Freight Train Derricrane. "And now, without further to do. I sacrifice Scrap Recycler for Infinitrack Trencher!" The earth trembled. Ulysses's weak looking machine expanded into a massive green construction vehicle(5/500/2400) [Zone 5] that wielded a giant trench digging saw.

"Infinitrack? Where did that come from and how did you summon it?" Scura protested. "How is easy, Scura. Infinitracks can be special summoned by tributing earthen machine monsters. As for where. When you beat me, I figured it was time simple old me had to improve." He smirked and played a spell card to combine with his 500 attackpoint machine. "Machine Duplication! I wont have just one, but three Trenchers!" The spell duplicated the first Infinitrack, summoning two (5/500/2400) [Zones 4 & 3] from the deck in defense mode. "And you're sure you didn't just hold back your true power or something muscleheaded like that when we fought?" That story Scura found far more likely in most situations. "Of course not. I keep telling you, you are stronger than you think!"

"Yet you are the one dueling. Stop talking to her and focus on your opponent, Ulysses." Heleil sneered. "Oh pardon. I though such matters were a thing now, what with you and your invisible partner and all." He said as he looked at a card in his hand. "That was the act for my fans. You get the real me." The champion claimed. "Pity. I liked the fake you a lot more... But I cannot refuse a lady her request! I will use my two level 5 monsters, to perform an XYZ-summon! Come out, Infinitrack River Stormer!" Two of the three Trenchers ran into each other, colliding in a sea of blue light and shattered rocks. With its size, the triple turrent tank(R5/2500/500) [Extra Zone 1] could indeed easily storm the biggest of rivers.

"Now River Stormer is a machine with a simple purpose; retrieval! I can add one more Infinitrack to my hand when I detach one of its materials!" One Trencher got absorbed into the turret, and Ulysses grabbed his reward: a monster called Infinitrack Crab Crane. "Now, I'm sure I don't need to explain this." He sacrificed the remaining Trencher machine to special summon his new Infinitrack. The Crab Crane(5/2100/500)[Zone 1] owed its name to its truck claw and crab-like leg treads. "I am indeed familiar with every card, Ulysses, I studied a lot to become a champion. I even already know what you are trying to do as well." Heleil grumbled. Crab Crane could add a specific spell to Ulysses' hand. "Oh?" And he did add it naturally: the card called Outrigger Extension. "Yes. So use your rank-up ability. I have seen Acrates do it a thousand times. You will never be as great as him."

"Who said anything about ranking up? When I have two perfectly good link materials right here? Two machine monsters that is!" Both the XYZ-class River Stormer and regular class Crab Crane created a double-mark link circuit. "What!? Link summon?" They shrank down to size and formed a transforming gadget robot(1600/LINK 2) [Downleft/Downright} [Extra Zone 2] made of shining platinum. "This is Platinum Gadget. He can special summon a machine from my hand! And what better machine than the Flying Pegasus Railroad Stampede!" The silver pegasus rider(4/1800/1000) [Zone 5] and its brilliant train carriages drove down a path of light and platinum.

"Hreh. You're not gonna like this." Scura warned the champion. Since Pegasus could use its effect during a special summon too, Ulysses could now bring the discarded Heavy Freight Train Derricrane(10/2800/2000) [Zone 4] back on the living track. And a second effect made the Flying Stampeding Train(10/1800/1000) change its own level to match itself with the resummoned Derricrane. "I will XYZ-summon to Platinum Gadget's left marker! And the lucky machine is Super Dreadnaught Rail Cannon Gustav Max!" Two monsters to the tenth level disappeared underneath one of the greatest machines of all. And Gustav Max(R10/3000/3000) [Zone 3], with its barrel longer than its own body, did what it could do best. "I detach one XYZ-material, and Gustav Max inflicts 2000 points of damage!" It fired a shot across the bows, which could have been heard across the sector if not for Heleil's barriers. Instead she took the blast wide than herself, though she did not budge an inch. "Was that it?"

Heleil's LP: 6000

"Expecting more are ya? Coming right up! Heck, I did detach Derricrane just now. And that means I can destroy one card you control!" His dematerialized Freight train took a quick detour before going into the graveyard: plowing through Odd-Eyes Phantasma Dragon and destroying it. "Hmph. That was useless. Arc Pendulum Dragon will just summon something else!" No matter whose turn a monster died in, the Arc Pendulum could respond to the death of Heleil's Odd-Eyes monsters by bringing a new Odd-Eyes dragon out from the deck. This turn that would be a defending Performapal Odd-Eyes Unicorn(1/100/600) [Zone 3]. "That just means more soft things to run over, miss champion! Since I have a rank 10 machine. I can XYZ-change into my lovely Juggernaut right here!" Ulysses happily slammed a rank 11 XYZ-monster on top of Gustav Max, XYZ-Change summoning the Super Dreadnought Rail Cannon Juggernaut Liebe(R11/4000/4000) [Zone 3]. "And of course I can do the same for my Infinitracks! I activate Outrigger Extension! Each turn I can evolve an earth machine XYZ-monster by two ranks!"

"But you dont have any Infinitracks!" Scura rightly pointed out. "Your concern touches me. But you don't have to worry, I can always special summon an Infinitrack XYZ-monster from the graveyard, by sacrificing a Link machine monster like Platinum Gadget! Because that is what infinity means! They can go as long as they want to!" He declared it so. The Platinum Gadget robot got dismantled and its parts re-purposed as building materials for a special summoned Infinitrack River Stormer[Zone 4]. "Now lets extend!" The infinite tank evolved from the fifth to the seventh rank, and Ulysses placed that new form on the field. "Outrigger Extension summons Infinitrack Mountain Smasher! It can detach one XYZ-material to increase its attackpoints by a thousand!" The prison room grew out once more to accommodate the girth of Ulysses' latest machine: a futuristic orange/blue front-end-loader(R7/2100/3100) [Extra Zone 2] that could shovel entire mountains away. Mountain Smasher absorbed its single XYZ-material to further strengthen itself(3100/3100). And now the battle could be taken to her. "Juggernaut Liebe attacks Hope Magician!"

"No. I activate Hope Magicians effect first! I can turn it into a pendulum spell to special summon an Odd-Eyes dragon from my deck instead!" She acted faster than Ulysses could see. Her Hope Magician vanished in a flash and replaced himself with an Odd-Eyes Phantom Dragon(7/2500/2000) [Zone 3] in defense mode. The pendulum mage (Scale 8) meanwhile re-appeared within the safe zone of the pendulums light. "And Hope Magician can negate a monsters attack, by destroying itself!" Another flash followed, causing the Juggernauts blast to magically disappear without a trace of sound or impact. The Hope Magician was gone as well. "But my Liebeling can attack one more monster for each of his materials, Heleil! Two more attacks that is! After that, Mountain Smasher is all yours!" Ulysses loaded two more giant-sized bullets in the Dreadnaught cannon and unleashed both shots against the defending Performapal Odd-Eyes Unicorn and Odd-Eyes Phantom Dragon. Afterwards the mountain destroyer bulldozed towards the wide-open performer duelist.

"You can keep it, millennium duelist! But I do appreciate you powering that monster up!" Heleil reacted with a trap: Smile Potion. "When I have no monsters left, and yours has more attackpoints than it normally would have, I can draw two cards." She seemed confident in her draws. For many good reasons. "I have it: Performapal Kuribohble!" Got absorbed by a tiny Kuriboh(1/300/200) [Zone 1] wearing a sleeping cap.

Heleil's LP: 8800

"What the?" Scura blinked several times. "Her life went up?" Somehow she special summoned something that weak in attack mode, and did not lose anything as Mountain Slicer destroyed it. "That is what Kuribohble does. She special summons herself when my opponent tries to attack me, forcing the attacker to hit her instead. And any damage I take is turned into lifepoints instead." Despite Ulysses' best efforts, she endured. "Oh well then." He shrugged and placed a trap card face down. "Oh and I once per turn, I can banish an Infinitrack Trencher from my graveyard, to special summon another Infinitrack." He dutifully clarified before bringing the Crab Crane tank [Zone 4] back in defense mode. "You are giving me quite a fight. Yet I still don't feel like naming you like I do all my prospective opponents." Nevertheless, he enjoyed the duel more than her.

"I do not need it, thanks. All we need from you is your lifepoints. Then we can..." She intended to start her turn. But something distracted her. "Now? That is interesting. Chiaoroscura. It seems a friend of yours is here."

"Void?" Scura gasped as she saw the cyberse duelist behind her. "Scura! Are you okay?" He quickly made it through the barrier opening. "Ugh! Yes! But how does everyone keep finding me?" The subterror duelist whined. "It's Hydra. He was following you." Void immediately explained. "What!? That bastard! Did he tell you as well?" She cursed. This explained why Ulysses showed up with such great timing. "Now now, he did it for your own good. He heard about the champions actions before any of us." Ulysses finally clarified.

"I am sorry. I would have come here sooner. But Hydra did not want to let me go immediately. He was afraid of something, Exeter sent out a worldwide message." Void locked eyes with the champion Heleil. "You are doing a clean sweep of the game, shutting down pvp for 'maintenance'. But we all know why you are really telling everyone to stay offline." They just wanted to prevent more players from joining. "You are close, Void. But we have a specific interest in you, the heroes of Pandemonium." Heleil replied disdainfully. "Us? Why!?" Scura wanted to hear some answers for once. "Why? Simple."

"At least one of you was never meant to show up at the arena."

"What are you saying?" Void felt his imagined blood turn cold. "That you heroes were compromised from the very beginning. Do you recall the judge that first fell to the ADIs?" Of course he did. "Hieronymus?" Void might have forgotten that he never truly found out how he lost, he could never forget how he found him at the arena. "Yes, him. They finally recovered all of his audio logs, though his visual data was forever lost. But that left Hansen's people enough info to deduce what happened. You know this special club of yours: Static's twenty chosen ones? As it turns out, he did receive an invitation to this place that you call the arena of the beyond. He was supposed to be one of you, until someone did to him what you also did to each other. They destroyed him."

"What! No! That can't be... He said an ADI destroyed him!" Scura protested. "No. That was just what they programmed the CIDs to say, we never met the real Hieronymus." Void realized. "You didn't. But that was their assumption for a while. But perhaps it is still true?" Heleil scowled. "Now what are you suggesting?" Ulysses wanted to hear the end of this story. "That whoever destroyed Hieronymus took his place. That one of you is not who they say they are. That is why we are looking for all of you."

(To Be Continued in Line 073: Smile If You're Lying)

**New Cards used by Ulysses  
**Scrap Recycler  
Infinitrack Trencher  
Infinitrack Crab Crane

-  
Infinitrack River Stormer  
Platinum Gadget  
Infinitrack Mountain Smasher

-  
Machine Duplication  
Outrigger Extension

**New Cards used by Champion Heleil  
**Odd-Eyes Arc Pendulum Dragon  
Odd-Eyes Persona Dragon  
Performapal Pendulum Sorcerer  
Performapal Silver Claw  
Performapal Kuribohble

-  
Hope Magician

-  
Smile Potion


	73. Smile If You're Lying

**Line 073: Smile If You're Lying**

The arena of the beyond began to look full again, with both Neo and Bionis Khan returning to the fold to catch up on current events. Though they too were put off by the presence of the scarlet haired doctor. "You came crawling back huh?" With Void gone, the bio duelist felt like turning her into the new target for his ire and suspicions. "I see you have been keeping yourself healthy, Khan." The fact that she welcomed his taunts with a pleasant smile frustrated him all the more.

"Guys, we don't have time for this! This is serious!" On the other hand, Neo wanted to get bright down to business. "More serious than it already is?" Blanche wondered what made the Cyber duelist this worked up. "It's Exeter! They say they're preparing for a big update, so they are telling everyone not to worry but also not to log in. I can't stream anymore either. And anyone caught going in will be suspended." The only reason Neo felt safe rejoining at all was because of the strange nature of this location. Neo exclaimed. "What!? That's overkill" Donna furiously rose with a shout. "A couple of guys I know say the same though! I guess they are working on a way to make the millennium cards useless."

"Well that is dumb. It's just going to make people want the cards more." Madam Blanche dryly surmised. "How can they do this? I thought most of the judges had been expelled from the network?" Veyron wondered. "The champions are working for the company directly now, with the help of more of those hazmat drones! Exeter is handing out admin rights like candy." Bionis made his own anger heard as well. "And from what I hear, they are looking for us specifically. But they wont say why. At least they cannot get to us here." Of course, only bad press kept the company from coming after them in the real world. "What I don't get is, why aren't they just shutting everything down and say they are renovating the map? Games got away with events like that in the past. And they had millions of players too." The ritual duelist had no clue.

"Perhaps it is not that simple. This is not a mere game. Nor is Millennium hiding in the game portion of STHEREA either. Regardless, Hansen must be desperate." Asterisk shook her head. "Well, they did take his sister, for all we know." Veyron figured that could drive any man to new depths. "Bah! We should decide what we are going to do. Are we going to let them kick us out too?" Donna did not think so. "What can we do? We're still outnumbered." Veyron countered.

"If I might make a suggestion." The doctor suddenly spoke up. 'What do you want?" Bionis snarled. "No no.. what do_ we_ want? The question is: where do we get more aid? To answer that, we will need to make a fieldtrip." Scarlet pulled up the in-game map. "A fieldtrip to where?" Asterisk carefully asked. "To a place of wonders and achievements.. A repository for all the fallen. I had more than one gift in mind for my return. And now I have found it, I have found the sector where all avatar data is stored.. functioning or not."

...

"One of us replaced Hieronymus? Who? How?" Void could not believe what he was hearing. "If we knew, we would not be going around asking people. The records show that all of you are legitimate players, but records can be forged." Heleil explained. "Like other things." Scura muttered under her breath. "It does not matter what the truth is. Destroying a champion is a far greater crime! I will deal with you and your mystery, after I layed waste to this man! Prepare yourself, Millennium duelist! This is the last stop for you!"

Heleil's LP: 8800 Ulysses' LP: 8000 -TURN 03-

Heleil's normal summoned the musical penguin band Pendulumucho(1/0/0) [Zone 1], whose effect in turn special summoned a level 1 pendulum monster from her extra deck: Performapal Odd-Eyes Unicorn(1/100/600) [Zone 2]. "Odd-Eyes Unicorn raises my lifepoints by the attackpoints of a Performapal in my graveyard!" She used the Silver Clawed Performapal as her target, raising her life by another 1800 points. "And I will use both pendulum monsters to link summon Heavy Metalfoes Electrumite!" Two pendulum monsters as link materials could create the recognizable metalfoe(1800/LINK 2) {Downleft/Downright} [Extra Zone 1] in her transformed electrum armor.

Heleil's LP: 10600

"Hey she is just repeating her moves from the finals now! Did you just _happen_ to draw Pendulumucho?" Scura wondered, since she remembered all the talk of the champions using scripts to duel. "That was then. This is now, this is the real me, my real skill! And that is more than enough!"

"Electrumite moves my Performapal Smile Sorcerer from the main deck to the extra deck!" A trinity of powers were at the heavy metal card's disposal: the first of which involved adding pendulum monsters to the extra deck face-up. The second allowed her to destroy one of Heleil's other cards to activate a face-up monster out from the extra deck as a spell card. "I set Odd-Eyes Mirage Dragon, and she destroys him!" The champion placed the green-scaled Mirage Odd-Eyes (Scale 8) [Zone 1] in the spell zone, only to immediately sacrifice it to Electrumite. In turn, Heleil could activate her formerly destroyed Odd-Eyes Phantom Dragon (scale 4) [Zone 1] as a pendulum spell instead. And since an Odd-Eyes monster had been destroyed this turn, she could also activate the effect of Odd-Eyes Arc Pendulum Dragon (Scale 8) [Zone 5]. "Arc Pendulum Dragon, summon Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon!" The prismatic red and blue lightpath called out the original Odd-Eyes, the red dragon(7/2500/2000) [Zone 2] with its golden crescent horns. Finally, whenever one of her pendulum spells got destroyed, Electrumite would draw a new card for her master. "It is almost time, Millennium duelist! For you to see the final swing of the pendulum!"

"Now hold on, miss Heleil! Before you do, I have one thing to say! Or rather, one thing to play!" Ulysses chuckled and activated his trap card. "This is Barrage Blast! It destroys one of your cards for each XYZ-material attached to my monsters!" The machines of war took aim. Though his Infinitrack Mountain Smasher(R7/3100/3100) [Extra Zone 2] lacked attachments, the Super Dreadnaught Juggernaut Liebe(R11/4000/4000) [Zone 3] could still count on two of them. "I destroy your link monster and Odd-Eyes Arc Pendulum Dragon!" Two massive shots were unleashed, to make any hopes of pendulum summoning a futile dream. "Then I have something to say to you back! My skill card: Curtain Call! I can return all cards on the field to my hand! Then I can add one card from the extra deck to my hand as well!"

_Curtain Call, Skill Card  
__Return all cards you control to the hand; then you can add 1 face-up monster card from your extra deck to your hand._

Electrumite and the Odd-Eyes dragons made a hasty bow before retreating from the stage to avoid the blasts of the Juggernaut, leaving Electrumite to die alone. In the grand scheme of things they mattered more to her than a link monster. Afterwards, Heleil added Performapal Smile Sorcerer to her hand as well. "Interesting skill." The conductor mused. "More than you can say. You were too hasty, Millennium duelist. That will cost you!" Heleil reactivated both Odd-Eyes Phantom Dragon and Arc Pendulum Dragon in the spell zones. Along with another spell. "I activate Soul Pendulum! I alter the scales of my pendulums by 1 in both directions!" The glow around both ends of the spell/trap zone became more vibrant and divine. Heleil poured her own soul into the Phantom Dragon (scale 3) and Arc Dragon (scale 9). "So it is like this, pendulum summon! I summon the Sorcerer of Smiles, Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon and the Dragon of Phantasms!"

Without the link monster, she could only summon 1 of her pendulum monsters from the extra deck: Odd-Eyes Phantasma Dragon(8/3000/2500) [Extra Zone 1] But two could be called out from her hand.. Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon [Zone 2] returned, along with her latest entry to the show: Performapal Smile Sorcerer(8/2500/2000) [Zone 4]. The blonde stage magician wore a star emblazoned darkblue outfit with a white cape and small tophat. And his smile cast out to everyone. "Smile Sorcerer adds a Smile card to my hand. I choose Smile World! Normally this card would put a smile on my face as well. But I am all out of smiles to give. I only hand out destruction now. Smile World instead adds 100 attackpoints to all monsters, for each monster!" Once the card entered the duel, laughter filled the air.

"Ewww" Scura had no love for anything that told her to smile or laugh. And now smiling cartoon stars and suns and moons floated freely around the duelists and their monsters. With six monsters on the field, each one gained 600 attackpoints. (Performapal Smile Sorcerer: 3100 atk, Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon: 3100 atk, Odd-Eyes Phantasma Dragon: 3600 atk, Infinitrack Mountain Smasher: 3700 atk, Super Dreadnaught Rail Cannon Juggernaut Liebe: 4600 atk, Infinitrack Crab Crane: 2700 atk).

"Smile Sorcerer has one more trick too. He draws one card for each monster I control, if their attackpowers are higher than normal! So guess how many I draw!" Heleil added three cards from her deck: a trap and two monsters. "Hah. It looks like your trap saved your life for now." She could not summon much else in this turn. But _could _easily destroy everything Ulysses currently controlled. "My attack begins! Odd-Eyes Phantasma Dragon attacks Juggernaut Liebe! And when he fights, your monster loses 1000 attackpoints for each face-up pendulum monster in my extra deck!" Five spirits were there to support the attacking Phantasma. Pendulumucho, Performapal Odd-Eyes Unicorn, Odd-Eyes Persona Dragon, Odd-Eyes Mirage Dragon and Hope Magician: one by one they softened up the metal armor of the dreadnaught(0/4000) and left it defenseless against Heleils attack. Its destruction sent a massive shockwave of flame and noise across the bridge.

Ulysses' LP: 4400

"I am beginning to like you, miss champion! But that don't mean I'll play nice! I activate Barrage Blast from my graveyard! When you destroy my XYZ-machine, I can banish an XYZ-monster from the scrapheap to inflict damage equal to its attackpoints times two hundred!" The first explosion set off a second, and removed the rank 10 Gustav Max and all of its parts. "That is two thousand, miss!" Flame and smoke crawled back across the bridge to reach Heleil and gave her a bath of destruction. "Gaaahh!" At least he started to chip away at her lifepoints. "What is this?" Just this amount of damage was enough to singe her hand. "That is reality, miss champion. That is what you fight for."

Heleil's LP: 8600

"Rgh! You bastard! Is this what you made Acrates feel!? You will pay for that!" Heleil ordered the two remaining monsters to attack, Smile Sorcerer killed the defending Infinitrack Crab Crane and Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon came after the mountainous Infinitrack. "When Odd-Eyes Phantom Dragon is in my pendulum zone, he can add 1200 attackpoints to one Odd-Eyes monster that attacks!" Once more one pendulum aided the other. The phantoms energy boosted the Pendulum Dragon(4300/2000) to give him an edge over Mountain Smasher. Not only did the Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon succeed in dismantling Ulysses' last machine, he also inflicted twice the usual battle damage when battling a monster. "Ngh!" Clearly, the conductor felt every bit of pain as well. "If you fight for your fantasy world, then why are you still getting hurt by my attacks? A duel should not even harm anyone!"

Ulysses' LP: 3200

"Because pain makes us human.." Void made himself heard. "That must mean that I... That we cannot be.." He clenched his own hand just make sure he could feel it. But what did that really prove? "Huh? We can't be _what_? Don't you start getting creepy too now." Scura did not realize until now that the cyberse duelist had stayed quiet. And now she almost wished he stayed that way. "The one who destroyed Hieronymus. The one who should not have been.. That person might not even be human. Just an ADI." Void finally came out and said it. "Huh? You actually believe her? She's just some pissed-off woman talking nonsense!"

"Is it nonsense?" A certain duelist wanted to argue that point. "Another one?" Heleil flinched. Her dueldisk gave her the warning too late: someone from her list of targets waded through the barrier by himself. "Lo and behold, it worked. I beg your pardon, milady Heleil." It was Midsummer Nightmare, shifting in from a ghostly state to a more solid form. "How do you people keep finding me?" She cursed and placed one trap card face down. "It is hard to overlook an aura the size of a bridge. And yet so easy to traverse when you put your mind to it. What you just saw was a taste of Millenniums power." He gave her a formal bow, as if it mattered to her.

"But I am not here for her, I am here for you Void. I understand you." Underneath his masked face lied a wide grin. And Midsummer's voice oozed a twisted joy. "Me?" Void knew what he was trying to say, he knew it and he could not avoid it. "Yes. You. Who else would fit the criteria? You are just an average man with average wants and average experiences. Out of all of us, you are the most likely to be.."

"No. I does not make sense!" Void shouted. "I am not willing to go that far. I have a home, a life, a.."

"Family?" Midsummer interrupted. "You never mentioned them to us once. Can you even prove to us that they exist? If we can create virtual worlds, we can create virtual homes. How do you know what you see is real?" The nightmare kept saying words that Void could not refute. "How do we know you're not the fake one then? You never mentioned your homelife either! Hell most of us haven't!" Scura certainly never did.

"You, Midsummer Nightmare. What do you hope to gain from this?" The champion also could not understand why the masked duelist talked this way. "It is very simple, milady Heleil. This all started because of Mister Static. He invited the judge for one reason or another. Perhaps he planned all along to have someone.. something else take over Hieronymus' spot. That is his game within a game. Find the odd one out and win a prize. I have always wondered who it could be. I had considered it to be Zettai or even Crescent for a time, but they were too human in the end. But now I think I have finally found it, found a truly artificial existence."

-TURN 04-

"Is that so? Well.. I don't know if any of that adds up. But I can tell you fellows one thing. Pain or no pain. Once you let Ezra 'free' you, then you will know that you are alive. Because no digital brain can be affected by the Lance of Legacy!" Ulyssese activated the Urgent Schedule spell card. As he controlled no monsters he could special summon two earth machines from his deck with levels above 4 and below 5. "But even if one of you were just a machine, what is wrong with that? I have always wondered what it would be like to become fully mechanical myself. And thanks to the Lance I am one step closer to that dream! Then I will really feel only what I want to feel!" The two summoned machines were the Ruffian Railcar(4/1800/1000) [Zone 1] and a spiked drill tunneling machine: Infinitrack Tunneler(5/2200/500) [Zone 2].

"Ugh. I am surrounded by nutjobs." Scura thought that perhaps she would be better off with the champion.

"Link summon, Infinitrack Goliath!" With only a single non-link Infinitrack monster as the material, Ulysses created the blue power shovel vehicle(1000/LINK 1) {Downright} [Extra Zone 2] on tank legs. "You will remember what I can do with a single link machine monster, wont you?" The Infinitrack Riverstormer in the graveyard took the Goliath as a tribute, and placed itself(R5/2500/500) [Zone 2] back on the battlefield. "But how is this? When Infinitrack Goliath goes to the graveyard, it actually turns into an XYZ-material! For my River Stormer of course." The XYZ-Infinitrack looked as good as new thanks to its link-monster attachment. Ulysses could even detach that card to activate River Stormer's Infinitrack searching effect. "I add an Infinitrack to my hand: Infinitrack Harvester! And when I normal summon the Harvester I get to add an Infinitrack monster to my hand all over again!" Among the many 'infinite' construction vehicles, the highly advanced many-teethed harvester truck(2/0/2100) [Zone 3] was the weakest but certainly not the least dangerous. Thanks to it, Ulysses could claim another Infinitrack Crab Crane from his deck.

"Alright alright alright!" Like the last turn Ulysses sacrificed his EARTH machine, Ruffian Railcar, for the Infinitrack Crab Crane(5/2100/500) [Zone 1]. "Let's see what my deck has in store for us!" He then began to pick up cards from his graveyard. "I activate the effect of Infinitrack Tunneler, which banishes itself to return five earthen machines. What do I get in return? Two draws of course!" He shuffled the five cards (The Infinitracks Goliath, Trencher, Ruffian Railcar, Freight Train Derricrane, Flying Pegasus) and claimed his new card pair. "Ha! And now we're adding some more firepower, with just a few simple steps! First we summon Crab Crane!" Just banishing the last Infinitrack Trencher from the graveyard did the trick and special summoned the first Crab Crane[Zone 5] in defense mode. "Then we resummon Infinitrack Goliath! And we use that as a sacrifice!" The first Crab Crane linked into the same shovel and pillar machine [Extra Zone 2], and he tributed it to revive Infinitrack Mountain Smasher(R7/2100/3100) [Zone 4] as well.

"And I can keep going and going! That's the beauty of transcending humanity! So let me show you Harvester's other ability! If I target another machine, Harvester will combine both their levels and make that the new norm!" Harvester(7/0/2100) naturally picked the second Crab Crane(7/2100/500). "XYZ-summon!"...allowing their controller to directly summon into a more charged up Infinitrack Mountain Smasher(R7/2100/3100) [Extra Zone 2]. "And XYZ-summon, Infinitrack Earth Slicer!" Then the still active Outrigger Extension spell took that rank and added two more ranks on top. "What on earth?" The newly summoned Mountain Smasher XYZ-evolved into a machine twice as long as the bridge: a neon-lit wheel excavator machine(R9/3100/2100) [Extra Zone 2]. "Not on earth. Into earth! This is the Earth Slicer! And he can destroy one of your cards for each XYZ-material I detach!" Just a single scoop of its wheel seemed enough to devour entire cities. And it came in three times.

"Ugh!" Odd-Eyes Phantasma Dragon, Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon and Performapal Smile Sorcerer were all mercilessly torn away from the bridge, and left only a large hole where once concrete and metal rested. "Fine. You destroyed them! But I still have the Arc Pendulum!" The champion of Odd-Eyes could still summon a few more from her deck: like the demon-winged red dragon Odd-Eyed Advance(8/3000/2500) [Zone 3]. "Oh but I plan to destroy that one too before long! Because we have finally come to the end! And while this card is not as fancy or rare as the golden one, I like it quite much. I activate the skill card: Global Earthquake! All monsters on the field have their positions changed to attack mode!" It did seem like the whole world was shaking. Tremors of such magnitude made every machine tremble no matter their size.

_Global Earthquake, Skill Card  
__Change any Defense Position monster(s) to face-up Attack Position. |  
__For the rest of the turn, monsters cannot be summoned or set in defense position.  
_

"No!" Both Mountain Smasher and River Stormer switched to attack mode, along with Odd-Eyes Advance Dragon. "Bullet Train!" Finally, since he controlled only earth machines, Ulysses could special summon the fastest train in the world to his field: the bullet-nosed Super Express(10/3000/0) [Zone 5]

"You are not using the glorious power of the Millennium?" Midsummer sounded mystified. This skill clearly was a downgrade. "That guy only has fakes anyway." Scura grumbled. "How many times can I tell you that we really wished for you to join us? You refused us and gave your card to others, and I understand that. That is why you got your second chance. Do you still think that we are vile?" The conductor waited for his answer. "No.. But, you are definitely weird." She gave an honest one. "Haha! I take that as a compliment!"

"Now, my monsters, attack!" The globally charged Infinitracks advanced from all three corners: with the biggest one coming in from the left. The Earth Slicer scooped up another part of the bridge and destroyed Odd-Eyes Advance Dragon at the same time. "Even if you hurt me, I will keep standing!" Heleil hissed. She would not have to put up with two more direct attacks if she summoned one more defense. "Pendulum Reborn! I summon my pendulum monster from the extra deck!" So her trap resummoned Odd-Eyes Phantasma Dragon(8/3000/2500) [Zone 3] to the field in attack mode. "Really?" Ulysses changed his schedule and sent out the Super Bullet Train. However he had to destroy two of his own cards (Outrigger Extension, Infinitrack Earth Slicer) to enable an attack from that machine. Once payed, the Super Express plowed right through Odd-Eyes Phantasma like a kamikaze train-sized bullet. "But where you will stand?" Afterwards the Infinitracks River Stormer and Mountain Smasher chopped away more sections of the bridge and Heleil's lifepoints. "Argh!"

Heleil's LP: 3900

"Hff.. I am fine, where I am now!" The champion could not go anywhere now, the road in front of her and behind were all smashed to pieces by the mechanical titans. Still, she could fight. A pendulum summon on the next turn would be enough. "Then your choice is made." Except, Ulysses did not use all of his cards yet. "I activate Magnet Reverse! And I summon one machine from the graveyard that cannot be normal summoned!" The magnetic forces ripped the mountains behind him apart, to release the warmachine buried underneath. "It's not possible!" Heleil gasped. She stared right down the barrels of Super Dreadnaught Railcannon Juggernaut Liebe(R11/4000/4000) [Zone 2]. "Far from it, even with your world's limits. But then again that is why you never stood a chance. Even when going off-script, you already duel too much like an old-timer, We are the new, and we can do whatever we want!" And what he wanted was to finish the duel. Juggernaut Liebe unloaded everything in its arsenal and drowned the champion in explosives.

Heleil's LP: 0

"Wha..?" Scura sputtered and coughed and waited for the smoke to dissipate. "Where did she go? Did you just vaporize her?" Heleil no longer existed anywhere that she could see. "The damage pushed her out of the game, that is all. Without the lance I cannot permanently banish her. But she should think twice about getting back in now. Ezra can remove her with a simple glance now." Ulysses dusted off his hands and removed his silvery facemask. "You are welcome."

"Bah. I didn't need your help. Or yours, Hydra!" Scura cursed at the sky "I thought you were done with the whole invisible man act!" She did not care if he could hear her or not. And he did not seem to care about giving an answer. "It clearly is too useful a skill to abandon. You should happy that it resulted in your rescue. And in a new wave of information." Midsummer chuckled. "I do not care what Hansen thinks or what you think, Midsummer. I know what I am." Void declared. "Even so, we cannot deny that one of us committed an awful act. And if our very champions are hunting us here, then they will be hunting us out there as well. Where can we truly be safe, Hmm? You should think about that." The altergeist duelist himself had witnessed enough. He phased into the air to travel to parts unknown.

"Bye, I guess." Scura sighed and felt her hands cramp up. "Ugh! But he has a point!" Who could she even trust now, where could she go? "Void. I don't think you're a robot. But no way I am going back to Static after what I just heard and you're still smarter than me. What do we do?" Only his answer would satisfy her. "I wish I had better answers." He gave Ulysses a quick look. "But I think we have been working for the wrong people all along." He actually began to believe that Millennium was not the greatest enemy left in the game.

(To Be Continued in Line 074: Template of Sanctity)

**New Cards used by Ulysses  
**Infinitrack Tunneler  
Infinitrack Harvester

-  
Infinitrack Goliath  
Infinitrack Earth Slicer

-  
Magnet Reverse

-  
Barrage Blast

**New Cards used by Champion Heleil  
**Performapal Smile Sorcerer

-  
Smile World

-  
Pendulum Reborn


	74. Template of Sanctity

**Line 074: Template of Sanctity**

"Voila. We have arrived." Scarlet took five duelists along for her ride. She, Donna, Asterisk, Blanche, Neo and Bionis beamed into an area which they had never seen before. "You.. were right." An area they should not have had access too, as the agent noted. "Try to not act so surprised, Asterisk." Scarlet brought them here, bypassing the normal defenses with a special script. "We're flying?" And it truly felt like a place free from the normal rules. As Neo noticed, they did not stand on solid ground. They could float in any direction, like they were swimming in air. "Weird. But not as weird as those.." Bionis stared at rows and pillars of coding; files and raw data poured up and down columns of light. "This is a database. A virtual representation of one at least. Everything that has to be created, selected, inserted or deleted from the network comes from here. Cards, mods and.."

"Avatars." Donna finished her sentence. "We should be able to find Giganoto's avatar here."

"Correct, this is also were avatars are kept when they are suspended. I should be able to find their array in a jiffy." The doctor tapped the side of her mask and started her scan. "What about Imperius, or Skylander? Will their data be here too?" Bionis wanted to know, since they were the reason he came along in the first place. "They should be. The company has had plenty of time to fix them. Whether they are mentally sound enough to return to them is another matter." Scarlet added on a wistful note. "Better focus on one problem at a time then." Blanche reasoned."Tch. Fine. I mean what can we even do when we find anything?" The ritual duelist wondered.

"We can bring back anyone that Hansen has banned from the site unfairly." Donna determinedly stated. "Yes, that and.." Scarlet meanwhile began to hover to a level above them, having picked up a trail with her mask. "We might even be able to device a way to prevent suspensions, if we learn enough from the way the system is arranged here."

"Or perhaps I will suspend you here and now, to keep you from going further!" A brunette woman shouted right after she materialized before the six heroes. "An admin!?" Neo panicked. "Of course! I have a right to be here!" She snarled at them. "You are... Your name was Jean, wasn't it?" Asterisk remembered her from the various encounters with the CTO. "Pft, he still has some left in his pocket huh?" Bionis Khan jeered. "I will always be loyal to Hansen! I cannot say the same for you!" Jean reached for her dueldisk and tried to activate a function of it. "Huh?" A function that turned out to be woefully ineffective.

"Too late I am afraid. I already put up a scrambler to confuse the network. You cannot suspend us or even freeze us, can you? Though I admit my program would not be as effective if we were not standing in the very place where suspended data is sent." Scarlet let out a fearless laugh. "Hmph. So you came prepared. _Why_ are you here?" Jean still activated her dueldisk, to prepare for a confrontation of the classic kind. "We came here to undo what Hansen has done to everyone! Starting with my friend!" Donna also immediately switched on her dueldisk to meet the as of yet unspoken challenge. "Undo? Do you even know why we have had to push everyone away? Do you even remember Hieronymus?"

"The judge guy with the Tindangles? Yeah?" The white lady remembered that name and faceless head well. "Good. Then you will be glad to know that one of you, one of the twenty who were recruited by this mister Static you claim exists, is responsible for his destruction." She snapped her fingers and created an elimination box to separate all of them from the database. "Whoa? What? What the hell are you saying?" Bionis yelled.

"The same thing you said actually, Khan." Blanche chuckled darkly. "More traitors then? It is getting difficult to keep track of things. How can you be sure of this?" Asterisk inquired. "I do not need to give you the details. I was told that only one of you could have destroyed him. Perhaps it is the one you are trying to save, perhaps it is an impersonator. Though Exeter thinks it could be an ADI in disguise, planted there by your host of the arena. Maybe even more than one. Either way that is enough reason for me to defend this place from you!" She finally engaged duel-mode. "If you think we will back off, then you are way off the mark!" And Donna became her first opponent. "I am not leaving empty-handed!"

Donna's LP: 8000 Jeans LP: 8000 -TURN 01-

"You will fail, Donna Monday. Nothing leaves this database while I am here." Jean drew her cards. "I summon Yosenju Kama1! When it is normal summoned, I can immediately normal summon one Yosenju monster in addition to my normal summon!" The Yosenju were a family of mythical beastmen, including the Kamaitachi weasel brothers. And Kama1 the silverhaired samurai in purple robes was the eldest brother(4/1600/500) [Zone 1]. "That will be Yosenju Sabu! If this card is Normal Summoned and I control another Yosenju, I can add 1 Yosenju Pendulum Monster to my hand!" Her next beastwarrior wore blue clothes, a fancy purple cape and a wide straw hat. The monster smiled at Kama1 and started his deck-search for fellow Yosenju, finally stopping at a card called Yosenju Daibak. "I add this card to my hand, and I set two cards face down. That ends my turn!" No sooner did the admin declare this, did the two Yosen warriors disappear in a whirlwind of dust. "Huh? Did they run away?"

"In a way. Yosenju Kama1 and Sabu return to the hand during the endphase, if they were normal summoned." Scarlet explained. Many of the Yosenju possessed the same effect. "Pfah! Then how is she supposed to block us, if she cannot even leave behind a defense?" Bionis scoffed. A duelist like Donna could easily run through a wide-open duelists's lifepoints. "Will it be that easy though?" Blanche speculated.

-TURN 02-

"Do not jinx me." Donna grunted and drew her card. At the very least her hand did not disappoint her. "I do not know what the trick is here, judge Jean! I guess I have no choice but to trigger it! I summon Gouki Suprex! And when I do, I can special summon one Gouki from my hand! Gouki Riscorpio!" Her everloyal blue-spike warrior(4/1800/0) [Zone 1] stepped into the fight, and tagged in a mighty Gouki to support him. Riscorpio(5/2300/0) [Zone 2] wore red armor like that of a scorpion, complete with crushing claws and a stinger tail. "And I.."

"I activate a trap: Yosenju's Sword Sting." Jean revealed the 'trick'. "When I control no monsters, I can reveal two Yosenju monsters in my hand. Then just as many of your cards are returned to your hand." To Donna's dismay, she learned that the Yosenju did not need to be on the field to be a nuisance. Kama1 and Sabu revealed themselves from the admins hand and stabbed the two Gouki warriors in the back. "Since your monsters did not go the graveyard, you cannot add any new Gouki cards to your hand either. But what did you imagine would happen? A clean victory? You are a dueltainer, and I have officiated some of your very own duels, Grand Donna. I know all your moves inside out." The Monday Smasher always started out with Suprex if she could. After that came her link 2 monsters and the flood of link monsters would only pick up speed from there.

"Oh yeah? Well do you know about this too?" Donna entered the battle phase anyway. "Hey wait what? What are you trying to do? Punch her yourself?" Bionis yelled. "Better than that." Donna activated the quickplay spell, Arrivalrivals. "I can normal summon another monster from my hand during the battle phase! Gouki Suprex and Riscorpio!" Both the Suplexer [Zone 1] and the red scorpion wrestler [Zone 2] re-entered the battefield. The latter having been special summoned after the former got normal summoned by the spell.

"!? I see. Of course, you can use your monsters effect more than once a turn. However, your other flaw is that you always summon your starter in the same zone!" Jean snapped her fingers and activated a continuous trap: Boompoline! [Zone 1]. "What are you? A trampoline?" The trap rested in the same column as Suprex, and he stepped right on it. "When an effect monster enters the same column as this continuous trap card, both cards are returned to the hand. If I cannot block you, I will at least slow you down!" She took back her trap, after it tossed the Suprex warrior right out of the ring. "Even if you are human, you are a victim of your own routine. Donna." Jean smirked. "Rgh! Shut up! I am human, and I have the rage to back it up!" Donna could still attack with Riscorpio, which of course she did. The scorpion Gouki raked its claws across the admins body. "Ngh. Perhaps."

Jeans LP: 5700

"How can you people even be confused? Isn't it easy to tell who is alive and who is a robot?" Blanche was actually curious about that. "It is not as easy as it seems. Both our avatars and ADI avatars are made from the same models. They just run on local scripts while we dictate what we can do with our minds." Scarlet stated, knowing the facts inside and out. "Does it matter? If you people can invent ways to circumvent our commands, than you can also circumvent our scanners." Jean retorted, while Donna placed a card face down on her field. "Oh? Then I suppose Hansen has some of us in higher regard." Asterisk smirked. Not every one of the heroes could bend the game's rules as well as he or Scarlet. "He put your name at the top of his list yes. You, Scarlet and Void."

-TURN 03-

"Void? Why him?" Bionis cursed. "Because the report stated he found Hieronymus' body first. That is enough reason." Jean started her turn again. "I resummon Kama1 and Sabu!" The weasel warriors returned to her field in the same order. Kama1[Zone 5] brought out Sabu[Zone 4] who in turn added a new pendulum monster to Jeans hand: Mayosenju Hitot. "Now, have a taste of a judge's full power! I activate Yosenju Oroshi Channeling, to activate Yosenju Shinchu R and Yosenju Shinchu L from my deck!" Her spell caused grey clouds to darken the skies, and snake-like spirits to spiral down above both ends of the spell/trap zones. The Oroshi channeled two pendulum monsters to the field: the left(Scale 3) and right(scale 5) demon-faced pillars of the Yosenju gate. "Yosenju Shinchu R can raise its own scale to 11, if a Yosenju exists in the other pendulum zone!" Both the blue and enhanced red demon (scale 11) combined to form one gate, where the pendulum swung behind it. "Pendulum summon! Mayosenju Daibak, Mayosenju Hitot and Yosenju Izna!"

Five faces of terror stormed through the demons gate and unleashed their night-shattering shrieks: Yosenju Izna the longhaired weasel sister(4/800/1200) who wielded the whip, Mayosenju Hitot the hellish dragon snake(10/2000/3000) made from red flames and Mayosenju Daibak the calamitous horned beast(10/3000/300) [Zone 1] made from green flames. All were summoned in attack mode. "Watch as everything disappears! Daibak returns two of your cards to your hand, and Hitot can do the same to one card! And each time a card on your field is returned to your hand by my card effect, I can add 500 attackpoints to all my Yosenju monsters!" If both Hitot and Daibak got rid of one card each, a full thousand would be distributed to each of her beastwarriors.

"If anything here is leaving, it will be because of me Judge Jean! I activate Destruct Potion!" Yet if both both her trap and monster died before then, nothing could be bounced at all. "Destruct Potion?" And Donna pulled it off by turning her own Gouki Riscorpio into a healing potion. "You got that right! I destroyed Riscorpio and gained lifepoints equal to his attackpoints! Also, since I sent my Gouki to the graveyard, you can guess what happens next!" The dying scorpio fetched a new warrior to add to the proverbial backstage: Gouki Twistcobra. Donna happily drew that monster from her deck. "Ha! No returns, no attackboosts!" Bionis cheered her on.

Donna's LP: 10300

"Be quiet, all of you!" Jean clenched her hands out of anger. "You have no idea.. This is not a game anymore. We're losing more than that, we are losing to madness! There's already one enemy trying to destroy the order of the world, I will not tolerate another! I will fight for what little of the system remains!" She entered the battle phase with her current attacking force. "I attack you, Grand Donna!" A swing of Kama's whirlwind scythe, a blast of Sabu's wind magic, the lashing of Izna's whip and two bursts of the Mayosenju's green and red flames nearly brought the Monday Smasher down to her knees. "Rghgh!" Yet she would not yield one inch, not to the first attack nor to the last. "Order is not the same as justice! Is it just what has happened to Giganoto? Is it right what you have not done for Imperius and Skylander and the others?"

Donna's LP: 1200

"I already told you, any one of them could have been the one that destroyed Hieronymus. We know that they those three are human at least, but that does not make them innocent by nature."

The judge moved to the next main phase and cleared two of her monster zones prematurely. "Sabu can send one Yosenju monster back to my deck to place a specific card on my field, Yosen Whirlwind or Dizzying Winds of the Yosen Village. I pick the latter, and set it face down." She removed Kama1 and drew her trap. Two traps[Zones 2 & 4] were then set down at the same time. "And Izna can sacrifice one Yosenju monster to draw one card! I tribute Yosenju Sabu!" The exchanging of life granted her a new spell to play as well. "Here! Yosenju Wind Worship! All my other Yosenju monsters return to my hand, and I draw cards until I have five cards in my hand!" Since she added three cards to her hand already by taking Daibak, Hitot and Izna back. She could only draw two more cards. And since only one available space remained in her spell/trap row, Jean could only set one more trap [Zone 3] face down. "For what it is worth, I do not believe you are the one who did it, Donna. But still, I have to protect what I can."

"And I have to protect who I can. You were supposed to be on our side you know. Not on the company's side. We want things to be the way they were too. But more than that... we want our friends back." Donna would not accept it, nor would she accept the end of this turn yet. "I activate my skill, Warrior's Spirit! I re-summon the warrior Gouki Riscorpio! But it cannot attack!" She would first recover her destroyed warrior [Zone 3] and proceed from there. "I know what you know, Jean. The Gouki have a soft spot, they cannot handle traps and dishonorable battles. And I know what kind of traps you have in store for me: there aren't that many Yosenju supports either!"

-TURN 04-

"But what do you think of my solution? I activate Hey Trunade!" The wrestler took a page from Wagnerok's own book and activated the face-down bouncing storm spell. All three of Jeans cards would be sent back to her hand. "I think you should stick to what you know!" But the Yosenju could indeed counter it, with the counter trap: Yosenju's Secret Move. "Since I control a Yosenju card, I can negate your spell's effect!"

"Ha! Saw it coming!" She no longer had to consider the one trap in the middle column. But either of the ones in front of her extra monster zones could be Boompoline. It would take a sharp eye and keen mind to remember which was which. "I summon Gouki Suprex and Gouki Octostretch!" There were at least two safe columns. Suprex [Zone 1] and Octostretch the squid-wearing constriction wrestler(1/0/0) [Zone 5] opposed the pendulum gates of Shinchu. "I also activate the spell card Downbeat! I can sacrifice one of my monsters to summon one with the same types and element, but a different name and one lower level! I send Riscorpio away, to special summon Gouki Twistcobra!" The green serpent wrestler(4/1600/0) [Zone 3] joined the fray at another secure point, replacing the red scorpion whose last act and effect added the Gouki Headbatt monster card to Donna's hand. However, soon Donna would have to choose which extra monster zone she could risk. "And now I Link summon, Gouki the Jet Ogre!"

The Twist Cobra and Octostretch link materials turned into the jetpack ogre fencer(2000/LINK 2) {Left/Down} [Extra Zone 2], and he managed to place both feet on solid ground. "Ugh. You did notice." The trampoline trap waited in front of the other extra zone. "Sure as hell I did!" With Octostretch and Suprex both finally headed for the grave, their master could draw two new Gouki cards from the deck. "I add Gouki Faceturn and Gouki Bearhug to my hand!" And all the while her resources did not run out, yet the most devastating card had yet to show up.

"What are you doing, Donna?" The judge yelled. Normally she would have added Gouki Rematch by now. "Mixing things up! Because I have to be absolutely sure that I beat you this turn! So I summon Gouki Headbatt!" Donna discarded a Gouki card (Gouki Bearhug) from her hand, which activated the bat-masked warrior's selfsummoning effect. And Headbatt(2/800/0) [Zone 3] lent its hand to Suprex(2600/0) who gained 800 attackpoints from the newest warrior in the ring. "_Now _I can satisfy your request! I activate Gouki Faceturn! One Gouki will die, and another is special summoned from my graveyard!" Headbatt's reign was shortlived. He discarded his mask and dove into the graveyard with a lowered head. The snake-faced Twistcobra [Zone 3] took over his spot, or rather he claimed it back. Of course, this meant that one more Gouki card would wind up in Donna's reach. "Heheh. I take Gouki Rematch and use it to bring back Riscorpio and Bearhug!"

While the two warriors with different levels would be special summoned from the graveyard in defense mode, the scorpion[Zone 2] and the bearhide brawler(6/2400/0) [Zone 5] still handed their master the path to victory. "Link summon! Gouki... The Blade Ogre!" Donna combined the Jet Ogre's two link markers with the single-material Gouki Bearhug, to summon an unorthodox type of wrestler. As its name implied, the blue-armored and red-caped Blade Ogre(2300/LINK 3) {Up/Downleft/Down} wielded a great curved sword for its battles. "You can kiss your lifepoints goodbye, Jean! When Jet Ogre leaves the field, all Goukis gain 500 attackpoints!" The Goukis Riscorpio(2800/0), Suprex(2300/0), Twistcobra(2100/0) and Blade Ogre(2900 atk) flexed their muscles and surrounded themselves with a fiery aura. The Blade Ogre(3500 atk) also gained 300 attackpoints for each Gouki it linked with, which were both Suprex and Riscorpio in this case. "As if she did not have enough attackpoints yet." Blanche smirked.

"Even so, I will fulfill my tasks until the end." Jean stood her ground with a proud face. "That is commendable." Asterisk nodded to himself. "But it wont change a thing! The Blade Ogre can sacrifice one monster he points to, to give himself another attack this turn!" Donna roared. Her new monster would not be happy with just one blade, so he used his free hand to crush Riscorpio to digital dust. He(3200 atk) got a second sword out of that exchange. "Now, what do you say?" She walked into the battle phase with a smile and sent Twistcobra to make the first blow.

"I say I summon Yosenju Ojam from my hand in defense mode! Which I can do by discarding a Yosenju when I am directly attacked!" Jean shouted and discarded the Yosenju Izna card. Before her a mountain of black slime rose. "Ojam gains defense and attackpoints equal to the attackpoints of its attacker!" The slime(6/1600/1600) [Zone 3] grew a haunting face and arms that were eager to intercept Twistcobra. "But Twistcobra has more attackpoints than just his original 1600 now!" Thanks to the Jet Ogre's boost, the serpent warrior could jump above Ojam's hands and kick it in the face. "But I can sacrifice Yosenju Shinchu L, to save my monster from destruction!" At the last second the left demon pillar toppled over and knocked Twistcobra down before its attack finished. "So what? I still Suprex!" The tyrant wrestler finished the job, digging its horned claws into the mountainous Yosenju and killing Ojam for good. "And The Blade Ogre attacks directly! Twice! But.."

"Not before I activate TwistCobra's effect!" She would not need more than the current attackpower. So the Twisting warrior tributed himself, and gave all of his original attackpoints to the Ogre of blades(4800 atk). "!" Jean could not have survived this attack even with a full set of lifepoints. "I knew it." She sighed and allowed the link monster to finish his two direct attacks. The very air around got cut down by his mighty swings. "You have surpassed me. Heh, you might have made for a fine judge yourself."

Jeans LP: 0

"So what happens next, Jean?" The damage scarred her avatar, and rendered her incapable of dueling. But Veyron worried about possible reinforcements. "Nothing that I can do beyond reporting this. Our forces are already spread so thin, so I doubt we can stop you... It really is your playground now." She sighed and prepared to log off.

"Wait. Miss Jean, I have a question. You keep saying that one of us is responsible for what happened to Hieronymus. But how long have you known? How long has Hansen known?" Donna did not want to let it end like this. "I was only told today. If they know more, they did not tell me. I am not sure I would have told you either. But that is the way things are.. Those of you that are blameless should think about what you want to do. Because I do not know what happens to you, if Exeter decides to get serious." On that ominous note, the admin disappeared. "Serious? What does she mean?" Bionis twitched.

"No point in guessing." Scarlet Fever shrugged and immediately set upon the database columns again. "Either way, we are going to get what we came for.."

...

"Is this really what Millennium needs? More of these posers?" Victor Colombo grumbled his endless hours away, as more and more duelists arrived at paradise. An in his eyes it looked less like a field of flowers and more like a rich suburb that kept getting more and more crowded. With Ezra elsewhere, the new arrivals had nowhere to go but to ask questions at those who were already initiated. Except a large quantity showed up with no interest in actually joining and were quickly forced back out. Some only did it as a dare, to gain some fame on the network. But no signals could break into this part of STHEREA anyway.

"Imagine having all that freedom, and all you do with is complain about things." Even Cherry was starting to lose her patience with the gambling duelist. "I did not come here to frolic around! I want to do something that matters! I helped you before, I can do it again! You even let Alpha go! And we still have plenty of enemies!" He growled at her. "Like your brother and his friends?" Cherry snickered. "Tch. Yes. I don't know why you let Void and the others join us either!" If any of them had been around, he would have complained at them instead. "Well.." And he was in luck.

"Huh?" The latest arrival wore a face that he could add a name too. "You?" The duelist standing before him had a patterned kimono, pins in her black hair and a chestguard. And she went by the name of Yoro-Himiko. "Himiko? Mayakashi Himiko? What, a, surprise." Cherry quickly approached her before Victor could start whatever he would want to start. "And alone too. Cannot help but wonder what brings you here like this?" They could not be too careful with snitches either these days. "I..had nowhere else to go too. Millennium... is my only answer." The zombie princess revealed with dread in her eyes.

(To Be Continued in Line 075: Domain Out of Sync)

**New Cards used by**** Grand Donna the Monday Smasher****  
**Gouki Riscorpio

-  
Gouki the Blade Ogre

-  
Hey Trunade!  
Downbeat

-  
Destruct Potion

**Cards used by Judge Jean  
**Yosenju Kama1  
Yosenju Sabu  
Yosenju Shinchu L  
Yosenju Shinchu R  
Mayosenju Hitot  
Mayosenju Daibak  
Yosenju Izna  
Yosenju Ojam

-  
Yosenju Oroshi Channeling  
Yosenju Wind Worship  
Yosen Whirlwind

-  
Yosenjus' Sword Sting  
Boompoline!  
Secret Move of the Yosenju


	75. Domain Out of Sync

**Line 075: Domain Out of Sync**

Within the ground floor of the elemental palace, three champions of the world met. "So it is true then, Heleil has fallen." Dyzanthium grimly noted that there should have been five. They already lost their XYZ-user, but now their pendulum master as well. "But Heleil can just log in again, can't she?" Though as Sigment pointed out, Heleil's condition did not match Acrates'. "She claims she did not want to return for fear of encountering Millenniums leader. It is said that he can banish her on the spot since she already lost. And I do not doubt her words." The fusion duelist had already seen many of Ezra's fantastical powers. "Can't they restore avatars that were lost to begin with? We cannot fight that enemy from the outside." The synchro duelist ranted quickly. This virtual world was the only reason they could even talk with each other so conveniently.

"It appears.. that this is beyond their capabilities. We are not dealing with a case like that of the Crown." Vitruvic could not give any good news either. "Ragh! We should have stayed together. Why did we spread ourselves so thin and give them the chance to pick us off one by one?"

"Because that is what Exeter ordered us to do, Sigment." Dyzanthium stated. "And we are their lapdogs? You can stop sticking to your brooding script, Dyzanthium. Nobody is here but us now. The company has chased all the remaining players away and labeled the rest as enemies. But are they really?" Sigment had begun to wonder. He had not always been on Exeter's payroll. "You sound, like you are getting second thoughts about our contract. It was made and cannot be unmade, Sigment." "Do not forget what they have done to us already." Yet both Vitruvic and Dyzanthium disagreed. To them the divide could not be more clear. "So what do we do then?" As always, if he got outvoted he would fall in with the others. "We wait for further orders." Vitruvic grunted. "But we agree on one matter. There are too many incidents and we cannot handle them all even if we split up. Wherever we go next, we will not go alone." The fusion duelist claimed and the others could at least nod to that.

...

"Okay so you are this is is the right data?" After a long search, and many downloads, the doctor and her company finally located what they came for. "Well, why dont you identify him then?" To prove this to Donna, Scarlet projected a complete and three-dimensional image of Giganoto X's avatar from her dueldisk. "Whoa. Yeah. That's the guy." Blanche recoiled. He looked almost lifelike. "But he is not here yet." Not alive enough for Donna.

"Yeah. What is supposed to do next? Just try to log in?" Bionis asked. "No. This object is not connected to his profile yet. It will take some time to find the right key to bypass his suspension. Regardless, we do not have to stay here anymore." The doctors suggestion was fine by the others. No judges showed up after Jean, but they did not want to stay in this database a minute longer. "And what about the others? Is Skylander here?" Though Neo still could not pry his eyes away from all the pillars of data. "I fear I do not have enough time to find out." Scarlet answered after she checked some readings with her mask. "I first need to see if I can help Giganoto, but you should plan your next step yourself.."

"We will. And Scarlet, thanks." Asterisk said with a pained expression. "That means a lot, coming from you. I will let you know when I have made some progress. Goodbye. And give Void my regards." Scarlet Fever dematerialized. "..Hmph. Next step. I would love to know what that is myself." The agent sighed. They had learned a lot, and none of it comforted them. "Hieronymus.. was invited by mister Static. Let's ask him what he really knows about all of that."

...

The same questions followed Void and Scura, except they wanted to be as far away from Static as possible. And Void knew he could not tear himself away from paradise, not before Crescent and Therese returned with their answers. "I guess now I know what you feel like, Scura." No matter where he went, he would be trapped somehow. At least she stayed with him, though the veiled girl did not know for how much longer. "Huh? Hey! If you become gloomy on me, I cant help ya. Are you still thinking about Midsummer's nonsense? That guy is just nuts. And come on, no way you're an ADI! You're too... normal! I mean if anyone is a robotbrain its that bodyguard of Himiko! He never talks anyway and.."

"And what?"

Scura froze up when the voice of her sentence's subject reached her ears. There she stood not just a few feet away, talking to Victor Colombo and Cherry Anise. "Uh... Hey Himiko! What.. Whatareyouduoinghere?!" Scura's embarrassment quickly got overtaken by confusion and alarm.

"I could ask you the very same thing. I did not know that you two had turned against the others." She gave them a scathing frown. "We.. Wait. What about you? Where is Zanbatou?" Void could not help but feeling a little defensive. Though he quickly realized things were not as they should be. She would never go anywhere without her bodyguard usually. "We asked her the same thing! But she wouldn't talk to us!" Victor grumbled. "Because you are not worth talking too." Himiko spoke with contempt. "Make no mistake, I have no intention of joining your little family." Her sharp tone softened as she neared a subject she did not want to mention.

"Oh. Well I hope you reconsider." Ulysses gave her a smile and turned to Cherry, whereupon his smile faded. "You can handle this, can't you?" The conductor would have his hands full with other incoming duelists anyway. "Of course, Ululu... Now Himiko. You told me you wanted to hide here. Who are you hiding from? I am pretty sure we are all _dying_ to know the whole story." So Cherry began prodding, resting on the ground with her chin in her hands.

"...I suppose having two of my comrades around is better than no one at all. And I do owe you an explanation for our sudden disappearance." The zombie princess turned to Void and Scura. "Yeah you do!" The latter yelled back. "Then let me say it, Oof. You are all so impatient." The lady took a deep breath. "Zanbatou was.. let go. Mother discharged him off his duties as a bodyguard as soon as she and father found out about Millennium's attack on STHEREA. They recalled us immediately after the tournament fell apart and blamed everything on him. I tried to explain to them that I had sworn to help you, but they did not care. They then put a limiter on my account so that I could not even quickjump anywhere but the starting areas. That is why I could not just go to the arena for help."

"Wait? They can do that?" Void never heard of an action like that before. "That's just something the game has built in for very young players. Like.. under the age of ten." Cherry explained, while Scura almost started to laugh. "Sorry. I.. I just cannot believe you had an account like that all this time. You arent secretly a toddler are you?" This earned her another judging stare from Himiko, who did not even dignify her with an answer about her age.

"No matter what I said to mother, she would not listen. She instead gave me a new bodyguard, who would follow me everywhere. Even inside the network. I could not take it any longer. They would not control me! So I used this to finally break free." Finally she revealed her golden skill card, Legacy of Millennium. "They took mine away, but Zanbatou still gave me his. I was desperate, I did not know what else to do. Judge me if you want, but you would have done the same."

"I can't judge you." Void claimed. "Yeah those parents of yours sound like the problem here. Parents are the worst." Cherry nodded.

"But.. hers sound slightly more powerful than usual. Who are they, who are you really?" Victor experienced a different kind of curiosity. "All I will tell you is that my mother is head of a large organization, and my father is a wealthy industrialist. I believe he has even invested a great deal of money in Exeter and their many projects. That is also why he does not want me to be here anymore." She said, feeling worn out from just talking about them. "And, this is purely hypothetical, how much would they pay to get you back?" Victor suddenly asked. "Excuse me?" Himiko blinked. "What? You're trying to use her for ransom money? What is with you and cash? What do you even need to pay for here?" Scura failed to and refused to understand. "Bribes of course! We may not need cash anymore, but the people going after us do. And.."

"Shintaro Nakano."

"No." Himiko shuddered. "How the hell.." Even more suddenly, a man in full black ninja clothes teleported in. "_How_ did I come here?" He spoke with a low rasp. "It was easy. The fools formed a queue to walk into this 'paradise' of theirs, transporting a new duelist every ten minutes. I merely beat one of them into surrendering this." The ninja produced the golden card, his pass into the dreamworld. "That is how. Now come with me, miss Shintaro. Your family is waiting." The man expressed absolutely not one iota of interest in any of this wondrous world around him or its inhabitants. His gaze never disconnected from Yoro-Himiko's.

"So you're like what?" Cherry approached, gauging the intruder with casual interest. "I am a servant to the Shintaro family." He said that and nothing more. "Okay then, but you do need a name. Can I call you Shuriken? Or Just Ken? I mean with a cliche outfit like that you are asking for it. Even asterisk had more class." The trickstar duelist laughed. "Call me whatever you wish, I have no interest in you. Unless you wish to fight for the princess here."

"I will not let anyone fight for me." Himiko hissed as she readied her deck. "Is that truly so, miss Shintaro? Your history speaks otherwise. All but one of your battles up until this point have been two on two, or two against one. And if your intentions had been to fight back, you would have done so already. Instead you ran, hoping to find a place I could not." Yet here they were now. "I am not afraid of you!" She insisted.

"Should you be? I mean how many duels can this guy have under his belt anyway?" Victor figured that a man like him would be even more maladjusted to the dueling world than he was. "You mock me, but that is your error. I may not have dueled before, but that matters not. She cannot win against the power of the Shintaro family. Not without Zanbatou by her side." He took out his cards as well and waited for Himiko to respond. "How dare you say his name! You're just one of many, you are nothing like Zanbatou." Anger was the boost she needed to solidify her resolve. "Even if father and mother send a thousand more like you, I will fight til the last breath! Because this is my place too!"

Shurikens' LP: 8000 Yoro-Himiko's LP: 8000 -TURN 01-

"You have no idea how right you are, and wrong at the same time." The man audibly smirked and started his turn, summoning a ninja(4/1900/1800) [Zone 3] clad in partially armored yellow garb to the field. "He even _uses_ ninjas." Void should have seen that coming. "What's the point of being a ninja in such bright colors?" Scura wondered.

"Your friends have such humorous yet redundant references, miss Shintaro. I do not see why you would mingle with them." Shuriken scoffed as he placed another monster on his field: a ninja(4/1800/1000) [Zone 2] in darker clothes with a horned helmet and dead white eyes. "Wait what just happened?" Victor gasped. "He summoned a Yellow Ninja, which can special summon a Ninja from the hand when it is normal summoned." Cherry had to explain it to him. By the time she did, Shuriken already used the effect of his second monster, Ninja Grandmaster Hanzo, to add a Ninja card, Twilight Ninja Shogun, from the deck to his hand. "Having trouble following me?"

"No. Do not stall." Himiko rasped. "As you command." Shuriken played his spells the same silent way. He activated a continuous card called 'Ninjitsu Art Notebook', which could discard one Ninja per turn to add more Ninjitsu Art cards to the players hand. He decided to discard the Twilight Ninja to add a field spell: Hidden Village of Ninjitsu Arts. As soon as he activated that spell card, the whole area around them transformed into a moonlit ninja village in the middle of a deep dark forest. "Hmmph. Impressive." He did at least comment when he saw how grand the visuals were, but quickly moved back to dueling. "I believe this is what you call.. a Link summon." Hanzo the Grandmaster vanished together with the Yellow Ninja: two ninja link materials to create a midnight black ninja(2000/LINK 2) {Downleft/Downright} [Extra Zone 1] with bloodred emblazoned armor, helmet and a chain of dangling kunai daggers around his chest.

"Never dueled before in his life he said?" Void thought it was rather remarkable that this man even know how to use extra monster zones and everything around it. "A child could figure out this game. And that is what this is, children acting like they know true potential." The effect of the field spell triggered at this point. It added a Ninja card back to the players hand whenever a Ninja got special summoned.

"You know for a ninja, you are rather talkative." Cherry grunted. "I merely adopt the form that best suits the lady's wishes." He said mockingly as he added Ninja Grandmaster Hanzo back to his hand. At the same time he revealed the effect of his new link monster; Ninja Grandmaster Saizo. He could set Ninjitsu cards from the deck to the field. Shuriken set down one trap from his hand and a trap from his deck at the same time. One could barely see the name of that trap due to the speed of his movements. "Your move, miss Shintaro."

-TURN 02-

"I am not Miss Shintaro here, Ken. I am Yoro-Himiko. And I will show you what I am made of!" Himiko sounded like she could not wait to unload everything she got, and she came in fast. "Hajun, the Winged Mayakashi!" Thanks to her black feather priest(1/600/400) [Zone 1] she could special summon a Mayakashi monster from the deck. "Tsukahagi the Poisonous Mayakashi!" Hajun blew his shell horn and drew out Tsukahagi, the lasso-wielding redhaired ninja(2/0/2000) [Zone 2] with a knotted rope belt around his waist. "And when I control a Mayakashi monster, I can special summon Yuki-Musume the Ice Mayakashi and send one Mayakashi monster from the deck to my graveyard!" A little blackhaired girl(10/0/1900) [Zone 3] in a darkblue kimono emerged from the fog that started to fill the ninja village. "And yes, I know about link summons. Ken! I will need two Mayakashi, to summon Yuki Onna the Ice Mayakashi!" She took the tuner Tsukahagi and the child form of the snow ghost, to deepen the icy mist and summon the coldhearted Mayakashi Yuki-Onna(1900/LINK 2) {Downleft/Downright} [Extra Zone 2].

"It begins. Since I summoned a monster from my extra deck, I can special summon Dakki the Graceful Mayaskashi, a tuner monster, from my graveyard!" Of course, the nine-tailed consort Dakki was the card that she sent to the graveyard with Yuki-Musume's effect. And with Yuki-Onna's arrival, her(2/1000/0) [Zone 1] presence was required on the field of the living. "Synchro summon! Oboro-Gruma the Wheeled Mayakashi!" Himiko combined the two remaining monsters right away, tuning Dakki's two levels with the lonely star of Hajun. And so the synchro ladder started with the ghost of the flame-wheeled Oboro-Guruma(3/800/2100) [Zone 3].

"Yes, synchro summon. I was informed of that being your specialty." Shuriken stated rather smugly. "Informed? Tsk, that does not mean you are prepared for what is to come!" Himiko set her doubts aside and special summoned Dakki the Graceful one [Zone 1] for the second time, what with another monster having left her extra deck. Now she could tune the tuner with the synchro and do what came natural to her. "Synchro summon, Tsuchigumo the Poisonous Mayakashi!" The cycle repeated itself, five synchronized levels added up into the knight spider Tsuchigumo(5/2000/1800) [Zone 3] and into Dakki reviving herself a third time. In turn, those two monsters became synchro materials for Tengu the Winged Mayakashi(7/2600/1500) [Zone 3]. And the fourth incarnation of the nine-tailed consort tuned with Tengu to create her male companion: Yoko the Graceful Mayakashi(9/2900/2400) [Zone 3]. There seemed to be no stopping her.

"That is a high enough level." But Shuriken found a way. "I sacrifice your monster, and my ninja, to activate the Ninjitsu Art of Super Transformation!" The first of two traps revealed itself and dragged the Ninja Grandmaster into a cloud of golden smoke. "It was that card?" Yoko the Graceful One got enveloped by the Transforming smog as well. "Yes. This trap takes the levels of both monsters and summons a dragon, seaserpent or dinosaur from my deck whose levels at least match those of the two monsters!" While the link monster Saizo did not have any level stars to add to the equation, Yoko's nine levels satisfied the cost more than enough on their own. "I summon the Yellow Dragon Ninja!" Not all warriors of the ninja clan stayed as warriors. This new Yellow Ninja(8/3000/1500) [Zone 3] took off his mask shroud to reveal his thin bearded face, and rolled back his sleeve to reveal a yellow dragon head attached to his arm. He had become more dinosaur than man. "Now what will you do, miss Shintaro?" Since he did succesfully summon another Ninja, the Hidden Village field spell reclaimed another Ninja card, Yellow Ninja, from the graveyard. "You.."

"Yes, I know the weaknesses of your deck as well, without synchros your bite is as weak as that of a kitten. The family knows everything." Tributes did not awaken any Mayakashi in her graveyard. Dakki [Zone 1] did return to the field, but Himiko could not start the synchro summon cycle again with just the tuner "I.. activate Mayakashi Winter!" Even the powers of the coldest winter did not avail her here. The continuous spell only robbed the Yellow Dragon Ninja of 100 attackpoints for each Mayakashi in her graveyard and that did not level the playing field between him(2300/1500) and Yuki-Onna. "I can sacrifice a Mayakashi monster along with Mayakashi Winter, to draw a new card." She would have to place her hopes with her deck, but that also disappointed her. The card she drew after she tributed Dakki would not help her yet. "I set a card, and end my turn!" He had cornered her already. "Wait, Yellow Dragon Ninja can destroy spells and traps!" And things could get worser yet, as Voids warning came too late.

"Huh?" But Shuriken allowed the turn to end despite his monsters ability. "Do not try to help her, boy. She knows more than you still." Shuriken grunted. "And you do as well. You know about my skill card, don't you?" Himiko placed her hand behind the unknown blue-backed card. "Naturally. Cold Age, I believe was its name. A skill that allows you to protect one of your cards by negating its effects and activations. Were I to target your set trap, I would only waste valuable resources." The Yellow Dragon Ninja required a Ninja and a Ninjitsu Art to be sent to the graveyard, before it would destroy anything. "That is why I wont destroy your cards directly. I will just kill them with superior attackpower."

-TURN 03-

"It is my turn!" Said Shuriken, as he went through the same motions from before. He normal summoned the Yellow Ninja[Zone 1] and used its effect to special summon Grandmaster Hanzo[Zone 2]. Hanzo then added a Ninjitsu Art of Duplication to Shuriken's hand, while the Hidden Village of the Ninjitsu Arts returned the Twilight Ninja Shogun. "Link summon!" He did not change his extra deck preferences either, using both the Yellow Ninja and Hanzo as link materials for a second Ninja Grandmaster Saizo(2000/LINK 2) {Downleft/Downright} [Extra Zone 1]. Saizo's effect placed another Ninjitsu Art card face-down on the field, a trap called Ninjitsu Art of Mirage Transformation. "Say farewell to your mistress of winter. I attack!" Now back to full power, the Yellow Dragon Ninja gave Yuki-Onna a full blast of his dragons lightning breath. The bolts impacted into her ghostly body and spread her across the misty village as crystal snowflakes. "And I believe, this means I can strike you directly now!"

Yoro-Himiko's LP: 6900

"If I were to allow it!" Himiko retorted as she placed a monster on her field. "When my Mayakashi is destroyed, I can special summon Tsukahagi the Poisonous Mayakashi from my graveyard!" The rope-wielding tuner [Zone 3] appeared just as Saizo's bloodred blade came near his master. It absorbed the blow instead and safeguarded her lifepoints.

"You certainly know how to use shields well, miss Shintaro. Zanbatou would agree with that." Shuriken let out another chuckle as his attack run ended. "I told you to stop saying his name! He would never say that!" Himiko yelled back, as she felt like her blood burned. "Because that was his job. He could never tell you the truth. The truth that he despises what you have become." Yet he pushed her again and again. "That is a lie!" Until she snapped. "Just disappear! Choke on your own words!" She activated her trap card: Haunted Shrine. With that she could special summon one of her zombies from the graveyard, as long as she controlled no monsters. And she planned to resurrect Yoko the Graceful One.

"Oh?" But Shuriken got to Yoko's resting place first. He activated the Ninjitsu Art of Mirage Transformation that he'd set two turns ago. "Argh!?" This continuous trap sacrificed ninjas to special summon one monster from either players graveyard, while treating them as Ninja monsters. Through the art of the mirage, the Yellow Dragon Ninja transformed into the nine-tailed Mayakashi Yoko(9/2900/1500) [Zone 5] himself. "Himiko! Why are you letting him get under your skin!" Scura shouted. The ninja knew how to push the princess' buttons. "Because.. " If she had waited, she could have resolved her trap before his. "Because I am tarnishing your good name? You have done that yourself." Satisfied, the man continued his turn. He used the spell of Magic Planter, which destroyed a continuous trap to draw two new cards. He got rid of the now hostless and useless Super Transformation Art. "I set one card and end my turn. And it is a card that you will dread, miss Shintaro." He waited only until the lady had started her next turn.

-TURN 04-

"I activate Discord!"

"!? That means..." The continuous trap of disharmony took over the field, and her extra deck. "Yes. That means you cannot synchro summon while this card exists." Her most powerful monsters were taken away from her. "You're just cheating! Nobody uses that card unless they _know_ they're gonna fight a synchro duelist!" Scura objected again. Nothing about this matchup seemed fair.

"Why would he duel anyone else?" Victor chuckled, being more impressed with his underhanded tactics. "Even so, his skills seem far too high for a first-time duelist. You have a secret, don't you?" Cherry narrowed her eyes. "A secret? You think he is getting help?" Void guessed that the trickster duelist was referring to an unseen assistant, one who fed Shuriken all he needed to know to duel against Yoro-Himiko. "Maybe. But we would know if its a person. Nobody comes in here undetected. So my guess is actually something simpler-minded. My guess is, Ken, that you are using an AI to help you duel, one who whispers into your ear. Am I right?"

"Heh. A good guess. But then, servants of the Shintaro family deserve only the best of the best. And what better AI, than one based on 'him'?" Shuriken tapped his dueldisk and created a virtual image of a samurai duelist. "Zanbatou!" Himiko screamed. "Indeed." Shuriken made the hologram disappear again. "Your own friend will be your undoing, miss Shintaro."

(To Be Continued in Line 076: She Forgot How to Die)

**New Cards used by Yoro-Himiko  
**Tsukahagi the Poisonous Mayakashi  
Yuki-Musume the Ice Mayakashi

-  
Haunted Shrine

**Cards used by Shuri-Ken  
**Yellow Ninja  
Ninja Grandmaster Hanzo

-  
Ninja Grandmaster Saizo

-  
Ninjitsu Art Notebook  
Hidden Village of the Ninjitsu Art  
Magic Planter

-  
Ninjitsu Art of Super Transformation  
Ninjitsu Art of Mirage Transformation  
Discord


	76. She Forgot How to Die

**Line 076: She Forgot How To Die**

"This is just another database?" Alpha did not feel happy. He, Crescent, Melyria and Ezra followed the Therese and her promises the company's secrets. So far those secrets only amounted to just small private sectors for employees, poor recreations of tropical beaches, luxurious pools or even golf courses. And when they did not stumble upon these 'breakrooms', they just opened up parts of the public STHEREA database. "Maybe I was wrong. Maybe Hansen did keep matters close to his chest." Their current zone was the list on Therese's list. And at first glance it appeared to be just another zero gravity storage space for in-game assets.

"No. We came here last for a reason. I can feel the hand of the creator here." Ezra on the other hand felt fascinated by the form the data took, glowing orbs attached to spiraling cords of light. "The creator?" Crescent wondered what he was talking about. "He who made this world, he whose voice was silenced by Exeter. They did not make STHEREA, I know this."

"Hmm." Crescent did not know if that was true. But she also did feel an inexplicable aura in the air. "Aurora, be careful. You shouldn't!" The girl tried to touch one of the orbs, despite Therese's warning. "!? Ha!" A moment's touch sent her mind and all of its senses to a different world. "Aaaah!" She screamed when she got out, pulling her hand back. "What is it? What happened?" Therese rushed to her side. "I saw... the top of a skyscraper, the clouds, the cities.."

"Psh. You saw just another virtual office. These sectors aren't even done yet!" Alpha scoffed. "No. It felt too real. I could hear the room, feel the wind.. smell the air. But I have never been there before." None of those images could have been part of her past. "A memory." She saw through someone's else's eyes. "Memory? Are you certain?" Melyria darted around Ezra's head, concerned about the implications of these 'spheres'. "I am. This is not a simple database. This is an experiment to see if memories can be stored inside the network."

"But why?" Therese saw no immediate use for it. "We do not know. But this place is dangerous. Its power is dangerous..."

...

Shurikens' LP: 8000 Yoro-Himiko's LP: 6900

"You used Zanbatou's mind?" Himiko staggered from the realization. "Merely his memories, his dueling knowledge. Every duel you did with him was stored and used to create this invisible supporter." Shuriken explained why his tactics had been so effective up until now. "What the.. did Exeter make a slave for you? Just like that Walter guy? Can they do that with all of us?" Scura suddenly did not feel safe anywhere inside the network. "He is no slave, he is merely another program. The Shintaro family was one of the first to make use of this new feature created by Exeter. They requested it, and Zanbatou allowed it. He thinks you should return as well, miss Shintaro." The ninja chuckled.

"Do you take me for a fool? Or a weakminded girl! I do not believe you, nor will I fear you!" Himiko activated a spell by banishing from her graveyard along with Hajun the Winged Mayakashi. ""So what does _this_ Zanbatou tell you now? When I use Mayakashi Winter to revive my Tengu?" The cold winds of winter blew past one more time, and started to give shape to a winged specter. "That I should try to take it before you can." Shuriken's counter came swiftly. He activated his second Ninjitsu Art of Mirage Transformation, and sacrificed his own Ninja Grandmaster Saizo(2000/LINK 2) to target the Tengu Mayakashi in Himiko's graveyard. His trap would resolve first and special summon it before Mayakashi Winter could.

"Then trying is as far as you will get." Himiko could however add a third trap to the chain. "I still control no monsters, so I can banish Haunted Shrine from my graveyard to special summon one zombie monster to the field! I choose Tengu!" In the end her trap won out over the other two revival cards and brought the Tengu spirit(7/2600/1500) [Zone 3] to the field in attack position. "Did your AI warn you about this too? Now you see that it doesn't matter. That artificial mind cannot stop everything! And now that Tengu has returned to the living, one of your spell or trap cards is destroyed!" The redfaced and winged Mayakashi clapped his hands together to unleash the storm that obeyed his every whim. And he set it loose upon the Village of the Ninjitsu Art and tore up every tree and house.

"Nevertheless I made you use up one of your cards to get to this point. And you will not get any further either." Before the Village completely disappeared though, one more continuous trap got activated by Shuriken. "Ninjitsu Art of Duplication!" It allowed a use to sacrifice a Ninja to summon two more from the deck in attack mode, as long as their combined levels did not outnumber the levels of the original tribute. The mirage-controlled ninja of Yoko the Graceful Mayakashi(9/2900/2400) [Zone 5] performed one final technique. He covered himself with a smokebomb, and when the dust cleared two new ninja monsters were revealed: a Twilight Ninja Shingetsu pair: four-armed dual wielding ninjas(4/1500/100) [Zones 2 & 3] wearing blue capes and silver armor. "When I control one Twilight Ninja Shingetsu, no other monsters can be attacked or targeted by effects. So when two exist on the field, then no monsters can be attacked at all. And neither can I!" Shuriken sprung his perfect defense now, while the field spell's effects still lingered. Special summoning a ninja now allowed him to add Grandmaster Hanzo back to his hand once more.

"Ooh, a marauder combo? I havent seen one of those in ages." Cherry made an impressed noise. "Just because he those two monsters? Bah, you can break that, can't you?" Scura could not imagine this lock being that devastating. Especially since the Duplication continuous trap was all that kept both Shingetsus alive. "No, she cannot. She already used her Winged Mayakashi effect this turn. There are no cards in her deck that destroy spells or traps otherwise, she is still a cornered mouse." Shuriken sneered. With the Discord trap on the field, Himiko could not synchro summon anything anyway.

"You would be right, Shuriken. If I was alone, that is. But I am never alone, not even now... When I control a Mayakashi, I can also bring Yuki-Musume out from the graveyard by discarding a card!" A cool breeze passed through the village ruins that still littered the field despite the field spell itself being gone. The cold air solidified and formed the innocent ghost girl(1/0/1900) [Zone 3] of snow, who sent a zombie monster, Necroworld Banshee, to the graveyard afterwards. "And I will recreate Yuki-Onna!" Yuki-Musume turned herself and Tengu into link materials for her adult and more deadly form, the Ice Mayakashi lady of winter(1900/LINK 2) {Downleft/Downright}. "Well at least she can still link summon." Victor noted. And this extra deck summon did manage to activate Dakki's effect from the graveyard as well. The Graceful nine-tailed Mayakashi(2/1000/0) was special summoned back in attack position.

"And then I activate Blood Blossom of Afterlife from my hand! She is special summoned by banishing one spell or trap from both graveyards!" A red scythe materialized from thin air and cut through the graveyard to permanently destroy the Ninjitsu field spell and her own Mayakashi Return spell card. The wielder of the scythe only appeared once those cards had been reaped, and she(1/0/0) [Zone 4] took on the form of a young demon girl with long white hair and red eyes.

"Oh that card looks expensive." Scura muttered. "It should be. Because she can be tributed to banish one fusion, synchro, XYZ or link monster from either graveyard. And then I may summon one other monster from the three remaining categories!" The white reaper exploded into bloodred petals, and absorbed the soul of the Ninja Grandmaster Saizo. "Come back, Yoko the Graceful Mayakashi!" Because she banished a link monster, she could special summon the strongest synchro(9/2900/2400) [Zone 5] in her graveyard and link it with Yuki-Onna. "What is the point, miss Shintaro?" Shuriken scoffed. Neither Yoko's effect nor attack could harm the Shingetsu Ninjas. "It will all become clear when I activate my skill, Shuriken!" Yoro-Himiko started the battle phase. "I play No-Nonsense Combat!"

_No-Nonsense Combat, Skill Card  
__Activate when a monster declares an attack, negate the effects of all monsters on the field until the end of the damage step._

"But that is.." Shuriken flinched while his two ninjas had their powers taken away, and thus also their evasion speed. "Zanbatou's skill, yes. He gave me more than his skill card, before we separated! That is why I know that you lied! Zanbatou would never willingly betray me! You forced him to hand over his memories! I dont know how, but you did!" Yoko the Graceful Mayakashi burned the first Twilight Ninja down to nothing with his nine spirit flames. Yuki-Onna followed up the death through fire with death through ice and crushed the second Twilight Ninja after freezing it completely. Finally, Dakki the Graceful Mayakashi sent a smaller but directer blast of fire at the ninja's chest and knocked the wind out of him.

Shuriken's LP: 5200

"Guh. This.." He felt the virtual pain for the first time. "Is it more real than you expected, Ken?" Cherry laughed. An artificial assistant could not prepare the ninja duelist for this experience. "No. It is exactly what I expected from a world that people want to make their own. I can see now why you would choose this realm over that of your family, miss Shintaro. But you are not the only one pursuing this dream." Once per turn, a destroyed Shingetsu would add a new ninja from the deck to the hand. Shuriken made this effect claim the Twilight Ninja Shogun Getsuga. "Perhaps I have said too much already. But your future lies elsewhere..."

-TURN 05-

"Hanzo!" A more spirited Shuriken started his turn, and summoned the dark ninja master(4/1800/1000) [Zone 2] on his own. "When Hanzo is normal summoned, I can add a Ninjitsu Art spell card to my hand instead! I choose the Armor Ninjitsu Art of Alchemy! And activate it now!" He dragged his arm across the board to swipe away his entire backrow. "This spell destroys every Ninjitsu Art card I control and draws two new cards from my deck!" The now pointless continuous traps of Duplication, Mirage Transformation and Notebook shattered one by one, leaving Discord as the last active trap in the middle of his field. And the two cards Shuriken drew afterwards were very happy with these cleared out zones. "I set the scales, Twilight Ninja Jogen and Twilight Ninja Kagen!" Because he revealed his new pair of pendulum spells: the brightly shrouded, crescenthaired and sickle wielding ninja Jogen (Scale 1) on one side and the masked, thick-clothed and starlight reflecting scythe wielder Kagen (Scale 10) on the other.

"Pendulum summon!" Kagen could only permit special summons of Ninja monsters, but any level that fell between their scale numbers made their way to the field. "Twilight Ninja Nichirin and Twilight Ninja Getsuga the Shogun!" The ninja summoned the rest of his twilight clan, the muscular Nichirin(6/2300/1000) [Zone 4] with the solar mask and Shogun(8/2000/3000) [Zone 3] the three-armed moon knight with three green flags strapped to his back. "Shogun is the commander! His effect will return two ninja monsters to my field!" Conveniently two monster zones were yet to be claimed. Getsuga surrendered both to the two Twilight Ninjas in the graveyard, Shingetsu[Zone 1] and Shingetsu[Zone 5]. "He brought the lock back? Of course he did. What is she supposed to do now?" Scura cursed. Himiko did not have a second skill after all.

"Now, she can die. And become Nakano Shintaro once more!" Shuriken and all five of his ninjas entered the battle phase. "When a Ninja declares an attack, Twilight Ninja Kagen will give it an additional 1000 attackpoints! And by discarding a Ninja card from my hand, Twilight Ninja Nichirin can add 1000 attackpoints to ALL my Ninja monsters!" With Nichirin himself leading the charge, he(3300/1000) gained the powerboost from the starlight ninja. And Nichirins own magnificent sunlight, powered by a discarded Golden Upstart Ninja card, illuminated all of his fellow twilight warriors. (Nichirin: 4300 atk, Getsuga: 3000 atk, Shingetsu: 2500 atk, Hanzo: 2800 atk). "Lets lay your spirits to rest!" Nichirins choice of weapon, his own fists, punched right through Yoko the Graceful one and returned his burning spirit to the grave. "With _my _skill card! Poisonous Edge of the Blade! Any monster that battles mine gets banished afterwards! Which means your Mayakashi will not revive anymore!" The impact left Yoko unable to find a proper grave for himself, and it also prevented the rebirth of Tengu.

Yoro-Himiko's LP: 5500

_Poisoned Edge of the Blade, Skill Card  
__When your monster destroys an opponent's monster as a result of battle: banish that monster._

"Even his skill is just there to counter her deck." Void realized.

"Do not expect to slay them without retribution, Shuriken! Destruction is still destruction even if it does not send them to the graveyard!" Himiko returned fire with ice. The death of the synchro monster made Yuki-Onna drain half of another monsters attackpoints until the end of the turn. "Freeze, Getsuga!" The winter lady targeted the Shogun commander(1500/3000) and blunted the edge of his spear with ice. "That will allow you to live this turn, but all else dies!" Shuriken intensely continued his strikes. Hanzo the Grandmaster reduced Yuki-Onna to diamond dust with a hail of hurled ninja stars. Dakki the Graceful Mayakashi got cut in half by the blade of the left-most Shingetsu.

Yoro-Himiko's LP: 3100

"Gaahh! You will not.. touch me yet! Tsukahagi!" Fortune smiled from the graveyard one more time, since the Poisonous tuner(2/0/2000) could still bring himself back to life in defense mode after a Mayakashi got destroyed. Though it would not cure all incoming pain. "Heh. What was it you called it when you pierced through defenses? At any rate, Twilight Ninja Jogen adds it to all my ninja monsters. So I can cut right through to you." The other Shingetsu swept his sword through the poison-filled spirit and left a small mark in Himiko's avatar as well.

Yoro-Himiko's LP: 2600

"No matter where you go, agony will be there. So why not just return to a world where you at least matter?" Finally, Twilight Ninja Getsuga slammed his frozen spear down on Himiko's shoulder to attack her directly. "Ngh!" She dropped to one knee. "You would not be in such a sorry state then. Nobody would shame you, I would not even be able to go near you. You still have a chance to come back, to earn your family's forgiveness." He said as he ended his turn. The attackpoints of the ninjas all dropped back down to normal.

Yoro-Himiko's LP: 1100 -TURN 06-

"Nobody would shame me, because they would be too affraid too. All my life I have been surrounded by people like that, bootlickers and sycophants trying to curry favors with my mother and father. They have seen the real me but I have not seen the real them." Himiko's words were as tense as her hand, which drew her next card in a snap. "You think you understand my reasons for entering this place? You think I came here to unwind and pretend to be someone I am not? You are wrong. All I changed was my name. Everything else is me. They have seen the real me too, and they at least do not lie to my face. Especially not that one." She pointed at Scura. "Hey well, you were an uptight snob all the time." She fired back.

"Tch. If it is truth you want, then I can give that too. You are a petulant child and your whims are flying in the face of your family's work. If you do not return with me willingly, you will be forced painfully." Shuriken also enjoyed being able to say to her what he wanted to say. "I see. I thank you for your honesty... But I refuse to just be a part of their plan and their world. That is the other freedom that inspired me to come here. The fact that this world can be anything it wants to be! I banish Necroworld Banshee from my graveyard to activate Zombie World from my deck!" The wails of the previously discarded banshee brought the change she wanted, the necrotizing decay of the undead world.

"What have you done?" Before Shurikens very eyes, the clothes and flesh of his ninjas began to wither and rot. Every last one of them turned into animated corpses. "Listen to your Zanbatou, servant of the family. It will tell you that all monsters on the field and in the graveyard are now of the zombie type. You may ask me why. And I will give you the answer.. because you cut off my synchro monsters. Because of that, I will have to use a different kind of material." Himiko's hand traced across one of the last cards in her hand. "What are you.. You have never used anything besides synchro monsters and link monsters!" In a panic, Shuriken reactivated the effect of Twilight Ninja Nichirin. He could also use that during her turn to make his ninjas indestructible for the rest of the turn. "Things change. I learned something new."

"I activate Super Polymerization and fusion summon Dragonecro Nethersoul Dragon!"

"Oh!" Cherry and the others gasped. "Dragonecro Nethersoul Dragon takes two zombie monsters as materials, and Super Poly can use his monsters as those materials! Incredible!" Void was especially impressed. The Shingetsus made the Ninjas immune to any targeted action, but the super fuser claimed its materials indiscriminately. It merged Both Shingetsus with each other and created a demon-faced and winged dragon(8/3000/0) [Extra Zone 2] with plates of bone and giant claws attached on the outside of his red flesh. "Fusion summon?" That was how she got around his perfect defense.

"But its effect.. will not give you enough attackpower to win this turn!" The ninja duelist protested as he heard the assurances from his AI. "Not yet. I normal summon Gozuki." Himiko raised a black bull-headed ogre(4/1700/800) wielding a giant hammer from the decaying ground. "Gozuki can send a zombie monster from my deck to the graveyard. I choose Mezuki! And Mezuki can be banished to special summon a zombie from my graveyard!" The black bull buried the red horse demon. And Mezuki's death and subsequent banishment gave new life to Tengu the Winged Mayakashi(7/2600/1400) [Zone 3]. "Can Zanbatou help you now? Is there any way for you to win, servant of the family?"

"I will not surrender!" Shuriken shouted. "Have it your way. Dragonecro attacks Twilight Ninja Nichirin!" The great undead drake slammed its actual claws deep into the body of the solar ninja. "!?" And it dragged that ninja's soul out, leaving just a lifeless grey body(0/1000) behind. "Dragonecro does not destroy the monster it battles. It makes a Dark-Soul token with the same attackpoints as those monsters instead!" Nichirin's ghostly self(2300/0) rematerialized on the other side of the zombified field: her field. "And now, Gozuki, Tengu and the Dark Soul will attack your indestructible monster one by one!" Nichirins ow power kept it alive, but it could not fight back at all without its spirit. "Nakano!" The hammer crushed it, the winged one blasted it, and the dark soul.. punched it with enough force to eliminate all of Shurikens remaining lifepoints. "I told you, my name here is Yoro-Himiko."

Shuriken's LP: 0

"You think this proves anything?" Shuriken dismissed his other monsters. "This is just a game! I wont let that decide your fate!" Behind the mask, his eyes turned wide with hatred. He rushed straight for the princess that defeated him and..

"I think this proves that you have no place here." Only to stop as a thousand swords danced in the air around him. "Wha...What is this?" The slightest movement would see his skin cut up by stainless steel. "This is our reality, and you have a choice now." Ezra himself emerged from the ninja's own shadow, immobilizing Shuriken with the tip of the Legacy lance. "Tell us what you know about her father and mother, about their wishes for this world. If you do so, your judgment will be postponed. Either way your pursuit ends here." He did not need to explain what would happen if the man refused. He gave the same choice to Therese Hansen.

"So you are the one in charge here? Ha! You think you are the terror? You know nothing! I would rather be judged by you than by the Shintaro family!" And Shuriken did not give the same answer. "Good." Ezra dove the lance into the back of his neck and granted him the gift of all spurners: permanent exile. "Raaaaghh!" From his point of view, the blades cut his avatar down to pieces. They left nothing.

"Welcome to our fields, miss Yoro-Himiko." With him gone, the returning party could focus on their new guest. "I believe you and the lady Hansen might have something to talk about." He revealed the presence of Alpha, Crescent and Arcis da Vinci, no longer hidden now that the intruder had been taken care off. "Himiko?" Crescent looked a little surprised, but not as much as Therese. "You.. You are Shintaro's daughter." She recognized the duelist more because of he true background. "How do you know that?" Himiko narrowed her eyes. "Because she works for Exeter." Alpha grunted. "You do? Then you know what.. my father wants from them?"

"I am affraid I do not. My brother only mentioned your family in passing. They are one of the main contributors to their network expansion. I presume you do not know the answer either then." Himiko shook her head. "No. He never told me. He told me even less than his lackeys apparently." All she knew was that both her father and mother had an explicit interest in the development of STHEREA.

"We should have asked that guy, I guess." Victor shrugged. They wouldn't be bringing Shuriken back any time soon. "No, we have learned enough." Ezra proclaimed. "We did? Last time I checked we only visited useless spots! We still don't know what Exeter is really up too!" Alpha did not know how much longer he could wait for the mystery to be solved. "Where did you go? What did you see?" Void asked out of curiosity. "To omens of the future." The lancer ominously replied. He would let Therese handle the proper explanations. "But it matters not that they left no trail of breadcrumbs for us to follow. They do not know that were shooting in the dark. They will show us the way on his own soon, when their fear reaches a peak..."

...

He heard it from the CEO, the board of directors, the investors. "This situation has escalated well beyond your control, do you deny this?" One by one they came by Hansens doorstep, through holograms or in person, to berate the CTO for his failures. "I can still salvage this. We just need a little more time and then we have enough CIDs to outnumber any duelist still in the system." He told them the same thing every time, and they believed it less and less. "Why not just shut down the damn servers? Its costing us more just to keep it going." One director argued. "Do you know what you are talking about? We would need the permission of every country in the world to do that! We would never be able to recover from that either!" Hansen argued back. "Agreed. We have already pushed things too far with this mass exodus warning, and not everyone is compliant. We don't know what would happen to them if we turned it all off. That has to be a last resort." Another director nodded. "But there are steps in between. If you do not resolve this crisis with your own division, we will have to take charge."

"Right, sirs." Hansen shut down the virtual conference call as each director gave him one final stern glare. "That did not go well, did it sir." Walter commented. "Be quiet. You're here to report me on urgent matters and nothing more." The CTO hissed and sat down to run through his files. He would not take sass from a programmed assistant. "Right you are, sir. Unfortunately we were not able to locate any of the targets yet, they always disappear before anyone can approach them. However they have been striking locations outside the official sectors. One group attacked the avatar database. Another was seen visiting project Flute."

"Flute?!" Hansen tensed up, crushing the piece of paper in his hand. "How did they... Are they working together, to take me down? Even then they can't have figured out where... Therese." He lifted himself from his seat. "She found out! I don't know how, but she did it! And she told them! That treacherous whench! Turning against me!? Who does she think she is!" He picked up framed photo from his desk and shattered it against the floor. "They are getting closer and closer. I have to stop them.. before they find 'it'."

(To Be Continued in Line 077: Connect the Dots)

**New Cards used by Yoro-Himiko  
**_NO-NONSENSE COMBAT_

-  
Blood Blossom of Afterlife  
Gozuki

-  
Dragonecro Nethersoul Dragon

-  
Super Polymerization

**New Cards used by Shuri-Ken  
**_POISONED EDGE OF THE BLADE_

-  
Twilight Ninja Kagen  
Twilight Ninja Jogen  
Twilight Ninja Nichirin  
Twilight Ninja Getsuga the Shogun

-  
Armor Ninjitsu Art of Alchemy

-  
Ninjitsu Art of Duplication


	77. Connect the Dots

**Line 077: Connect the Dots**

Millennium had a plan. "How can you know where the chalice is kept now? What changed?" A plan based on information with unknown origins. "Fear will reveal all. Exeter has seen us locate some of their treasures, so they added more security to the treasures we have not yet found. But one can only afford so many guards for a place that has to stay a secret. And it is not a secret anymore.. Not to us." It hadn't even been an hour since they returned, and now the wielder of the lance claimed to know their new destination with absolute certainty. Ezra involved everyone willing to listen, from the Salamangreat duelist to the heroes of Pandemonium. He would provide a diversion by sending himself, Ulysses and many others to a sector in the game. The others would head elsewhere.

"So, the chalice is near. But what else will we find there?" Midsummer Nightmare for once saw an event he did not want to miss out on. "I don't know. Evert made sure to keep me in the dark about everything to do with the Legacy Item." Wherever they would be going, it would be a new experience for Therese Hansen too. "But no more." And wherever she went, Crescent Aurora followed. She would drag everything into the light if they had too. Victor and Alpha would round out the team. "Well, looks like you've got yourselves a fine party. Try not to mess it up Cherry." Ulysses assured this team of eight. "Try not to choke on your own steam, Uly." She sniped back.

"Let me go with you as well then." And Void had to know what they were going after. "You think we're gonna let you join us?" Alpha cried out. "I concur. Ezra, we still do not know what really happened between him and Prospero. And he is not one of us yet." Hydra as well voiced some objections to this plan. "I want to know the truth as much as you do. I want to.."

"Obviously." Cherry suddenly cut in, leaning over Void's shoulder. "But I am keeping an eye on you still. So if you can behave, Ezra might actually might let you join us permanently. I am sure you wont do anything stupid now.." Her words did not surprise him much. Void could be certain Hydra would be constantly watching him as well. "I wouldn't dream of it." But he did truly want to find out what Exeter hid from the world...

Though first he would have to say goodbye to someone. "Why do I never get to go on any of these adventures?" He, and his watcher Cherry Anise, first met Lorelei as she sulked in the courtyard of her golden castle. "Ezra does not want everyone to endanger you. He does not expect everyone to fight. But you can help us by welcoming more family members here." Cherry explained to her, which she seemed to be content with. "Heehee, I can do that. But I am gonna have to add more wings to my castle at this rate! I hope we get more of your friends, Void. Especially that Neo boy. He is cute!"

"Okay.." Void did not really know what to say to that, so he turned to Scura and Himiko: visitors of the castle. "So you are staying for now?" The zombie princess did not seem to have any other place to go. "It would seem so." She moaned. "Is that so bad? You could live like a queen here!" The princess Lorelei pitched in with some peppy words. "I have already lived like a princess in a cage for most of my life. Why would I want more of that? Why would you? All of this is meaningless. And yet..."

"Don't tell me you are considering getting poked with the lance too." Scura muttered under her breath. "I have nothing else to consider. My mother would never let me come back if I logged back out for even a second. But I cannot stay unless I join." Himiko sighed wearily. "So what? Are you going to run from your big bad family for your entire life? What about Zanbatou?!" Scura had put up with her complaints for some time now and clearly grew tired of it. "That is not.. I can fight them better from here! What about you? Are you going to run? Is your own kin that heinous?" Himiko did not usually appreciate her remarks very much either. "No. I dont hate them. But.." .

"I don't hate them?" She gasped. "I can't do this anymore." Scura shook her head, it would be now or never. "Void. I gotta go. I stayed too long already, and I cant let my folks worry too much... I clearly can't help Crescent. But maybe you can.." Scura did not look forward to returning to reality, where she would have a lot of talking to do. "It is fine, Scura. You did more than we could have asked of you" He would not stop her. "Ululu will be sad." Cherry snickered but did not get in the way either. "Heh, good. Well, bye. I guess.." The veiled girl simply grinned and disappeared.

"Awww I never got her to wear one of my pretty dresses." Lorelei returned to her sulking mood. "Do you wanna try?" The fairy tale princess looked at Himiko with a look of pity. "No." She replied flatly.

"Are we done now?" Cherry asked. She did not plan on giving Void too much free time. "...I think we are. Himiko, hang in there. I will be able to help you soon enough." He nodded at the zombie princess. "I do not see how. But I hope you do find out what you need to." Himiko would have gone with them herself if she could, as the secrets of Exeter interested her as well. but she also needed her rest. So Void left her to her devices, while he rejoined the others. Alpha and Victor stared at him with strong glares but did not say a word. They waited until they were on the other side, following the coordinates that Cherry had with her. "And away we go.."

...

Millennium re-appeared in a pitch-black void. "Did we make it?" Victor had to ask, seeing as how he could not even see one inch of this sector. Yet he could see everyone else in the group perfectly. "This _is_ the place." Cherry did not sound too sure of herself. "Some place then." It did not impress Alpha. Though it did surprise him that not even his flames could light up the darkness. "It is without light, but it is not empty." Cherry could feel ground beneath them and smooth structures around them. "Maybe this area has not loaded in yet?" Void suggested and looked at Therese for answers. "It is possible. Not all sectors are active at all time." She explained. After all it would take a tremendous amount of energy to keep isolated parts of STHEREA running at 100 % at all time, when they could not draw power from the global network. But as far as she knew they were still somewhere on the network.

"You are in the right place, alright." And they were not alone.

"You!?" Alpha immediately became furious as the champion himself, Sigment of the synchro summons, walked out of the shadows. "Relax. He is on our side." Victor interrupted the flame duelist before he could activate his dueldisk and make a fool of himself. "What!? But he works for Exeter!" Though Alpha did not calm down in the slightest. "Oh he does. But he also works for us. Because he owes us a favor. So he told us about this location he is supposed to guard, heheh."

"And now you can consider it repaid." Sigment gruffly stated. He did not seem completely happy with this arrangement, Void noticed. "A favor? Or a bribe? Was it you that they gave the money to?!" Victor had mentioned bribes before. But he would never have suspected they were going towards one of the champions. "Why did you think he stepped in to capture my contact, yet he let me get away? Feh, I always told Juan that his idols were not clean either." The gambling duelist proudly said. "And you did not tell me this, because you did not trust me yet." If Void'd been told this from the start, then Vigionair and the others would definitely have warned Exeter. "Heh, dont look my way. This was all Ulysses' plan. I never saw a point to the almighty dollar." Cherry Anise shrugged. There would always be fools desperate for cash.

"So you sold Exeter out, for a few more dollars?" Therese could not help but to feel offended, even if she never had anything to do with recruiting the champions for STHEREA events. "You insult me, Miss Da Vinci. This was never about the money. Exeter did not even pay me that much for this inane acting gig. I dont know about the other champions but I started out as a duelist. Yet now everyone thinks I was always a fraudl! Either way, Millennium's sudden generosity did get my attention. But I would not have accepted it if they had not also told me about what Exeter had been doing behind our backs. Even then I did not believe them completely. And when I saw what happened to Heleil and Acrates, I was about to turn my back on you. Except then I saw what Exeter was going to do." The champion pushed a few buttons on his dueldisk, which started up the sector. Piece after piece got loaded in, starting with the sky and the clouds above. "What are we going to see?" Midsummer asked.

"Nothing." The champion answered... The other champion.

"!? Vitruv?!" The first champion popped in along with the other projected assets. The tall man discarded his cloak and unveiled his own avatar: a darkhaired and olive-skinned pharaoh dressed in golden armor and silk. "You were supposed to guard the top levels!" Sigment objected. "I was. But then I was not." Already he slowed down the environmental boot-up by creating a barrier big enough to encompass the nine duelists.

"You think this is gonna keep us here?" Cherry laughed it off and pushed her hand through the forcefield. "Yeahwch!" The forcefield pushed back even harder with a painful shock. "It blocked you?!" Alpha flinched. He tried the same and took an electric charge to his hand as well. "I already tried that genius. What the hell is going on?" She demanded an explanation.

Vitruvic's LP: 8000 Sigment's LP: 8000 -TURN 01-

"You have no power here. You are just normal duelists again." Vitruvic smirked. "No power? Could that be because.. because another Legacy Item calls this place home?" Midsummer wondered if the Chalice could overpower the Lance. "Who knows. But you will have to wait your turn. It is the traitor who will fall first." Vitruvic activated a golden ankh-emblazoned disk and initiated the challenge with Sigment. "Skill card, The Champions Magic." His first act took 2000 of his lifepoints away, and prepared a spell. "A cost like that? Right away?" Crescent did not know what would be worth that much.

_Champion's Magic: Skill Card_  
_Pay 2000 lifepoints: Set 1 Spell card that is not in your deck._

Vitruvic's LP: 6000

"Field spell, the Magical Citadel of Endymion..." Anyone as familiar with the first champion as Sigment, could not even feign surprise at the way his first turn started. "How convenient." The Citadel took up the field zone and created an entire city surrounded by four spell generators and a gargantuan tower. It displaced the previous environment entirely before it could complete its rendering. "You must have spent time in this world too, Vitruv! You know what Exeter can do with an illusion like this! Why are you hiding it!?" The synchro champion cried out. "Because that is our job. They told us to keep all trespassers out. And you have become one of them, Sigment..." Next a grey-haired female wizard {Scale 3} [Zone 1] in mintgreen and black robes appeared. Vitruvic activated a Magical Abductor pendulum monster.

"For each spell you activate your field spell gains a spell counter. I know how this works, Vitruv." One of the Endymion Citadel's generators began to glow with energy. Pendulum monsters also counted as spells if they were activated this way. "Then why are you not stopping me?" The first champion inquired. But he did not wait long enough to hear the answer. "Mythical Institution.". A second spellcounter generator came in the form of a continuous spell, though it would only add spellcounters whenever a Mythical Beast got destroyed. "Spell Power Grasp." Another spell followed, one which had the simple task of generating a spell counter by itself and also adding another copy of 'Spell Power Grasp' to the players hand. The counter went to the Citadel (3 counters), while each activated spell also added one spellcounter to Magical Abductor (1 counter).

"And Spell Power Mastery on the Citadel." More and more magic got poured into the field. Spell Power Mastery created spell counters for each 'Spell Power' card in the graveyard or on the field; two for now. It would also also give the user one new 'Endymion' card from their deck. "I add the Servant of Endymion." Vitruvic claimed another pendulum monster, while the Citadel (6 counters) and Abductor (2 counters) kept amassing spell counters. "He has more than one pendulum? I thought Heleil was the master of that technique?" Victor would know if he started to confuse the champions. "That is because Vitruvic claims to be the master of all techniques: Fusion, Synchro, XYZ and Pendulum." Alpha scoffed. He had his doubts about that boast.

"The Servant of Endymion!" The string of spells finally reached a temporary standstill, when Vitruvic activated a pendulum monster in the other pendulum zone. The blonde Servant of Endymion [Scale 2] wore long-sleeved black armor robes, and wore a golden magicians mask on her face. By removing three of her own spellcounters, the Servant could special summon herself from the pendulum zone and also special summon a monster with 1000 attackpoints or more from the deck: if that monster could hold spellcounters. "I summon the Mighty Master of Magic, Endymion, in attack position!" And even though the orbs on the Servant's clothes contained no spellcounters, the Citadel of Endymion (7 to 4 counters) allowed one card per turn to use its spellcounters as their own. And so the Servant(3/900/1500) [Zone 2] finished her magic trick and appeared in attack position alongside her master: Endymion the pendulum warlock knight(8/2800/1700) [Zone 3]. Gold lined the edges of his black armor and red seven-pointed cape, and his helmet had horns like that of a devil.

"Wait.. why did you." This card Sigment knew, yet he did not see it coming. "What is wrong?" Cherry shared his concern. "He is not supposed to for the Mighty Master of Endymion. He always synchro summons Arcanite Magician to inflict lethal damage before the opponent can defend themselves." The synchro duelist rapidly explained himself.

"I would, were I dueling anyone else. But as you know me, I know you." Vitruvic shrugged and proceeded to activate the effect of Magical Abductor (3 to 0 counters), removing its entire spellcounter collection to add a pendulum monster, Mythical Beast Garuda, from the deck to his hand. "You are not as defenseless as they are." He also removed 1 more counter from the Citadel (4 to 3 counters) to activate Mythical Institution's effect and add a spellcounter-carrier monster to his hand, whose level matched the number of removed spellcounters. "And you are serious about wanting to win, as I have always known." The mage champion added a level 1 spellcaster, Megistric Magincian. And that led them to the endphase.

"What is he talking about?" Crescent wondered what could make the first champion want to build up his defenses. "He says that he knows me. But how much can you really know me? We have worked together only for a few months." Sigment sneered. "But he is right about one thing. I would not have let his one turn kill catch me! I activate my skill: Champion's Synchro! And I synchro summon Junk Speeder!"

_Champion's Synchro, Skill Card  
__Perform a Synchro summon, using Synchro material monsters in your hand. The effects of those Synchro material monsters cannot be activated during this turn.  
You cannot summon monsters from the extra deck during this turn, except Synchro monsters._

"A synchro summon from the hand?" Therese gasped. Not only that, the skill's own nature made it so that Sigment could perform this synchro summon before his turn started. He tuned a level 3 Steam Synchron tuner together with a level 2 Quillbolt Hedgehog to gather 5 levels worth of materials. "Yes, this is what your brother considers a gift. Of course, this is one of the few things I cannot complain about!" His first synchro monster burst out of the extra deck with its sleek wings and aerodynamic scarves. And Junk Speeder, the fastest silver machine man(5/1800/1000) [Extra Zone 1], did not come alone. "Junk Speeder special summons all his fans when he is synchro summoned! One synchron tuner of each level from my deck! So I choose you: Jet Synchron, Satellite Synchron, Junk Synchron, Hyper Synchron and Quickdraw Synchron!" One after another, a tuner of a different shape landed on the row behind Junk Speeder. From left to right there were the Jet Synchron(1/500/0) [Zone 1], the satellite robot Satellite Synchron(2/700/100) [Zone 2], the pilot Junk Synchron(3/1300/500) [Zone 3], the supersonic Hyper Synchron(4/1600/800) [Zone 4] and the wild west gunrobot Quickdraw Synchron(5/700/1400) [Zone 5]. "Now we're having a party!"

-TURN 02-

"I imagine I might need all of my extra deck for you, Vitruv! Let's start from the top! Synchro summon, Junk Destroyer! As you might expect, it needs Junk Synchron as its tuner! And an extra five levels on top of that!" Though he liked to talk, he compensated for it with his lightningfast actions. The Junk tuner(3/1300/500) [Zone 3] synchronized with Junk Speeder(5/1800/1000) [Extra Zone 1] and formed an ultimate Junk fighter: the four-armed and four-winged destroyer(8/2600/2500) [Extra Zone 1]. "Calling all Destroyers! Junk Destroyer takes out one card, since it used one non-tuner synchro materials!" One of the Destroyer's four fists burned with leftover energy from Junk Speeder. "But Endymion cannot be destroyed while it has spellcounters!" Therese pointed out. "Oh I have other plans for that card!" The destroyer punched the air to blast Vitruvic's Magical Abductor out of its pendulum zone and into the extra deck.

"But one of you asked me earlier, why I am so bitter about Exeter? Well here is one reason. They threatened my livelihood with their new fangled master rules! I made my bread and butter with synchro spamming! And now I am forced to resort to this! Link summoning!" Sigment seemed to be pretty decent at it still, as he turned Junk Destroyer and Hyper Synchron [Zone 4] into link materials. "I have to give up two warriors and or machines, and one even has to be a tuner. In return I get this thing: Junk Connector!" A simple and sleek robot(1700/LINK 2) {Downleft/Downright} [Extra Zone 1] of green/grey metal took their place, and used large hoverjets in its mechanical thighs to keep flying. "It just wants to connect with me. So now I can summon two synchros at once, whoopee!"

"Wait that was the reason?" Victor had helped the synchro user to get this far, but he never expected such petty reasoning. "Oh no. That was just a small nail in the coffin. Not the final one!" Sigment smirked and continued his turn, special summoning a small hedgehog(2/800/800) [zone 3] with bolts in its back. "Since I control a tuner, I can special summon Quilbolt Hedgehog from my graveyard! But it will be banished when it leaves the field! However, you know what I like to do once I revive one of my monsters!" A dark uniformed gunman soldier(2/800/800) [Zone 4] with a face-obscuring helmet special summoned itself to the last available monster zone. "That is when I can bring out Doppel Warrior! So let's set the jet!" His hand rushed through three cards at once: Jet Synchron(1/500/100) [Zone 1], Quilbolt and Doppel Warrior. "Synchro summon, Jet Warrior!" The tiny jet engine grew up into a mechanical and transforming jetfighter(5/2100/1200) [Zone 3], made from black and silver titanium.

When the Doppel Warrior turned into a synchro material it left two Doppel tokens behind: two miniature versions(2/400/400) [Zones 3 & 4] of itself. And Jet Synchron allowed Sigment to add a Junk-monster from the deck to his hand. He claimed another Junk Synchron. Yet in the end he looked forward to his new synchro's effect above anything else. "Don't miss this! When Jet Warrior is synchro summoned, one card leaves the field! I choose the Magical Citadel of Endymion!" Vitruvic's field spell got cast away, and all of its gathered spellcounters disappeared along with it. "You shouldn't hide from the truth!" And with it, the real environment loaded back up.

"What the hell?" Alpha cursed. First the buildings popped in, ranging from small shops to large skyscrapers. Then came the streets with all their traffic lights, roadsigns and pubic trashcans. Finally, the people filled the roads. Pedestrians, bikers, cars; they walked in every direction without a care in the world. "What is this supposed to be?!" Alpha turned to Therese, despite her expression being as bewildered as everyone else. "I don't... I mean, this... I know these streets. I have been to this city before. But I don't know why Exeter would create this." No duelist would ever have need for a projected world of this kind. "It looks so real." Crescent could touch the walls, which were far more intricate than anything inside the STHEREA sectors, covered with useless details like chipped bricks, stains and moss. Only the people told them that this did not actually exist, as they looped back and forth on their walk cycles and phased through the duelists like ghosts.

"This is Exeter's big secret project?" Void looked at the champion who tried to hide this before. "It is.." Sigment spoke, as Vitruvic stayed silent. "I could not have told you, I had to show you. This is a perfect recreation of an actual city block, a slice of reality. Hansen refused to tell us why this existed on the network, just that we had to keep you from going into deep. But once I saw this place, I saw all kinds of horrible applications for this technology. And I wanted none of it."

"It's not just this either. Before we saw a database that seemingly stored people's memories." Therese did not understand the practical applications for that either. "What if.. they are trying to see if they can live in this world too. Forever?" Void had wondered for some time now, just how long one could survive as an avatar. "That is their goal. The same as yours." Vitruvic spoke up again. "Millennium is not the only one to see the potential of this network. In the end both sides are creating a paradise, but one is not on the side of the law. Yet you choose them over us?" He gave answers that Sigment already saw coming. "Just because your side has all the fancy lawyers and loopholes, does not make them the right people to work with! Dyzanthium would agree with me, well parts of her would." Sigment clenched his fists. "But I guess you already sold out to them to get their version of immortality as well! They would choose only the favored and the rich! That is no way to create a future!"

"There is no other way. Not everyone can afford that future." The first champion declared, he discarded the Megistric Magincian card from his hand. Doing so activated the effect of Endymions Servant(3/900/1500), and placed a spellcounter on every card that could accept one (Servant: 2 counters, Master: 2 counters, Mythical Institution: 1 counter).

"Not if I can say anything about it! Synchro summon! Shooting Riser Dragon and Nitro Warrior!" Sigment threw them and everything else into the synchronization mix. The tokens combined with Quickdraw Synchron, who could be used in place of any other necessary Synchron tuner, to create the green ogre-like nitrous fighter, Nitro Warrior(7/2800/1800) [Zone 1]. On the other linked side Satellite Synchron tuned itself and Jet Warrior to create Synchro tuner: a winged dragon(7/2100/1700) [Zone 3] as bright as the stars. The dragons effect lowered its own level by that of a discarded monster, and Shooting Riser(3/2100/1700) discarded a level 4 card.

"He could really do it. In one turn." Crescent whispered to herself, out of habit.

"He could." Vitruvear overheard her. "If I willed it." He summoned a monster from his hand. "Garuda?!" Mythical Beast Garuda, a two-headed bird(4/1200/1600) [Zone 1] partially made from blue fire magic, special summoned itself when the opponent summoned their own monster. While this effect took away 3 spellcounters (Servant of Endymion: 2 to 0 counters, Master Endymion: 2 to 1 counters), Garuda's second effect then would return the opponents monster to a players hand or extra deck: Shooting Riser Dragon.

"Why did you let me get this far?" Of course when going up against a champion; handtraps were to be expected. But Sigment expected this one a lot sooner. "Rgh! You think you're the best, don't you? But you have weaknesses, just like anyone else!" Junk Connector's effect activated and removed Shooting Riser in a way he wanted. The synchro tuner dragon de-materialized and absorbed Nitro Warrior's level stars. "I synchro summon Stardust Warrior! I may not get you in a single turn! But I will beat you eventually! And I wonder. Forget immortality! Can you live even one more year without the title of champion?! I will find out!"

(To Be Continued in Line 078: Strings Through Hyper-Reality)

**Cards used by Vitruvic  
**_CHAMPION'S MAGIC_

-  
Magical Abductor  
Servant of Endymion  
Endymion, the Mighty Master of Magic  
Megistric Magincian  
Mythical Beast - Garuda

-  
Magical Citadel of Endymion  
Mythical Institution  
Spell Power Grasp  
Spell Power Mastery

**New Cards used by Sigment  
**_CHAMPION'S SYNCHRO_

-  
Steam Synchron  
Quillbolt Hedhehog  
Satellite Synchron  
Quickdraw Synchron  
Doppel Warrior

-  
Junk Speeder  
Junk Destroyer  
Junk Connector  
Jet Warrior  
Shooting Riser Dragon  
Nitro Warrior


	78. Strings Through Hyper-Reality

**Line 078: Strings Through Hyper-Reality**

Sigment's LP: 8000 Vitruvic's LP: 6000

The champion of the synchronic called out his second strongest monster: a white warrior robot(10/3000/2500) [Zone 3] with wings and a face modeled like that of a dragons emerged from the extra deck. "This is Stardust Warrior! He will lead! But he will be helped, by my favorites too!" Sigment angrily normal summoned the Junk Synchron(3/1300/500) [Zone 4] from his hand, whose effect quickly special summoned Doppelwarrior(2/800/800) [Zone 3] back in defense mode. "I Synchro summon Junk Warrior!" He could perform this move with his eyes closed and ears plugged. With Junk Synchron as the tuner and the Doppelwarrior as the non-tuner, the iron knuckled aerial warrior(5/2300/1300) [Extra Zone 1] could take form and flight. Junk Warrior(3100/1300) gained the attackpoints of all level 2 or lower monsters on the field, including two freshly created doppel tokens (1/400/400) [Zones 4 & 5].

"Junk Warrior! Attack Endymion! With Rush Warrior's help!" Sigment knew which cards his fellow champion favored, and where their strengths and weaknesses lied. Endymion(8/2800/1700) [Zone 3] could not be targeted or destroyed by effects. But a simple attack would kill it just as any other monster. And Rush Warrior, the bronze droid speedster, could be discarded during a battle to double any synchro 'Warrior's attackpoints. "See? That was not hard at all!" Junk Warrior(6200/1300) increased its speed and struck a dazzling punch into the chest of the Mighty Mage. The explosion that followed destroyed it and threw Endymion into the extra deck.

Vitruvic's LP: 2800

"And you still have to contend with Junk Connector and Stardust Warrior!" After the attack of fire came an energy beam of darkness from the link robot(1700/LINK 2) [Extra Zone 1] and a blast of stellar wind from the dragon fighter that killed the defending Mythical Beast Garuda(4/1200/1600) and Servant of Endymion(3/900/1500). Vitruvic's continuous Mythical Institution spell (1 to 3 counters) did however continue creating spellcounter pairs for each destroyed Mythical Beast. And the demise of Endymion's Servant left her magical spirit wandering the field and transformed herself (Scale 2) [Zone 5] into a spell instead. "Yeah I know, when the Servant dies, she can be placed in the pendulum zone. But at least she is out of my way!" The twin doppel tokens ended the duel with weak but not insignificant shots from their tiny guns. "You may be the best at spell cards. You may even be a better pendulum user then Heleil was. But nobody can beat me at speed!"

Virtuvic's LP: 2000

"And yet we are still here. This is wasting our time!" Alpha cursed impatiently. The duel had not progressed enough. "And so it shall be. Sigment, I do not have to to know that I am still the best. I am the first champion, and I will be the last. Your weakness as a duelist is also clear, Sigment." Vitruvic's expression had not even changed at all. "Oh is that so?!" Sigment dared him as he placed one trap card face down.

-TURN 03-

"It is so. You, Dyzanthium, Heleil and Acrates all share the same flaw in fact. You need to finish your opponents off in one turn, you expend too many resources for one attempt. You had yours and you failed, and you cannot pull it off again. Whereas I, someone accustomed to the oldest ways of dueling, can fight for as long as I need to." Vitruvic unleashed the magical storm. The Citadel of Endymion re-appeared on the field, once cloaking the cityscape around the duelists. The second Spell Power Grasp spell placed the first spellcounter on the Citadel. Afterwards came another Spell Power Mastery card to generate 1 spellcounter for every 'Spell Power' card used so far this duel. Four counters were granted to Endymion's Magical field spell(7 counters), which had also created its own spellcounter each time a spell resolved. Not only that, the pendulum spell Servant of Endymion(3 counters) kept track of all used spells as well by making her own spellcounter each time. "You know I liked that guy more when he didn't talk much." Cherry grumbled.

The effect of Spell Power Mastery also added an Endymion card to his hand. "Magister of Endymion.." Unexpectedly, the caped magician(8/1500/900) [Zone 2] in heavy dark-green and gold armor only received a normal summon. "Mythical Beast Bashilisk." Finally, champion then claimed his next spellcounter-retainer with the Mythical Institution; exchanging four spellcounters from anywhere on the field (Institution: 3 to 0 counters, Citadel: 7 to 6 counters) for a level 4 Mythical Beast and soon to be activated pendulum monster. "So those were not just a one time thing." Void stated. The Mythical Beasts, like the blue-flame bodied and two-mouthed lizard beast(Scale 4) [Zone 5] belonged to an entirely different archetype. It made sense, both cards used spellcounters.

"And now, a pendulum summon. I call out Umbreacum Couple!" A flower-dressed pixie couple(500/1500) [Zone 1] with purple and pink hair emerged from dew drops that fell between the pendulum scales of Bashilisk and Endymion's Servant. "A tuner monster?"

"Yes. You need many, I only need one. I summon Tempest Magician." The pixie couple offered a giant white flower to the Magister, starting the synchronization and creation of the blue coated reaper witch: Tempest Magician(6/2200/1400) [Extra Zone 2]. "Have you been blinded by Stardust, Vitruv? Stardust Warrior can negate any special summon by sacrificing itself!" Sigment did not let this golden chance slip away, the dragon warrior turned into a bright white comet and killed Tempest Magician before she could use her lethal powers. "Did you think I was going to let you synchro summon? Me? The synchro champion?!" Sigment shouted. "I did not. I simply wanted to force your hand." This would cost Sigment his dragon as a defense. "Again you act like you know it all! But how about this? I activate the continuous trap: Stardust Wish!" In the middle of its own sacrificing effect, Stardust Warrior broke out of its suicidal comet dive and returned to the field. "Stardust Wish can bring a Stardust back after it tributes itself, and now it cannot be killed in battle either! I guess this is a world of wishes after all!"

"Do you.. hate him that much?" Crescent suddenly asked the synchro duelist. The longer she watched the less she understood why the champions worked together in the first place. "Some of them were rival duelists before they became the company's actors. They only work together now because of Exeter." Therese explained, knowing fully well that a partial bitterness had always existed between the great five.

"There is only one guy I saw as my rival." Sigment pointed right at Vitruvic. "The others I grew to admire and appreciate, but you. You were always too comfortable with this new role as Exeter's puppet, and too happy to accept their money!" As he shouted, his opponent only responded with a silent accusing glare. "Don't give me that look! We are not the same just because I accepted their money as well! There is a difference and you know it. I needed it! I could not say no! You were the first of us, you are the one everyone knows! Nobody looks up to me!"

"That's not true.." It seemed as if Sigment had forgotten about Veyron already, and Crescent wanted to remind him of that speed duelist.

"Your words make no difference, Sigment." But Vitruvic continued the duel and claimed all of Sigment's attention. "Your actions make no difference." He reactivated the Servant of Endymion's pendulum effect, now that she possessed 3 spellcounters, and special summoned herself(3/900/1500) (1 spellcounter) [Zone 2] to his field. Just like the last turn, she could special summon another spellcounter-retainer from his deck. "I summon the Mythical Beast Master Cerberus!" And it looked decidedly less human than previous spellcasters. This hound-faced Master Cerberus(8/2800/2400) (1 spellcounter) [Zone 1] could generate two counters in his own armor each time a spell resolved. And another terrible power rested within its body of blue fire.

"But why didn't he block that special summon like the last one?" Victor wondered. "Because Stardust Warrior cannot negate special summons that start a chain He knew, because he is good." Midsummer could not help but admire the duelist.

"My card can remove 4 spellcounters from anywhere the field, to banish one of your monsters face-up." The beast warlock absorbed four of the citadel's counters into its spiral scepter, and created a draining and banishing spell. "Even if you remove Stardust Warrior from the field, it will synchro summon something else!" Sigment countered. "But it is Junk Connector that I am after." The beast's magic was meant for Sigment's link monster. "No!" The Connector disappeared, and its attackpoints were added to Master Cerberus(4500/2400) as well. "He avoided that effect too." Crescent noticed earlier that Junk Connector could have synchro summoned any monster it wanted too, if it left the field due to destruction. Of course, the first champion would never fall for such a trick.

"Stardust may die another way. Now that Bashilisk is the only card in the pendulum zone, it can selfdestruct to draw one card and to return one face-up spellcaster in the extra deck to the main deck." He re-arranged both decks by returning the extra decked Mythical Beast Garuda for a newly drawn spell card. "Pendulum Paradox!" A new spell card that could add two pendulum monsters with the same scale to his hand. "!?" The Paradox resolved by adding the Magister and the Mighty Master of Endymion, both of which held the scale of 8. "You can see how it ends now." Vitruvic activated the two pendulum monsters, placing the Magister on one side of the field and the Mighty Magic Master on the other. (Citadel: 9 counters, Institution: 2 counters, Magister: 1 counter, Master Cerberus: 6 counters) "Endymion takes 6 spellcounters from anywhere on the field, and transforms itself into a monster! Then it destroys one card for each card of mine that can hold a spellcounter! And it gains a spellcounter for each destroyed card!" Death came at last, thanks to the power gathered by Master Cerberus (6 to 0 counters). Endymion(8/2800/2000) [Zone 3] moved up to the monster row and gathered five crackling orbs of raw magic in its hand and launched them towards Stardust Warrior, Stardust Wish, Junk Warrior and the Doppel tokens.

"Ugh." The power of magic overwhelmed the trinity of stardust and scattered all three cards in magnificent fashion. Every remnant disappeared into the wand of the Master magician (5 spellcounters) "Stardust Warrior summons... Jet Warrior!" Nevertheless, Sigment could bring out one "warrior" synchro monster now. "Jet?" And for the first time since the duel started, Vitruvic had been blindsided. Not by the summon but by the summoned. "Yes, the Jet is set again!" Another jet fighter warrior(5/2100/1200) [Extra Zone 1] appeared on the field in defense mode, properly synchro summoned and primed to use its own powers. "You thought I only used one of these, didn't you? Looks like you don't know everything after all!" Jet Warrior targeted Master Cerberus, the greatest threat right now, and forced it back in Vitruvic's hand. "So the big bad champion is not infallible after all? Good!" Victor was elated to finally see some progress. Though the enemy's turn was far from over.

"This also does not matter, Sigment." Vitruvic collected himself, and focused back on his field. The Magister absorbed three spellcounters from the field (Magister: 1 to 0 counters, Citadel: 9 to 7 counters). Just like Servant, this pendulum spellcaster could move itself to the field if it could scrounge up that small sum of spellcounters. "Magister of Endymion special summons a monster from my extra deck that can hold a spellcounter: Magical Abductor! And they both generate one new counter!" And so the Magister(1 spellcounter) [Zone 4] descended down the light of the pendulum, and performed a semi-pendulum summon of the silverhaired witch(4/1700/1400) (1 counter) [Zone 5]. "Direct attack!" They fired their magic spells, the Magister and the Abductor, to destroy the Jet Warrior and start damaging Sigment directly. Endymion's Magister even added another spellcounter to his armor slots, whenever he (2 counters) declared an attack.

Sigment's LP: 6300

Master Endymion and his Servant then joined in on the assault and delivered their direct attacks via their scepters. "Gh! Shout as much as you'd like. That does not change the fact that you could not defeat me in one turn either, Vitruv!"

Sigment's LP: 2600

"But surviving is not the same as winning." Said the duelist who had previously been undetectable by the human eye. "Who?" Even Vitruvic seemed a bit startled to see a bug-sized woman grow to a normal size right before his eyes. "Melyria?" And Void had almost forgotten that she went with them. "Yes yes that is my name. Vitruvic, Sigment, I am Ezra's partner, hm. And since it seems like we may not pass the conventional way, I am forced to act on his behalf. Forced!" She glared at both champions to judge them. "What? Are you saying that I cannot finish the job? I know what victory looks like, I am so close now!" Not many lifepoints stood between the synchro user and victory. He just need a little bit more time. "No, we have been delayed long enough." Time she did not want to give them.

"What can you do? You have no power here." Vitruvic claimed. But he ignored one already proven fact. "Can't I or can' t I?" If she could shrink her avatar in this world, she could also do the reverse. "Whoaaa!" Melyria grew to an immense size, big enough to reach the ceiling of the champions barrier prison. "We want to see what lies beyond, and so we will!" She said with a booming voice as she pulled at the forcefield and tore it in half. "Impossible."

"Quite possible in fact." Melyria Cister immediately reverted to her wasp-sized form and flew back down to the duelists. "Shall we go, shall we?" Melyria inquired and Cherry nodded. "Wonderful Idea. Lets leave the champions to their business." The trickstar duelist placed her hand on Void's shoulder. "Now?" Void kinda wanted to see how the duel ended.

"You're going?" Sigment cried out an objection as well. "Well this duel has no point anymore." Midsummer casually replied. "No. There still is a point. Getting rid of this champion would be nice, yeah. But we cannot tie our fate to yours." Melyria's tiny voice offered as a counterpoint. "Indeed. And I have no interest in the resolution of this fight. Do what you must, we will explore the unknown." The jester duelist walked off into the city behind the citadel, through the illusory pedestrians. "Exeter, your secrets are mine!" Alpha did not let this chance go to waste either and ran in a different direction. "Fine. Let's go." Void let Cherry lead her as well, if only because that way he could get to the Chalice before anyone else.

"This makes no difference. You, the traitor comes first. Then I will dispose of the rest, wherever they run too." Vitruvic placed one card face down and ended his turn. Only Therese, Victor and Crescent stayed behind in the end. "Hmph. You had better win, Sigment." Victor said. He put a lot of time and money in the champion and he did not plan to see it go to waste.

-TURN 04-

"Of course I will. It's my turn! I can banish Rush Warrior from my graveyard, and reclaim one of my Synchron monsters! Junk Synchron!" He could double his synchro summons in fact, when the Junk pilot(3/1300/500) [Zone 2] returned from the graveyard and got normal summoned. Junk Synchron brought back his favorite level 2 co-passenger too, Doppel Warrior(2/800/800) [Zone 3]. "And then, when a monster is special summoned from the graveyard, Satellite Synchron appears!" Another tiny satellite droid(2/700/100) [Zone 4] dropped down from the sky, and immediately absorbed two stars into itself(4/700/100). "His level is doubled when a Synchro warrior already exists in my graveyard. So I can now synchro summon Stardust Charge Warrior!" The satelliter joined with the Doppelwarrior, splitting the latter into another set of doppeltokens(1/400/400) [Zones 4 & 5], while it gave the extra deck a powerful new cosmic dragon that looked more like a humanoid airfighter(6/2000/1300) [Extra Zone 1]. "And now you draw one card." Vitruvic restated the effect of this card with a smirk.

"Stop acting like you are dictating the flow of the duel!" Angered, Sigment drew his card and proceeded with another synchro summon. Junk Synchron tuned with one doppeltoken and Stardust Charge Warrior to gather ten stars. "Let's see you dodge this! I summon Satellite Warrior!" A white and golden satellite transformed into a giant fighting robot(10/2500/2000) [Extra Zone 1] of the dark space. "Satellite Warrior can destroy one card for each synchro monster in the graveyard! And then it will gain 1000 attackpoints!" Sigment could lay waste to all of Vitruvic's cards at once. Except for the still indestructible Citadel and Mythical Institution. "Satellite Warrior, destroy all his monsters!"

"You are not this naive." Vitruvic scoffed. "Or have you been blinded instead? I activate Magister of Endymion's effect!" The magister knight demanded three spellcounters, and took them from the Citadel (7 to 5 counters) and himself (1 to 0 counters). "And special summon Reflection of Endymion!" The third of Endymions partners revealed herself, but she was no subject. Reflection of Endymion was their fair blonde-haired queen(7/1850/2700) [Zone 1] in face-concealing white/blue armor robes. "Reflection returns one card on each field to the hand upon summon! I return a monster that can hold a spellcounter, and you will lose your synchro!" Reflection's twin-edged scepter absorbed the spellcounters from the Servant (2 counters) to fire two holy spells and made the Servant of Endymion vanish from the field. "Bastard!" Satellite Warrior disappeared as well, flying backwards into the extra deck. The synchro's laserbeams nevertheless reached their targets and destroyed the Magical Abductor, Master Endymion and Magister of Endymion. The latter sent itself back as pendulum spell [Zone 5]. And all of the destroyed spellcounters retreated to the Citadel(6 counters) and added more to the Institution (3 counters) "You failed again, Sigment."

"This is not over yet! I discard a card from my hand, to special summon Jet Synchron back to the field!" The formula required a tuner: the jet engine machine(1/500/100) [Zone 1], and a non-tuner. "And Dandylion summons two tokens when it is sent to the graveyard!" He would get those from his discarded monster's effect. The lion-headed flower monster left two cotton seeds(1/0/0) [zones 3 & 4] behind in defense mode. "And then I link summon Crystron Needlefiber with Jet Synchron and a Dandylion token!" The synchro champion had to use two monsters (including one tuner) as link materials. That way he could create a visor-wearing robot(1500/LINK 2) {Downleft/Downright} [Extra Zone 1] with glowing crystals growing out of its body and head. "Crystron Needlefiber summons another tuner from my deck! Junk Synchron!" There were not many tuners left to choose from either, but the final junk pilot(3/1300/500) [Zone 3] would serve his ultimate end.

"I can also sacrifice one level 2 or lower monster to resummon Jet Warrior in defense mode!" Sigment converted the last dandylion token into the re-assembled Jet Warrior(5/2100/1200) [Zone 4]. "And then I synchro summon Armory Arm!" Junk Synchron and the last doppel token, as synchro materials, created a mechanical rednailed claw(4/1800/1200) [Zone 1] that could transform into an attackboosting equipment. Unfortunately none of his monsters could bypass the Reflector's defense points even with that boost. Sigment had simply expended too much of his extra deck already. "I set a card and end my turn!" Two cards were left: his greatest synchro being one of them.

-TURN 05-

"Now!" Crystron Glassfiber's other effect allowed its controller to tribute it during the opponents turn. And to synchro summon a synchro tuner monster directly. "I summon another Shooting Riser Dragon!" A synchro tuner like the already famous white star dragon(7/2100/1700) that chose not to use its powers this turn. "And use all my synchros.. to accel synchro summon Shooting Quasar Dragon!" The stars exploded with light. "Amazing." Even Victor had heard the horrid tales of the immensely powerful white dragon(12/4000/4000) [Extra Deck 1] with its sharp six wings and long hooked horn. Shooting Quasar was born from at least three synchro monsters, and could attack once for each nontuner material inside its body. It could also negate one card effect each turn.

"You have saved the best for last." The first champion started to smile again, but in a less condescending manner. The Magister in his pendulum zone now absorbed 3 counters from the field (Reflection: 2 to 0 counters, Citadel: 6 to 5 counters) to once again summon itself [Zone 3] (1 counter) and the Magical Abductor (1 counter) [Zone 4] "It is a pity that it all ends this way. I link summon Daybreaker! The Splendid Magical Knight!" Two spellcasters would be the link materials: Reflection of Endymion and Magister of Endymion. From their linked grid came an armored warlock(1600/LINK 2) {Downleft/Downright} [Extra Zone 2] with the typical crooked mage helmet, wielding a gem-slotted shield and sword. "Daybreaker gains 1 spellcounter when link summoned, and it can destroy one card you control by removing 2 spellcounters!" The golden knight borrowed a few magic gems from the Citadel (5 to 3 counters) and the destruction could commence.

"You think you're making the rules?" Sigment had no choice, his dragon activated its negation effect and killed the Daybreaking swordsman. A pure white comet beam pierced its armor and sent its pieces flying across the city. "Oh! Nice! Now he definitely can't win anymore!" Victor cheered him on. With this two pronged defense, most of Vitruvic's moves had been sealed off. "Maybe.." Therese could not share his enthusiasm. The opponent simply could still attack in far too many ways.

"Mythical Institution." Vitruvic, still calm, removed another four spellcounters (Institution: 3 to 0 counters, Citadel: 3 to 2 counters) for a level 4 acquisition. His continuous spell could draw face-up spellcounter retainers from the extra deck as well, so it reclaimed the Mythical Beast Bashilisk. "How can you keep going? There is nothing that you can do now!" Sigment yelled even as his opponent reactivated the Basilisk beast in the left pendulum zone. "Because I can see what lies ahead." Mythical Beast Bashilisk selfdestructed, returned Magister of Endymion to the extra deck and drew a new card. "And I see, the Power of the Guardians." That card, was an equip spell. "That spell.. It only gives him 500 attackpoints for each spellcounter on it. And it only gets a counter when you attack with the equipped monster." Crescent didn't understand. No spellcaster could match Shooting Quasar's attackpower with that spell. "I equip it, to the Servant of Endymion." Least of all, the newly normal summoned Servant(3/900/1500) [Zone 2]. Each activated spell also added a counter to the Absorber (1 to 2 to 3 counters)

"He gave it to the weakest?" Victor laughed. "No. Not the weakest.." Therese corrected him. "But he can't possibly be planning to.."

"Let's begin." Said the champion. His Magical Abductor took her own spellcounters (3 to 0 counters). Because of that, she could add a level 1 pendulum monster from his deck to his hand. Virtuvear chose another one of his magical beasts. "Mythical Beast Jackal." The blue flame birthed a jackal wolf(Scale 4) made of magic. "It is the only pendulum in my spell zone, so I destroy it." The Jackal howled once, and abruptly dispersed into tiny embers. The Jackal's destruction left a spellcounter behind on the equip spell (0 to 1 counter), and started the powerboost of the Servant(1400/1500). "Is that your plan now? To keep placing spellcounters on the Servant until she can defeat me?" Sigment realized that the weakest of Endymions mages could do one trick the others could not. She had the power of direct attacking. "As always, you see things too late." The first champion activated the final Spell Power Grasp to place a second spellcounter on the equip spell of the Servant(1900/1500) (2 counters). "There is no way you are going to get enough spellcounters in time!"

"Isn't there?" Vitruvic flipped over the last card in his hand: a spell called Mythical Bestiary. "Ah!" That card sent shaved off the next two cards from the top of the deck, to create two spellcounters for one card on the field. "No!" Of course he gave those counters to Power of the Guardians, who then gave two more powerboosts to the Servant(2900/1500). "Now there is a way." Vitruvic entered the battle phase and declared the only attack he needed. "Servant of Endymion! Attack Sigment directly!" The masked magician(3400/1500) gathered all energy from five magical weapons planted in the ground, she created the fifth one with her own effect whenever she declared an attack. "You should be honored, Sigment. I am finishing this duel in a way you would have liked. No bombastics, no overpowered or prolonged struggles. Just one clean hit." Each spellcounter fueled weapon flew into the synchro champion and burned away every remaining point of life. "No.." Sigment fell ober backwards at the last blow. "Yes. You lost, because you were still not the best of us."

Sigment's LP: 0

(To Be Continued in Line 079: A Succesful Compromise)

**New Cards used by Vitruvic**  
Magister of Endymion  
Mythical Beast - Bashilisk  
Umbreacum Couple  
Mythical Beast - Master Cerberus  
Reflection of Endymion  
Mythical Beast - Jackal

-  
Tempest Magician  
Day Breaker the Splendid Magical Knight

-  
Pendulum Paradox  
Power of the Guardians  
Mythical Bestiary

**New Cards used by Sigment  
**Dandylion

-  
Stardust Warrior  
Stardust Charge Warrior  
Satellite Warrior  
Crystron Needlefiber  
Shooting Quasar Dragon

-  
Stardust Wish


	79. A Successful Compromise

**Line 079: A Successful Compromise**

"Now what do we do? We should have run while we had the chance!" Victor cried out. They lost their champion, and everyone else that could back them up had already left. "I know what to do." Only Therese, Crescent and Victor stayed to watch Sigment fail. And the first of the three saw no other alternative to engaging the champion in his place. "Vitruvic. Your next opponent is me." She activated her dueldisk before he could put up a new barrier to capture them.

"Is that so? A pity then that I have no interest in any of you." He delayed because he had planned to pursue Cherry and the others instead. "That is too bad. You will have to deal with me. Or did Hansen not tell you who I am? I am Therese, his sister." She smirked and winked at Crescent. "...? Oh? That changes things." Vitruvic had been distracted. "Arcis..." Giving Crescent and Victor the chance to run away, a chance that Crescent took after some hesitation. "Ah! Wait for me!" Victor ran after the weather girl.

Vitruvic did not care that they did. His eyes stared at the CTO's relative. "You will be coming with me then." He re-arranged his deck to prepare for the new fight. "Heh. Perhaps, champion. We shall see who the better spellcaster duelist is..."

...

"Just how big is this city?" Void and Cherry were already far away from the battle scene, but no closer to finding anything special. "As big as the actual city? How the hell would I know?" Cherry did not have anything to go on either, she did not even know where Melyria, Alpha or Midsummer were at. "I knew splitting up was a bogus idea." This city had doors that could not be opened, windows that could not be broken and people that just talked gibberish. "They've done a great job at least" Void marveled at every detail, he had no idea the network could feel this real.

"Too great. We usually have at least a gutfeeling to go on when we wanna find something, but here everything is overpowered by the smell, the noise. It's just like the real thing." Cherry retched. "I did not join Millennium just to have these company suits bring their ugly world down here as well. Why do they always ruin everything for us? Bleh!" She could not stand it for much longer. "Hmph. Maybe that's the way out?" As she vented, she noticed a subway tunnel in front of her. One of the few places they could enter. "Maybe." Yet when they descended the stairs, they did not arrive at an underground network. "Goddammit." Instead they just walked out of a different subway tunnel, and entered another equally skyscraper-filled city. "How many cities did they copy?" This one appeared to be in a nightly timezone.

"I cannot believe you made it this far." And it had its own guardian. "You!?" A woman in dark body armor. "Dyzanthium!" Void shouted.

"The fusion champion?" Cherry hissed. They had reached the higher levels that Vitruvear mentioned before. "That is me. And if you are here, then it must all be true. Sigment betrayed us." The woman looked forlorn yet vigilant. "You know about that?" Void wondered how she learned this. "I saw it all. All of our duels are recorded by Exeter. We can watch each other's performance. So I also know what will and wont stop you." Dyzanthium activated her dueldisk. "Duel me, together or one at a time."

"Oh that's a bummer. I don't do team-ups. Void, I think you are on your own for this one. Good luck." And Cherry just laughed as she pushed him in front of her. "What? What about you having to monitor me?" He grumbled as he turned around. "Oh I am sure the baron can fulfill that part now. I have something far more important to do! I gotta make Ezra happy!" Cherry was already far away from him, laughing and running out into the streets. He was all on his own now. "Looks like you will be my first." Dyzanthium grimaced.

"Dyzanhtium, I have nothing against you." Void tried to speak carefully, unsure of how much Dyzanthium already knew about Hansens plans and how closely Hydra was watching. "But I do against you, Void. As long as you are helping Millennium, you are a threat to the peace of STHEREA. You may have been a hero once, but not anymore." She declared as she shuffled through her digital deck collection. "Hmm. You have seen the Slash Draw of Destiny in action. I cannot trust you to not have a trick up your sleeve to counteract it. I will need a different 'me' to dispose of you." Dyzanthium chuckled to herself and tapped her own shoulder. "Hm?" The colors of her outfit changed to a bright blue, green and red mix. The edges of her suit were rounded down as well, leaving her with a considerably more heroic look. "I will use the Element of Elements for this fight. Because I have seen your duels, Void the hero. The six attributes lurk in both our extra decks now!" If he knew her any better he could have figured out whether or not she actually wanted to duel him this way. Because it definitely sounded like she found this confrontation enjoying.

Dyzanthium's LP: 8000 Void's LP: 8000 -TURN 01-

"Elemental Hero Stratos! Shower him with the winds of justice!" The first hero that Dyzanthium called forth would also be the most notorious: Stratos(4/1800/300) [Zone 1] the flying blue hero of the winds. He flew high above the duelists with his cyclone generating turbine wings. It gained its fame through its ability to add Elemental Heroes from the deck to a players hand. "We dominate the skies and the lands! Stratos adds Elemental Hero Honest Neos to my hand!" She chose a warrior of the earth and kept it close. "Then I set two cards face down! My turn has ended and yours begins!" The fusion champion talked big, but could not one turn kill the opponent with this deck, not on the first turn.

-TURN 02-

"You know, there is nobody else around. You do not have to pretend to be the champion anymore." It surprised Void that unlike the others, Dyzanthium still kept her routine going. "But I do. Even if there is no one left to defend, I have to stand for truth and justice! Because if I don't, than nobody will! Now draw your cards, hero of pandemonium!"

"You know I didn't ask to be a hero. I would have been perfectly fine living my normal life for the rest of my days. But nothing is gonna turn back the clock now." Either way he questioned her definition of 'justice'. "I summon Widget Kid. Its effect allows me to special summon a cyberse monster from my hand." A small visor-wearing boy(3/1500/900) [Zone 3] showed up at the battlefield, dressed in neon spandex and a white jacket. He used a projection gun to fire a beam down at the floor, a beam that visualized the next special summoned monster: Flame Bufferlo(4/1400/200) [Zone 1]. "And I use a level 4 or lower cyberse as the link material for Link Disciple." The buffering buffalo transformed from black metal to blue flames and ignited the linking grid. The first chain in the sequence left the extra deck: Link Disciple(500/LINK 1) {Down} [Extra Zone 1].

"You did not want to become a hero. I wager you did not expect to become a villain either! Either way, you can at least put a little umph in your words, Void! We are still both duelists!" The woman interrupted. "I don't think anyone does, Dyzanthium." Void left her with his own implication as he activated the effect of Flame Bufferlo. Since it left the field he could discard a cyberse monster, Sea Archiver, from his hand to draw two new cards. "I also special summon Cyberse Converter!" He would have to get a little bit more serious at leas, with the twincannon drone(2/1000/1000) [Zone 2]. The Comverter could be special summoned since Void only controlled cyberse monsters and it linked itself with the Disciple. "And I can special summon Sea Archiver from my graveyard, when a monster is summoned a marked zone!" Then a fourth material surfaced, a cybernetic and spike-tailed seahorse angel(3/300/2100) [Zone 4].

"And I link summon Security Dragon!" Widget Kid and Sea Archiver turned into twin vortices of water and earth, opened the extra deck for a twice-marked monster. "Security Dragon?" The dragon cyberse(1100/LINK 2) {Up/Down} basically looked like a smaller yet bigheaded Firewall Dragon with electrically charged circle wings. "It can send one monster back to your hand, when its co-linked with one of my monsters." The dragon used its bond with Link Disciple to power a straightforward beam of light. The beam struck Elemental Hero Stratos and forced it to retreat to Dyzanthiums' hand. "From earth and sea to the light of the skies, all to remove the wind! That is more like it!"

"I can do a lot more than that, Dyzanthium!" Void combined the Security Dragon with Cyberse Converter. "With two effect monsters as the link materials, I can link summon Transcode Talker!" The first of the six code knights emerged from the extra deck, Transcode the bronze gunman(2300/LINK3) {Up/Down/Left} [Zone 2] of the earth. Since Transcode formed a co-link, both it(2800 atk) and Link Disciple(1000 atk) gained 500 attackpoints and could not be targeted by card effects. "That monster can then form another link with a cyberse monster in my graveyard!" To the left of the Transcoder a dimensional hole appeared and brought back one of Transcode's own link materials: Security Dragon[Zone 3]. "Finally, every monster linked with Transcode can be used to summon Encode Talker!" Two cyberse monsters lead to the creation of the second Code Talker: the shield knight(2800/ LINK 3) {Up/Down/Downleft} [Extra Zone 1] of light. "Here I come!"

"You want to make this a fight between me and your knights?" Dyzanthium shouted defiantly at the incoming Transcode Talker. "I am affraid a hero never fights alone!" Dyzanthium flipped her first face-down card: Arrivalrivals. "The normal summon spell?" It would summon a monster from her hand during this battle phase, and she chose the Elemental Hero Stratos(4/1800/300) [Zone 3]. "Haha! Now I can add another Elemental Hero to my hand! Elemental Hero Solid Soldier!" This would create a problem later down the line, but for right now the danger lied with the monster on the field. "And you still have Honest Neos in your hand." The name 'Honest' already gave away the trick. If she discarded that card, Elemental Hero Stratos would gain 2500 attackpoints. "But I am going to attack anyway!" Transcode Talker fired his gun and blasted a hole right through the left wing of the wind hero, causing him to crash down and explode. "!? You didn't.."

Dyzanthium's LP: 7000

"Of course not. I know what Encode Talker's power is as well! If I powered my Stratos up, you would have your warrior of light negate the damage and add Stratos' new attackpoints to its own! I'd rather have Stratos fall with less pain. Even if that leaves me unguarded." Before he could ask about that, she flipped her second trap. "For a few seconds.. I activate Hero Signal. Since my Elemental Hero died, I can summon a new one from my deck. This time you will see our fire, with Elemental Hero Blazeman!" The hero trap beamed the light signal into the sky. A burning warrior(4/1200/1800) [Zone 3], wearing crimson faceplate and chestpiece, responded to the call for arms. "And Blazeman adds Polymerization to my hand, when he is summoned!" The fusion hero could invoke her full power at last, as soon as Void ended his turn. "Rgh." The champion had sussed out the flaw in his attack plan. Encode Talker could only use its power on monsters it pointed too, not on its own attacks. "I end my battle phase." If Encode Talker attacked Blazeman, it would be destroyed by an Honest Neos-empowered counterattack.

"I have been wondering, Void. Why did you become a duelist? Was it to help people?" Dyzanthium asked apropos of nothing. "To help them? No. That just.. happened. I only did it, because I felt it was one of the few things I was good at. I didn't really like.. people." He confessed as he placed three cards down in his spell/trap zone. "And yet you helped them anyway, when the Crown threatened them. You did that, you made yourself into what you are now. You could even have been a fine champion." She sighed. "I do not know if I want too." He countered, having seen just how 'genuine' champions could be. "We have not shown you our best face. That is true. You should know that the original plan for the tournament had been for you to duel Blanche first. And then the winner would duel one of us for the right to become one of us. So I felt shame when I saw how my fellow champions acted in front of you, because of our mister Hansens orders. Beating down the victorious has no glory involved and perhaps that set you on the wrong path. But now at least I can give you the true champions challenge."

-TURN 03-

"My turn!" The caped duelist drew her card and smiled widely. "Come forth, Elemental Hero Solid Soldier!" She brought forth her warrior of the earth now, a purple-skinned brawler(4/1300/1100) [Zone 2] wearing parts of a silver knights armor and two collapsible shields. "Solid Soldier summons one level 4 or lower Hero from my hand. I call upon Vision Hero Vyon!" Her next warrior came from entirely different era of heroics. "Vision?" Vyon(4/1000/1200) [Zone 1] wore a half plastic/half metal purple suit with glowing orbs across his body. Even its face was covered with a cycloptic camera mask. "I may be an actor, but I do have more than one identity, Void. And the others will get a line in this fight as well! Vyon can send one Hero monster to my graveyard!" Dyzanthium still used Destiny Heroes as well it appeared, as she used her Vision Hero monsters's effect to discard the Destiny HERO Malicious. And by banishing the first Malicious, a second Destiny HERO Malicious(6/800/800) [Zone 4] could be special summoned from her deck. .

"Vyon can also banish a Hero from the graveyard to add another Polymerization to my hand!" She banished Elemental Hero Stratos. "More than one.." Clearly the fusion champion intended to perform multiple fusions. He wondered how she would do it, in this new format. "Many more! I have a fusion for every element: a warrior for every story!" Indeed her monsters began to pile up. "You must have done a lot of dueling to collect this many decks." At the very least he could admire that aspect of his opponent. "I have, ever since the pre-synchro days. Times were simpler then. I remember when Stratos was feared by all. Now it is not even limited anymore." Dyzanthium sighed as she demonstrated that she indeed had two Stratos Elemental heroes in her deck. Blazeman sent the second Stratos to the graveyard through a newly revealed effect. "Blazeman can become a warrior of the wind!" Its burning hair and fists turned green, the color of Stratos' element. "But in the end, we all have to adapt. All had to become one. I am their crossing, their fusion, their link!"

"The link circuit takes two warriors: Malicious and Vyon! And I Link summon! Xtra Hero Wonder Driver!" Dyzanthium cleared the field of both vision and destiny, and gave form to a magical warrior(1900/LINK 2) {Up/Down} [Extra Zone 2] in blue spandex and waist cape. "So this is the final stage of the Heroes, Xtra Heroes." Wonder Driver resembled the Vision Hero slightly due to its similar one-eyed mask. But outside of that this warrior of light did not favor any breed over the other. And its arrow did not really help multiple fusions either.

"Wonder Driver recreates the miracle that is fusion, Void! If I summon a Hero to his link marker, I can reclaim a fusion spell from my graveyard! So the time has finally come!" Dyzanthium waited no more. She activated Polymerization and threw the wind-elemental Blazeman and Solid Soldier into the vortex. "Fusion summon! I take one Elemental HERO and one monster of the Wind! To create the Great Tornado!" The polymerizing tornado gave life to this new storm. At the eye of the hurricane hovered the horned hero(8/2800/2200) [Zone 4] in green and gold, wearing a tattered cloak and wind turbines on its limbs. Elemental HERO Great Tornado would bring the tempest wherever it fought. "One down, Void! Great Tornado can halve the attackpoints of all your monsters! Haha!" The tornado lifted both Encode Talker(1400 atk) and Transcode Talker(1400 atk) into the air, dangling them helplessly above ground. "Tch." Transcode's protection did not work against indiscreet effects.

"And now the powers of my Hero fusion materials activate! Solid Soldier can special summon a Hero from my graveyard if he is sent to the graveyard by a spell: a spell like Polymerization!" The earth split open, giving rise to the second copy of the aerial Hero Stratos(4/1800/300) [Zone 3]. "And Stratos can add a Hero to my hand of course, Elemental Hero Shadowmist!" The darkness had not been touched upon before, an oversight she now corrected by claiming the Shadow mistress from her deck. In the mean time Xtra Hero Wonder Driver's effect returned Polymerization itself to the field in face-down position. "Now, I need two more marked zones! So the link circuit takes two more warriors as link materials!" Dyzanthium happily removed her Xtra Hero from her field, along with the second Stratos.

"Another one?" More than one Xtra Hero existed. And the new entry to the list carried a clearly darker tone, what with his red-spiked, purple segmented and black metal armor. "Yes! Xtra Hero Cross Crusader! He is the Destiny Hero equivalent. With one effect he can summon one Destiny Hero from my graveyard! With the other he can replace a Destiny Hero with another Hero-monster! Any HERO Monster!" The horned hero threw one of his red cross blades into the ground and cut open the coffin of the second Destiny Hero Malicious[Zone 2]. Immediately afterwards he killed the Malicious one with his second red cross and transformed his remains into a newly special summoned warrior from the deck: Elemental Hero Prisma(4/1700/1100) [Zone 2] the winged crystal warrior of light. "Fusion summon! I take one HERO of each element to create the Sunriser!" The face-down Polymerization flipped face-up and absorbed Prisma along with the Elemental Hero Shadowmist in her hand. All colors turned to white and red, to that of the divine solar Elemental HERO Sunriser(4/2500/1200) [Zone 5] with its golden crescent armblades.

"You have a lot of extra deck heroes, just like Sigment. But I do not know if _he_ won with them."

"Sigment? I do not want to talk about him right now. I refuse to understand why he turned against us." Dyzanthium yelled, seemingly upset enough to forego narration for her recent cards. And the sent-to-the-graveyard Shadowmist allowed Dyzanthium to add another Elemental Hero, Bubbleman, from her deck to her hand. And Elemental Hero Sunriser(3100/2100) added 200 attackpoints to each HERO for each attribute already on the field (Great Tornado: 3400 atk). "As for what is set aside or not for the extra deck. You must suffer the same burden, Void! We could have been more alike than you thought. If only you had not squandered your chances!" The solar fusion of light could also add a new spell to Dyzanthium's hand: Miracle Fusion.

"Of course." No HERO duelist entered a duel without one. The miracle fuser took its materials from the field _and_ graveyard and created a new fusion Elemental Hero right then and there. "Fusion summon! I take one Elemental HERO monster and one monster of Flame!" Shadowmist and Blazeman took the role of elemental catalyst and burned down as one. "To create the Nova Master!" The flames dispersed for their new commander, a caped knight(8/3200/2100) [Zone 3] in flame-like red armor.

"And finally! I take one Elemental Hero and one monster of Darkness! To fusion summon my final warrior, Elemental HERO Escuridao!" The champion activated her recycled Polymerization spell, making the dark Xtra Hero Cross Crusader joined with Elemental Hero Bubbleman, creating a black mixture that devoured every bright shade. The only color of the new dark warrior Escuridao(8/3300/2000) [Extra Zone 1] were its red eyes. The rest; the four thin curved wings, sleek body, long blade claws, mouth-like torso and triple-crested head, all belonged to the dark. "Four elemental heroes on the field at once?" Escuridao(2900/2000) acquired 100 attackpoints for each Elemental Hero still in the graveyard. And Sunriser(3300/2100) now added 800 attackpoints to all her monsters (Great Tornado: 3600 atk, Nova Master: 3400 atk) "You do not just want me defeated, do you?" Surely there were better and faster ways to win a duel. "I cannot stop being who I am. And who I am is also how I achieve victory!" Dyzanthium moved towards the battle phase "If you _can_ change yourself, then who you were never really amounted to much to begin with. Void!"

...

"This is not right." Usually it would be the other way around. Mister Static would respond to their cries and he would dominate the discussion. Now the tables had turned. He came to them.

"Whoooaaa! Where did you come from?" Neo felt like he had nearly fallen out of his own body, it gave him such a fright. "Forget that! Why did you come now? We have been yelling at you for the last several hours!" Sundown only slightly exaggerated, but ever since their database raid they had been trying to contact the arena host. With Scarlet off to tend her own lab, they did not feel safe anywhere else in STHEREA anymore. Though some duelists like Bionis and Veyron did chance returning to the real world. Donna, Sundown and Blanche refused to budge. And Neo, also as per usual, arrived late to all the discussions.

"That's not important right now. You have a new mission. Contact everyone you know and head out to these coordinates." He ignored their cries and handed them off some numbers instead. And yet... "What is wrong Static?" The implacable man sounded far less confident and far more concerned. "What is not wrong, Madam Blanche? I have given you plenty of time and you still have not delivered. Ah but how can I blame you when you are not the fools who have unleashed doom upon us all." Something happened, they realized that much.

"Doom? What do you mean doom? Where are we going? How about you start making sense for once?" Donna, standing face to face with her captor, did not feel remotely inclined to blindly follow his instructions. "We are not going anywhere until he tells us who destroyed Hieronymus!" Sundown meanwhile lingered on recent revelations. "Hieronymus? Oh you finally discovered that little game of mine?" An incredulous Static replied. "It is true, isn't it? You invited him! But then one of us took his place! Who was it!? Why did you even invite an Exeter employee? Did you plan to replace him all along?! And what did you replace him with?" The gunslinger cared about nothing else but that truth now. "If I told you... Then you would not have any incentive to complete your task, now would you?" The static man turned it back around immediately. "What!?" The gunslinger snapped.

"You heard me. Finish the job and come back, and then I will tell you everything you want to hear. I consider that a bargain!" The face in the distorted screen shifted away from Sundown and towards Donna. "And where are you going? Well you've earned yourself a trip to one of Exeter's most luxurious hotspots: a secret so good they did not want anyone else to know! But our friend with the Lance spoiled the surprise and spoiled STHEREA at the same time." He said with a tone of disgust. "Aha? What will we find there then?" Donna would love to know what Exeter wanted to keep hidden. "Not what Millennium wants, or what they think they will find. The beginning of the end sleeps in that corner of the network. I can sense it stirring. Something more dangerous than any Item. If you hurry you might be able to stop them from going in too far before it is too late. But whatever you do. Whatever you see. Do not take anything with you!"

(To Be Continued in Line 080: Beyond the Periodic Table)

**New Cards used by Void  
**Widget Kid  
Sea Archiver

-  
Security Dragon

**New Cards used by Dyzanthium  
**Elemental HERO Stratos  
Elemental HERO Solid Soldier  
Vision HERO Vyon  
Elemental HERO Blazeman  
Elemental HERO Shadowmist  
Elemental HERO Prisma  
Elemental HERO Bubbleman

-  
Xtra HERO Wonder Diver  
Elemental HERO Great Tornado  
Xtra HERO Cross Crusader  
Elemental HERO Sunriser  
Elemental HERO Nova Master  
Elemental HERO Escuridao

-  
Arrivalrivals  
Polymerization  
Miracle Fusion

-  
Hero Signal


	80. Beyond the Periodic Table

**Line 080: Beyond the Periodic Table**

Dyzanthium's LP: 7000 Void's LP: 8000

Elemental HERO Great Tornado (8/3600/2200) [Zone 4], Elemental HERO Sunriser(4/3300/1200) [Zone 5], Elemental HERO Nova Master! (8/3400/2100) [Zone 3] and Elemental HERO Escuridao(8/3700/2000) [Extra Zone 1]: the champion of fusions did honor to her name and her deck by calling out four of the six elements in the same turn. And all six headed Void's way. "I am aware of your Code Talkers powers, Void! I watched every one of your duels after all! Encode Talker has the most power, but it cannot give it to himself! So it will be the first to fall! By the hand of my Favorite Hero!" She also equipped the Sunriser with an equip spell: Favorite Hero. It added the monsters defense to his(4500/1200) attackpower and made it untargetable by other effects. Though it lacked strength, the solar warrior gained her favor due to its destructive effects. "Attack!" Sunriser would take on the still weakened shield knight Encode (1400 ATK/LINK 3) {Up/Down/Downleft} [Extra Zone 1]; a clash of the light element.

"Knowing every card I have does give you an advantage. But did you also prepare for my spells? "Security Block!" Void created a red and green shield for his link monster. It could now no longer be destroyed by attacks, meaning it withstood Sunriser's bright blast. "Aha!?" And no battle damage could be inflicted during this turn either.

"After everything I did, you would shut me down with just one effect? How maddening! Well, even if I cannot inflict any battle damage. Sunriser still attacked! That allows my Favorite Hero spell to activate Skyscraper from my deck!" Dyzanthium's field spell replaced the sunset city with a night-time metropolis with simplified yet tall skyscrapers. "Now my heroes gain 1000 attackpoints during damage calculation, when they attack a stronger monster! So let's take care of your other warrior!" Elemental Hero Great Tornado redirected the storm around himself towards the Code Talker of earth: Transcode(1400/LINK 3) {Up/Right/Down} [Zone 2]. "And.. Sunriser can destroy one card whenever another Hero battles!" The solar warrior charged a second blast to incinerate one of Void's face-down traps at the same time.

"That wont work either! I activate Cynet Conflict! Since I control a Code Talker, I can negate your monster's effect and the effect of any card with that name for the rest of the turn!" The code knights of earth and light intercepted the solar blast and slapped it right back to Sunriser, blowing the hero of light to pieces. That left the remaining heroes weaker without the suns elemental boost (Nova: 2600 atk, Tornado: 2800 atk, Escuridao: 3000 atk) "And Encode Talker negates the destruction of my monster!" The shieldbearer defended the gunner, and every bit of attackpower wielded by the Great Tornado turned into extra power for the monster Encode pointed at. Now Transcode(4200 atk) could not be destroyed by any of the remaining heroes either, even with the Skycraper boost.

"Oh. That's a good counter trap. Did you save that all this time? I guess you would rather destroy my ace at their full power! But I still have Elemental Hero Honest Neos! I discard him now, so that Nova Master gains 2500 attackpoints!" The angel-winged alien hero activated his power from her hand, and let the holy light rain down on the hero of flames. Nova Master(5100/2100) grew wings of fire and dove down towards Transcode Talker. "Be gone!" Though Void's monster tried to fight back, its countershot disappeared inside a burning column. Then the gun turned to ash, and finally Transcode himself died. "When Nova Master destroys one of your monsters, I can draw one card! And after that, Escuridao attacks!" The last strike belonged to the darkness. And it used the departure of Honest Neos and Sunriser to further fuel his(3100/2000) own evil powers.

"Why? You cannot damage me." Void did not see the point. "Because Escuridao was owed an attack!" The blast of shadows did no harm to the Encoder of light. But all she cared about was seeing the animation of her monster. "My colleagues seemed to be against the transition into this virtual world. But I.. all parts of me, accepted it with open arms. I rarely tell people this, but this act of mine is not all made up. I did suffer.. from a disorderly mind. Not greatly, but enough. Yet here, I could finally manage all aspects of me. I finally felt found a place where I could be me. Don't you feel the same way, Void?"

"I do. But so does Millennium." He retorted. "I cannot deny that. The allure of this place is strong. But they wield a power that should not be theirs. They cannot be trusted! Or do you not see that?" She dropped another loaded question his way. "I wish I could trust anyone. I wish the world was that simple. But it is not." Void let out a long sigh. "I don't know why I am here, but I cannot find out if you stop me. You do not become a hero by only thinking about those above you."

-TURN 04-

"My turn. I activate Monster Reborn Reborn. I choose three monsters in my graveyard. But you choose which one is revived and which ones are banished." The repetitively named spell displayed a trio of cyberse: Transcode Talker, Security Dragon and Flame Bufferlo. Dyzanthium could pick between direct threats or cards that would lead to new threats down the line. "You like playing games, do you? Hehn.. I choose the Bufferlo." Monster Reborn Reborn's lucky target became the fire-horn buffalo(4/1400/200) [Zone 3]. That would be step one. "So you're going to use Flame Bufferlo as a link material, and discard a cyberse to draw two cards?"

"You would not be wrong in that case. But Bufferlo also activates if I remove him from the field through other effects! And Backup Operator can special summon herself by returning someone linked to my link monster, to my hand!" The cyberspace mistress(3/1200/800) [Zone 1] floated in on her hoverchair, and made the Flamer cyberse retreat from the field. Flame Bufferlo's effect then discarded itself out of Void's hands and drew two more monsters. "You know a lot of my moves. But my deck is not always the same. That is the kind of duelist I am, never satisfied with what I have set up. And thanks to this network, I can always add more to my collection.. whenever I win a duel." Maybe he lacked the strength to beat a champion before, but now he felt like he had a chance.

"I normal summon ROM Cloudia! When this card is normal summoned, I can take a cyberse monster back from the graveyard." Void's black sheep cyberse(4/1800/1000) [Zone 3] retrieved Cyberse Converter. And as he only controlled cyberse monsters, he could summon the converter drone(3/1000/1000) [Zone 4] from his hand again. "I also special summon Cyberse White Hat, which I can do when I control at least two cyberse." His newest addition to the cyberse clan took the form of a wild west ranger(6/1800/2400) [Zone 4], wearing his eponymous white hat and white longcoat over a cyberstyle bodysuit. And I will use up to three monsters as materials! To link summon the one Code Talker you have yet to see!" Cyberse White Hat, Cyberse Converter and Backup Operator combined their pure light to make a big splash.

"The latest one you say?" Dyzanthium did not know what this would be. "Of course! There is one Code Talker for every attribute! And this one is the Water Knight: Shootingcode Talker!" The Code Talkers commanded a different weapon each, and the blue and gold armored code talker(2300/LINK 3) {Left/Up/Down} [Zone 2]. In his hands he held a great long bow, and with his wings he could shoot from any angle. "Shootingcode Talker can attack one more time for each monster is linked with him. Now it only points at Encode Talker. But.." Void revealed the other trap at this point, a continuous trap that generated a counter for each link monster in the graveyard. "When I activate Limit Code! I can special summon a Code Talker for him to point too!" He special summoned Excode Talker from the extra deck to the field.. As long he could remove counters from the Limit trap (1 counter) during his endphase, Excode Talker the green knight(2300/2100) {Left/Up/Right} [Zone 1] would stay on his field.

"Now Shootingcode can attack three times! And Excode gives five hundred attackpoints to all monsters he points too!" The archer(2800 atk) prepped three arrows of light on his bow. Meanwhile Excode destroyed the open zones [Zones 1 & 2] on Dyzanthium's field with its other effect. "And did you notice, Dyzanthium? When Cyberse White Hat turned into a link material, all your monsters lost a thousand attackpoints!"

"A thousand?!" Dyzanthium struck an exaggerated pose as she noticed the power drain caused by the whitecoat cyberse. His bullets pierced Escuridao(2100/2000), Nova Master(1600/2100) and the Great Tornado(1800/2200) all at once. "Right now I only need to destroy three of them, to win this duel! And I will show you how! Rom Cloudia attacks!" In this ultimate confrontation of the elements, the weakest monster would lead the charge. "No! Encode's effect!" And Dyzanthium realized why; because Encode Talker formed a link with the black sheep. ROM Cloudia used its horns to headbutt the dark hero, while the shieldbearer absorbed the battle damage. "Yes! Encode Talker saves ROM Cloudia, and copies the attackpoints of your monster into another monster he points at! Shooting Code Talker!" The flow of light passed from the battling monsters, to the Encoder, to the the aquatic Shooter(4900 atk). "And Shootingcode will finish the job! I attack Elemental Hero Nova Master!" The first arrow was loosed.

"Impressive, Void. I really do mean that. You are the first in a long time to have forced me into this corner. The corner that I can escape from only with this! I activate my Skill, Champions Fusion, and fusion summon a new Elemental Hero!" Just like her partners, she could invoke the advanced form of fusion. The skill took Elemental HERO Honesty Neos and Elemental HERO Solid Soldier from the graveyard and returned them to the deck. "Come to me, Elemental Hero Gaia! Lend me your powers!" And so she cracked open the earth itself, and raised a hero(6/2200/2600) [Extra Zone 2] made from solid rock. "The earth!?" The ground kept rumbling long after its arrival, as its effect triggered and targeted Shootingcode Talker. Half of its(2450/2450) attackpoints were stolen by Gaia(4650/2600) until the end of the turn. Giving Shootingcode Talker's arrows half as much piercing strength when they struck Elemental Hero Escuridao(1900 atk) and killed him.

Dyzanthium's LP: 6450

_Champion's Fusion, Skill Card_  
_Fusion summon 1 Fusion monster from your Extra deck, by shuffling fusion materials listed on it, from your hand or GY, into your Deck._  
_You cannot special summon monsters from the extra deck this turn, except for fusion monsters._

"You only needed two attacks you said? Looks like a lot more now!" The woman laughed. "Damn it. But Shootingcode Talker still has two attacks left. And each time he destroys a monster, I can draw one card!" The water archer released two more shots from his longbow, and impaled the Elemental Heroes Escuridao and Great Tornado. He could do little about Elemental HERO Gaia however. "So I draw three cards." Void declared along with the end of his battle phase.

Dyzanthium's LP: 4950

"How did that feel, Void? To come so close?" Dyzanthium asked him as she drew her card. "Not great." He admitted. "I always believed that no duelist could be invincible. But I also always thought that when it came down to it, I could always win. I guess that's kind of a contradiction." He knew he could be beaten just as easily as any other, specially by the champions. But had he evened the odds even a little between then and now? "I set one card face down. And I activate my spell, Cynet Storm! All linked monsters gain 500 attack and defense points." His continuous spell raised the data storm, which picked up random bits of energy and gave them to the four-way link between Rom Claudia(2300/1500), Shootingcode(2950 atk), Encode(2800 atk) and Excode(2800 atk). "My turn.. is over."

-TURN 05-

"You know. I cannot speak for the others as much as I would like, especially now... But I would have welcomed you into our hall of fame with open arms. Skills like yours need to be polished. And we could have used a link summon specialist for the new generation." Of course now, there were barely any specialists left. More and more it seems like the title of champion would become a relic. "Would you? What would have happened if Blanche had won instead?" Nevertheless her remark made Void smile. "The blue-eyed duelist? I don't know. We would need a whole new theme for that." Dyzanthium laughed.. and sighed. "But that will never happen! I activate the spell, Legacy of a Hero!" The graveyard broke open and released the souls of the Elemental Heroes Great Tornado and Sunriser. "If I return two Elemental fusions, I can draw three cards!" She happily restocked her entire hand. "A triple draw?" This would not end well.

"Heheh. No more games, Void. I will show you my strongest technique!" Dyzanthium kicked off from the ground and jumped up all the way to the top of the tallest skyscraper. "I activate the spell: Skydive Scorcher!" She yelled from above, echoing her words throughout the night sky and shadowy buildings. "The Skydive Scorcher is my final attack! It targets one Elemental Hero and then it destroys all monsters with greater attackpower! All of your monsters will die, Void!" She gave the burning power-up to the now regularly powerful Elemental Hero Gaia(2200/2600), who made a similarly amazing jump into the air to claim his own city tower. "And when Skyscraper is on my field, you will lose lifepoints equal to the combined original attackpoints of those monsters!" Gaia dove back down and used his rocksolid weight to crash faster than a speeding bullet. The flames surrounded him mid-fall and expanded across Voids entire field when the Hero landed. "Gaaahhh!" The blaze consumed Excode Talker, Encode Talker and Rom Cloudia.

Void's LP: 1600

"What is this?" Dyzanthium gazed down at the destruction and spotted the lone survivor: Shootingcode Talker(2300 atk). "Excode Talker pointed to my monster before he died, Dyzanthium. So he could not be destroyed." Void coughed through the smoke, having narrowly avoided a complete lifepoint loss due to that one effect. "And I have two more surprises." The smoke hid another shape. "When I take damage from an opponents effect, more than two thousand to be exact, Cynet Storm will take one random monster from my extra deck and summon it! If it is a cyberse monster!" Void shuffled through the remainder of his extra deck, which contained nothing but cyberse. "And when ROm Cloudia is destroyed, I can special summon a Cyberse monster from my deck! I choose Texchanger!" When the devastation cleared, ShootingCode found himself paired up with Cynet's new summon: Binary Sorceress the cord-haired skater witch(2100/LINK 2) {Left/Right} [Zone 3]. And on the complete opposite appeared Texchanger the low-polygon green frog(1/600/600) [Zone 1] in defense mode.

"Amazing! I knew you would defend yourself. But I did not expect this many layers!" She let out a cry of ecstacy. "Yes.." Void coughed again. "..." The sound of concrete and fire filled caught his attention. "It looks too real.." He never noticed before, but every attack they made also did damage to the surroundings buildings. The cars and people did not care, but the walls were singed and trashcans were knocked around.

"Gaia, attack Texchanger!" He did not have the time to give it much thought unfortunately. Dyzanthium moved into her battle phase to test his new defenses. The weak would be filtered out first. "Texchanger's effect activates! He negates one attack each turn, and then summons a normal cyberse monster from my deck!" The cyberfrog leaped over the earth hero's rock fist and landed on Void's own dueldisk. "I summon Bitron!" It pulled a card out with its tongue and dropped the tiny Bitron creature(2/700/2500) [Zone 5] down on the field in defense mode. "That takes care of one. Now as for your Code Talker, Its watery element will fit nicely with my new monster! I activate Super Polymerization!"

"Not that!" The super fuser claimed its materials from both sides of the field, her Elemental HERO Gaia and his Shooting Code Talker. "Fusion summon! Elemental Hero Absolute Zero!" The final element made its chilling entrance, a ring-helmed knight(8/2500/2000) [Extra Zone 1] with his snow white cape and spiked armor of ice. "I had to discard a card to activate Super Polymerization. And so I discarded Elemental Hero Shadowmist. Haha!" Dyzanthium activated the effect of Shadowmist to add another Elemental Hero Honest Neos to her hand. "Absolute Zero attacks the Binary Sorceress! Could this be the final blow, Void?" She could literally double the power of the Absolute warrior if she wanted too, while the now linkless Binary Sorceress already lost the attackboost from Cynet Storm.

"Not this turn, Dyzanthium! I still have my final trap: Recoded Alive!" Void declared and banished Excode Talker from his graveyard. "When I remove a Link 3 monster from my graveyard, I can special summon a Code Talker from my deck! I choose Powercode Talker!" A fire-elemental Crimson claw-knight(2300/LINK 3) {Left/Downleft/Right} [Zone 4] connected with the Sorceress on the right link."And since I dont have any monsters in my extra zone, I can also banish Recoded Alive from my graveyard to special summon a Code Talker that was banished! Transcode Talker!" The bronze gunner(2300/LINK 3) {Up/Down/Right} [Zone 2] connected on the left link, where Shootingcode Talker once stood vigilant. "Transcode gives all my co-linked monsters 500 attackpoints! And Cynet Storm will boost all monsters in the link!" The chain started with Transcode(3300 atk), passing through Binary Sorceress(2600 atk) and Powercode(3300 atk) before ending on Bitron(700/2500).

"Impressive. In that case my target becomes Transcode Talker!" The link monsters still did not have enough points to properly defend Void with after all this. "Then you leave me no choice! Binary Sorceress' effect activates when two monsters are co-linked with her! I add half of one monsters attackpower to another!" The witch drained the power from the Powercoder(1650 atk) on her right and handed it over to the Transcoder(4950). "I expected nothing less! This fight wont be worth it, if we do not struggle every step of the way!" Dyzanthium in turn activated Honest Neos on Absolute Zero(5000/2000) and carved through the earthen Code Talker with its frozen armblades. Skyscraper could not activate as the hero was now stronger than the coder. The fusion champion still looked down on Void from her elevated position. "This will be your final turn, I know it. Even you cannot keep this up for much longer!" She placed one trap card face down and passed the turn to him.

Void's LP: 1550 -TURN 06-

He needed a plan. "The final turn huh." He had one in mind. "I summon Swap Cleric!" And it demanded two effect-monster link materials. So he normal summoned the floating cyber cleric(2/500/1000). "Link summon! Decode Talker!" Swap Cleric combined with Texchanger and the Binary Sorceress, treating the latter as just one material. And he set the linking grid to the the element that Void saved for last. "Ah? Finally, the six are complete!" Decode Talker(2300/LINK 3) {Downleft/Up/Downright} [Extra Zone 1] the knight of darkness drew his sword and gave its battle-ready glare at Elemental Hero Absolute Zero. "Swap Cleric drains 500 attackpoints from my link monster, and lets me draw a new card!" Void sadly had to weaken Decode(1800 atk) to get a chance at evening the edge. Because he knew what would happen if he tried to kill Absolute Zero the normal way. Once the Ice hero left the field, all his monsters would be destroyed. "...This card?" Yet what he gained caught him off guard. He drew a card he forgot about, one he added to his hand for this very mission. "Well, no reason not to use it now. I activate World Legacy Succession!" One of the cards left behind by the Crown.

"Uh.." A strange pulse ran through his entire body the second he did. "Void?"the shock to his body could be seen by Dyzanthium too, and then felt as well. "What was.." The pulse caused a rumble throughout the entire virtual cityscape. "I didn't.." But Void did not know where that came from. It felt more like an initial wave awakening an even bigger one. Nothing changed so far.

"I don't know what that was. But it doesn't matter right now! World Legacy Succession special summons one monster from my graveyard, and links its with another link monster!" The bottomleft marker of Decode burned red, and opened a portal to the grave of the Code Talker that died last: Transcode Talker [Zone 1]. "And Transcode will special summon one link monster from the graveyard too!" Void gave the aerial knight another shot, and revived Excode Talker[Zone 2]. The new co-link repowered the effects of Cynet Storm and Excode Talker(3300 atk), giving 1000 points to all monsters in the co-link: including Transcode Talker(3800 atk), Decode Talker(3300 atk). The latter(3800 atk) also gained 500 attackpoints with its own link and effect. "Dyzanthium! This is it!"

"Powercode attacks Absolute Zero! And by sacrificing Bitron, he can double his attackpoints!" The first step would be the easiest. Powercode Talker's own effect made it(4600 atk) the best candidate to take down the hero of ice. Its whipped claw ensnared Absolute Zero and pulled the two battling monsters closer for the fatal clash. "Now Absolute Zero will destroy my monsters, but.. Excode Talker protects the two he points at!" The shattered zero warrior exploded, and impaled Powercode Talker with its ice shards. Excode Talker also took the hit, since it could not protect itself. But Transcode(2800 atk) and Decode(2800 atk) remained on the field, and charged the fusion champion. "Then I have no choice... but to activate my trap! Magistry Alchemist!" Dyzanthium raised her arm above her head and shouted at the top of her lungs.

Dyzanthium's LP: 2850

"Is what I would say, if I had drawn that trap." She sighed and lowered her hand. "What? You did not.." Her face-down card appeared to just be a bluff. "No. I went into this duel without any performance or script mods. I wanted it to be fair.. So I am defenseless now. Maybe in the old days a bluff could have worked. But I am not that young girl anymore, and the world has changed. Any other me would not have given you the praise you deserve, but you have done it.. Void." She spread her arms. "Now see it through to the end." And welcomed the death blows of the dark knight and earthen gunman.

Dyzanthium's LP: 0

"Dyzanthium?!" To Void's shock and dismay, he saw that the blast had left the hero scarred. A large hole appeared in her shoulder. "I didn't.." The rules, Static had re-implemented the rules. "I.. I am certain they can fix that!" He could not hide his shock from her, no matter how much that might have confused her. "So you do have hesitations about the path you are on after all." The champion smirked. "Tch. I just didn't think.. I should have gone all the way." If he had undergone Ezra's process, he could have avoided this. "And what about you? Do you really not have any doubts at all?" He bounced her question back. "No. I did. But I had a duty, and a desire to see which one of us was stronger. Now I know." Dyzanthium stepped aside. "I hope you will find what you are looking for as well."

...

_"What was that? From the duel?"_ Alpha sensed the pulse that started a few blocks behind him. _"Is he winning? Ah who cares."_ Who won or lost did not make a difference for him in the end. He just wanted to find the treasure inside this fake city. But he might as well have been trying to look for a needle in a haystack. Too many buildings and too many streets; just how much of the real world could this network recreate? It would help if had a direction.

_"Huh?"_ He heard the noise of an automatic door. "_They can open?"_ He tried to enter places before, but the doors and windows would never budge. Up until now he just assumed nothing existed for the insides. Except now one door had opened itself for him, the doors of what appeared to be a holographic zoo. This location must have been special. "!" Alpha dashed in through the opening, into the zoo. None of its animals reacted to his presence. And the fake citizens did not pay it any attention either. He was alone in here. He.. and the girl on the bench.

"You." She turned to him with wide eyes. "You found me! Congratulations!"

(To Be Continued in Line 081: The Outcome of Total Realism)

**New Cards used by Void  
**Cyberse White Hat  
Texchanger

-  
Shootingcode Talker

-  
World Legacy Succession

-  
Cynet Conflict

**New Cards used by Dyzanthium  
**_CHAMPION'S FUSION  
_

-  
Elemental HERO Gaia  
Elemental HERO Absolute Zero

-  
Favorite Hero  
Skyscraper  
Legacy of a Hero  
Skydive Scorcher  
Super Polymerization


	81. The Outcome of Total Realism

**Line 081: The Outcome of Total Realism**

The remaining heroes of the beyond were not sure what they should have expected on this new mission, or whom. Not one of their guesses came true. First Neo, Blanche, Sundown, Donna and Bionis arrived at this part of the network that did not officially exist according to every official source. Then they saw that it looked like a real city down to the smallest brick. And finally they ran into a few old faces on both ends of the spectrum. "Zettai?" When Neo sent out his call to arms, he did not think she would be the first to show herself. "What are you doing here?" And Sundown would rather have not seen her at all.

"You asked for help. I am here to give it. What is the other's excuse?" She did not see the likes of Veyron or Himiko yet. "Their excuse is that they leaped over to the other side. Hydra, Crescent, Midsummer. All of them! How can we be sure you aren't a traitor like them?" The gunslinger growled at her. "You would accuse me of going against my own principles? _Me?_ I expect such nonsense from Bionis. Not from you."

"Hey!" Bionis cried out. "Zettai. No offense, but you kinda missed a lot. Also we didn't think you were coming because you were all moody when we last saw you." Blanche casually explained to her. "That was the past. This is the now and I know the broad strokes. Millennium attacked the CTO, he retaliated by chasing everyone away from STHEREA, you and Scarlet went on to raid a database. You did not ask for my help then, but you did now. That is the difference.." The black/white duelist did not sound at all concerned with asking for forgiveness. "Yeah well, you know what else you missed? The reason for Hansen suddenly turning on us! He says that one of us destroyed the judge back at the arena. Just like I always said! And Static confirmed it! Maybe an ADI infiltrated us, and for all we know that was you! Hell, you look like a duel monster already!" At this point Bionis fully backed Sundown up with his own suspicions.

"Will you guys knock it off!" And it got to be too much for Donna, who did not care about any of this anymore. "She's here! I don't see what the problem is! We have enough problems as it is!" Not when a new mystery loomed right over them. "Oh yeah.. That. What is up with that?" Blanche looked up at the surrounding skyscrapers and the clouds above them and twirled a finger through her hair. "I've been to this city. This is real. But.. not." They clearly were still on the network somehow, she could tell because of how her own appearance and theirs. "Why... would they make this?"

...

"Who are you?" Alpha gave the girl another look and quickly deduced that she could not be a duel monster of any kind. She looked human, too human, too smooth of movement and pure of voice. As if everything about her had been given greater graphical fidelity than anyone else in the network. Teal-colored hair decorated with golden stars draped down her shoulders yet the tips curled back up like hooks. Her long dress covered her arms and entire lower body, colored lightblue with purple spiraling patterns on the soft fabric. However she lacked one item that he did not: a dueldisk. Every avatar in STHEREA came with that visual addition strapped to their arm: even someone like Hansen.. So why not her?

"I am me. Who are you?" The girl finally answered quite jovially with an almost delirious tone, staring at him with deep blue eyes. "That is not how this works." Alpha grunted, wanting to get to the heart of the mystery right away. "It isn't? Well I'm sorry then I guess. I am not used to saying hello. I so rarely get visitors." She changed her tune slightly, becoming more serious. "You are.. real aren't you? Did Exeter send you?" The girl checked him out from head to toe.

"Exeter? I would never do anything for them. But you know about the company? Did they.. did they put you here?" He softened his own voice as well, as he started to figure out what he dealt with here. "You really _are_ from the outside! What year is it? How did you find me? How many people came with you? Are the Bowler Boys still together?" And she got a little too excited to start answering his questions, while hers kept coming out. "Uh.. it's 2029. And there should be at least three or four others roaming this city. I can't tell you about the rest tho.."

"Five others." The invisible man corrected him. "And they will be here soon, following my directions." The black baron Hydra entered the zoo in stealth mode. "Oh! There's an invisible man here! Can everyone do that!?" She did not seem to be as startled as Alpha.

"No we cannot. I take it you've been watching me from the beginning?" The fire duelist inquired angrily. "Not actually. It took me a while to map out the entire city, but now I can watch everyone from my vantage point. That includes Void, who took care of another champion for us one level below. And I presume Sigment was supposed to guard this level. But he is no longer with us either." Though they could not see Hydra, obviously, he did keep his voice clear as if they were hearing someone standing right next to them. "My name is Hydra, miss. And his name is Alpha. What is yours?" He gave the mystery girl a more proper introduction.

"My name? Oh, right. I had that once." She placed her finger on the tip of her chin. "I dunno." She shrugged. "Wait? How could you forget that? How long have you been in here?" Alpha snarled. The network did not exist for that many years. "Uh. I forgot a lot of things, once I came down here." She casually remarked. "Is that so? But you remember stuff like your favorite band?..." Alpha felt like he was getting a headache. "Perhaps she is just another part of this recreation." Hydra suggested. "Huh? Recreation? What does that mean? I am really real." She meekly protested. "There is something off about you. I see things with different eyes, miss. And when I look at you I do not see the same structures and data as when I look at an avatar like him. But I do not see an ADI either. I wish I could see you with my own eyes. Perhaps this is a result of the world we found you in, we are not technically in STHEREA anymore. Or maybe..."

"Maybe you are more than us." At this point Midsummer, Void and Cherry all made their way into the zoo. Having been given directions to this third level by Hydra earlier. "My lady, my name is Midsummer Nightmare." Midsummer immediately waltzed up to her and bowed. "May I have the honor?" He also extended his hand towards her. "Huh? Of course?" She lowered her own hand so that he could touch it. "Yes. This is what I always dreamed off." He mumbled to himself.

"Uhm, dude. What are you doing all this creepy stuff for?" The girl might not have found his behavior odd, but Cherry certainly did. "Can't you see?" He lashed out and stood back up. "This is what Exeter has been doing, creating a new world for a new form of life. You, you were sent here by them... to live here. Weren't you?" He continued to speak with an unending admiration. "I... I guess I was. The man told me that I could live here, for as long as I wanted. Until they got my body fixed." The nameless girl explained. "You mean.. your mind separated from your body? That's just like..." Void, who had been trying to make sense of what exactly he walked into, now saw similarities in her story and that of Cherry Anise. "Just like me? But that's not possible! Only the power of the Lance can do that! If Exeter could do it by themselves.." Cherry had been absorbed into the network for weeks now, but even she had to start out like everyone else.

"Apparently it is though... Fancy that." A skeptical Alpha sneered.

"But she is not like you. She is a miracle!" Midsummer protested again. "Okay calm down Midsummer. We're just want to figure this out. Miss, do you remember anything else?" Void for now would treat everything she said at face value. "Yeah! What man were you talking about? Who put you here? Why you? Why would they do this to you?" Alpha also threw in his own questions, albeit more violently.

"It's not so bad. I made a lot of friends here!" The girl put up a positive front as she suddenly waved at a random pedestrian walking down the streets who automatically waved back. At the same time the zoo reacted with the noise of crying monkeys and shrieking birds. The animals were excited to see her move. "And I can visit all the places just like how I remember them! I think.. I have been in here so long, I started to forget places. A lot of doors are closed already. And.." Her positivity quickly faded. "I don't remember what happened to me either, why I had to stay in here. I think... someone I once knew gave me this city, and they sometimes visited me to cheer me up. But I haven't talked to him in a while. He stopped showing up since I don't know when. And the longer I waited, the more I started to see how fake this all was. Because the people didn't change, because I didn't change." She saved at the same pedestrian from before, who waved back just like he did a minute ago. Time repeated itself often. "Which is why I am glad, that you showed up."

"If this is true, then this is Incredible." Hydra muttered. "It is." Midsummer nodded. "Perhaps whatever misfortune fell upon you, was taken from your memory due to its ghastliness? Your savior must have been a kind man who did not wish for you to think back to those painful days." The nightmare duelist reasoned. "Maybe. or maybe her mind just degraded the longer she stayed in here. Whatever tricks they pulled off to transplant an entire consciousness into the network, cannot be as perfect as Ezra's power. If any of what you said is even true." The trickstar duelist insisted.

"It is Cherry. She is different from us." One very tiny duelist revealed herself, flying up towards the mystery girl. "Hey, you're not a butterfly!" She accurately pointed out. "Correct. I am Melyria Cister, Ezra's consort." The pixie woman explained as she increased her size slightly so that she could be better heard and seen. "And you are very special, aren't you? I sense no nerves, no inputs, connections or even dueling functionality. You are.. a purely digital essence. I have never seen anything like this." Even she, with her unique insights, could not fully comprehend her nature. "Dueling? Ezra?" And by now the girl developed her own curiosities. "Do you mind if I ask you who you are? I thought, maybe that man sent you to get me. But that doesn't seem to be right. You look kinda fuzzier and even more confused than me... Where did you come from?"

"Where we came from? Do you mean the real world or... Oh you wouldn't know, would you? Have you ever left the city?" Void asked her. "There is something outside the city?" Her answer revealed all. "... Yes, of course there is. We came from the dueling network. We call it STHEREA. It's a virtual world for dueling matches." He started to explain. "Oh dueling? That's what those cards are for, arent they?" She seemed to be at least a little aware of the card game.

"It's so much more now, Void. Don't sell it short. STHEREA is not just a game, this is a whole new world with limitless possibilities. A place where you can be or do whatever you want to do!" Cherry proudly proclaimed. "Really?" The girl blinked. "Really. Once you meet Ezra, you will see what we can do." Melyria said with her tiny smile. "But that means, I would heave to leave this place?" The girl sounded hesitant. "You should!" Alpha blurted out with sudden anger. "This place is just a prison! I don't know why they put you here, but it's not right for you to be kept locked up!" Midsummer backed him up as well. "Beauty such as yours, deserves to be seen by the world. And you deserve to see that world."

"Oh. Well.. okay." She got up from her seat, causing all the animals in the zoo to instantly close their eyes and fall asleep. "Show me everything!"

"Wait. You will need a name." Hydra spoke up. "Does she?" Cherry wondered why he would be a stickler for that kind of stuff. "For simplicity's sake. But also because of a the power you can give yourself with your own name. Consider it a rite of passage." Every network duelist had to give themselves a new name, and he had done it twice by now. Having an identity felt far better than not having one. "Midsummer Nightmare, Melyria, Void, Baron Hydra. You all do have a lot of nice names. I just called myself 'Me' all this time. But.. you found me first, Alpha. And my favorite letter is E.. so I guess you can call me Echo. As in ECHO!" She shouted her new name and made it echo throughout the fake city.

"...Miss Echo." Midsummer enjoyed the sound of it already. "Yes. This is good. But there is one thing you should know, miss Echo. We did not expect to find you here, which you probably already noticed. Echo, do you know anything about a Legacy Item?" Melyria had to try. "Legacy item? I don't know what that is.. Sorry." She bluntly replied. "You don't?" The Cister did not know how to take that news. "You're kidding me. You mean we came all this way, and there is nothing?" Alpha punched the wall out of anger. "That's not helping, Alpha. We can still.."

Before Melyria could discuss matters further, she and everyone else felt the pulse. "Ezra." The energy pulse that hit the entire recreated cityscape. "He is here?" Alpha grunted. "We need to go back to the entrance." Melyria disappeared into the microscopic scale yet again and flew away like a glowing firefly. "Do we even know the way out? Cherry did not look forward to traversing three separate cities the busy city streets. "I have the whole place mapped out." The unseen baron claimed as he summoned his Borreload Dragon. "Just follow this, and anyone else we might see along the way, will be fine." The dragon started moving, obeying Hydra's every direction.

"So, I guess I am really leaving." Echo sighed. "Is that alright with you?" Void detected a few reservations. "Of course. But.. I wish I could say goodbye to my real friend. He might miss me, if he ever comes back." Echo walked up to a random cage and let a red panda lick her finger. She could say farewell to her animal friends or the barely programmed cityfolk. But their responses would be hollow. "But I don't want to stay anymore. So... take me away."

...

Many meetings took place all at once, spurred on by the arrival of Millennium. "Over there! They have.. wings?" Zettai saw them fly overhead, in between the skyscrapers. Ezra floated on his own power, and other millennium duelists like Ulysses were carried by duelists with wings like angels or dragons. They did not pay any attention to the heroes below. They went after a certain duelist alone.

"It is you." Vitruvic looked up, when the lance wielder finally located him. "Ezra.." Therese was still with him as well, to her own misfortune. The duel they conducted ended with her loss. But these new duelists arrived just before the champion could act upon his victory. "Yes, it is he. And you are the first champion." Ulysses spoke as he, Ezra and his associates landed on the pavement. "Your attack on the admin sector was just a feint. And now you have come for the real prize. Are you going to challenge me?" Vitruvic reshuffled his cards in preparation for the next duel. "Actually I am feeling up for the task myself, champion! I already took one of you down!" Ulysses stepped forward instead, to the opponent's displeasure. "Again you allow others to duel for you?" He shook his head. "We would all sacrifice ourselves for our deliverer!" Another millennium duelist proclaimed. "So you say."

"...?" At that point Vitruvic noticed Zettai's group approaching from the west. "More of them?" Feeling increasingly outnumbered the champion activated his dueldisk's communicator. "Dyzanthium. What is your status?" He could still call for back-up. "I am sorry, the me that dueled Void did not succeed. We cannot help you anymore." But her reply revealed that he stood alone. "Tch." Even worse; since she had failed to stop Melyria's group, they would undoubtedly converge on this spot as well. He might have been the champion, but even He could not fight all these duelists by himself.

"Yo, Therese! Long time no see!" Blanche shouted,. when she and the others showed up. "Indeed. I wish we met under better circumstances." She was happy to see them again as well. "What the hell happened to you after V's place blew up?" Bionis shouted, wondering if she associated herself with Millennium now. "Void saved me and brought me to them. But.." The witch duelist hesitated to finish the story. Because if the champions were listening to everything, her brother would definitely be. "You helped them." Vitruvic brought it up anyway. "I had no choice!" She insisted.

"That's true. She could either give us her information, or Ezra here would banish her from the network." Ulysses, picking up on the mood, made an attempt to placate the champion. It did not take. "Even so, she has people to answer too." Vitruvic grabbed her by the arm.

"Hey! What's the big idea, pal?" Donna yelled, feeling the urge to clock him in a duel just for laying a hand on the woman. "No. Do not try to stop him." Only for Therese to shoot her down. "I wont have anyone else lose because of my brothers plans. I will have to talk some sense into him myself." She would go with the champion, but only because she wanted too. "He will see about that." Vitruvic did not wait for any further confirmation. He only checked to verify that Dyzanthium had listened to him and logged off. And then he logged off himself, taking Therese with her. They would end up in different places, but they would not be in the network anymore.

"That should have gone better." Sundown grumbled. They still had another set of opponents to deal with now.

"Void! Crescent!" But luck would have its way. Or so they thought, when two groups of duelists converged on the same city square and brought some old friends with them. "What are you.." Neo, the one who loudly welcomed them, had to temper himself when he realized they were still 'with' Millennium. Crescent arrived on the spot along with Victor, while Void brought the whole band of Millennium duelists with him.

"Everyone.." Crescent reacted with mild surprise, while Void kept himself tense and quiet. "So you reunite at last." Ezra was watching, always watching.

"Crescent! How did they treat you?! Did they hurt you?" Donna shouted, wanting to help her. "They.. did nothing to me. They helped me. They helped save Wagner, they are not bad people." But they did not see eye to eye. **"**I heard about that. But that doesn't mean you owe them! You don't have to stay with them anymore! You can't trust them!" The wrestler was not ready to give up on her yet. "Trust us? How about you think about trusting Exeter!?" Alpha roared back at her. "Look around you!? Does this look like the work of a company you want to help? We are the good ones, not them!" The sight of the recreated city made it hard to disagree with him. "I am sorry, Donna. I do not want to leave." And in the end the weather duelist stayed put.

"Yeah? What about you Void?" Bionis ignored Midsummer, considering him a lost cause already. Instead he glared at the other silent associate. "...Why are you here?" He finally answered with a question of his own. "We asked first!" The ritual duelist snarled. "I think he will just give us the same answer, Bionis." Blanche quickly stepped in, wishing she could say something to Void herself. But she could see it in his eyes, Void did not want to leave yet. _"Oh you big dope."_

"Everything that needed to be said, has been said." And Ezra did not have time for a prolonged argument. "Cherry. Did you find It?" They came here with one purpose in mind. Ah. Uhm..." She looked away, unable to give him the disappointing news. "We did not find a chalice anywhere. Or any item of similar nature. Not on our way in or the way out." He had to hear the bad news from Melyria, who fluttered next to his skeletal face. "Nothing?" Genuine astonishment escaped his jaws. "Yeah, we didn't see anything either. And I even checked the trash bins." Victor delivered a similarly saddening report. Of course he had no clue what to look for specifically. "But the voice of the creator led us here... How could this happen?" For once the wielder of the lance felt it, a tiny sliver of distress.

"But we did find something!" Midsummer cried out. "You did?" Sundown interrupted. "Would that happen to be your new friend?" He spotted at the new girl and picked up on odd vibes. "Her? She is just another duelist who joined our cause. Nobody special." Alpha gave a swift lie, causing Midsummer to visibly scowl at him.

"Is that so? Crescent? Have you seen this girl before?" So the gunslinger turned to someone he did not see lie often. "What? I.." Crescent stammered, feeling pressured since she never did get a proper introduction to Echo herself. "You do not have to answer that." Cherry tried to defend her. "I think she does. I think all of you do. Do you wanna know why we are here? Because or friend Mister Static said something dangerous was lurking here! And maybe you found it." He did not let up and pointed a finger straight at Echo. "Me? But I am just miss Echo."

"And since when do we listen to him? Since when do you trust Static, Sundown?" Out of nowhere, the baron Hydra reappeared just to chide Sundown. "Huh, Baron Schwarzwald?" Donna blinked twice. "Yeah he can turn invisible. Long story." Blanche shook her head, the situation started to become chaotic. "Hydra. It's not that we trust him. It's that he seemed scared of something. And if he is scared, I kinda am too. I don't know why he would be scared of her though." As far as she could tell, Echo looked like just another girl. Though she did not have a dueldisk for some reason. "I can just feel it. Something is wrong with her." The musketeer duelist could not explain why, it just was.

"Well I am pretty special. I think? But you feel pretty special too. Nothing like the other guys So maybe that's why." The girl giggled and giddily pointed right back at Sundown. "Me? What are you talking about?" Sundown let out a panicked and enraged howl. "I am just like everyone else!"

"She is just trying to sow seeds of dissent!" Zettai did not like this new person already. "Do not talk to them. The only language they understand is that of confrontation!" She activated her dueldisk and prepared to face them. This is what she came to do, what they all had to be prepared to do. "Bring it on ace." Alpha and the other millennium duelists were equally prepared to fight back. They outnumbered the heroes and they feared nothing.

"No. There is no point." But Ezra waved it off, both sides. "What!?" Zettai and Alpha cried out in the same breath. "We will not fight for a place that has nothing left to offer. Nor will we risk more losses. The diversion cost us some already." He raised the lance. "You're not serious! We're retreating again!?" The Salamangreat duelist objected, but the light of the lance forced him to teleport out just like everyone else. One after the other disappeared from the streets. "You cowards!" Zettai attempted to straight up shoot Ezra down with a blast from her cannon, but the energy passed through his ghostly body and slammed into a building instead. "The time for our final reckoning will come. But not today." He disappeared last, taking everyone with him.. including Echo.

"Don't leave! What did you mean! What is it about me? Answer me!" Sundown and the heroes were left behind, with more riddles than ever.

(To Be Continued in Line 082: Self-Propagating Terror)


	82. Self-Propagating Terror

**Line 082: ****Self-Propagating Terror**

"What did he mean? Why is wrong with Sundown?" Neo could not help himself, the questions nagged at him in much the same way it did everyone. "Nothing. Focus on the task at hand." Zettai did not want to let it distract her, and even she found it difficult. "But isn't it obvious? This is what Static was talking about, the one who is not like us. The one who is artificial!" And Bionis had no desire to stay quiet about it either.

"Shut up.." But of course, it struck the gunslinger the hardest of all. That strange girl, why did he feel so disturbed by her? Why did none of the others. "Neo. You better not be recording this!" He felt trapped and surrounded. "I wasn't. Honest. I mean I tried too, but this place wont let me." The cyber-duelist hurriedly told him. None of his special programs were workable in this recreated reality.

"Come on. That was all just slander. Zettai is right, they are trying to break us apart." Donna declared to herself and to everyone else. She would not hear any more of it. "Yeah I mean. Of course Sundown is like us. You got your own bed to go back too, your own family and all that jazz." Blanche also did not see any point in suspecting Sundown over anything. He had never given them a reason to think otherwise. "..." Until now. "Sundown?" The musket duelist did not respond, he stared down at the road lost in his own thoughts. Sundown Mephistar gave himself reason to think otherwise.

"...No." And he gave himself reason to be affraid. "No! It's not true! Back off!" He lashed out and quickjumped away in the same instance. "Sundown! Wait! Ahhh crap.."

"This is getting nuts." Neo shook his head. "We will put a stop to this madness. I will inspect this place, you return to Static. If he knows the truth about Sundown, force it out of him!" Zettai ordered. "I guess we can give it a shot." Blanche shrugged. "We should also ask him what we are supposed to look for. Maybe it was that strange girl after all." In that case they would already be too late to stop it from breaking free. "You think so? Just how bad can she be?" Neo wondered.

...

"Ah!" Immediately upon arriving to Millennium's field of flowers, having been teleported to it along with the rest of Ezra's group, Echo dropped to the ground. "My lady? What ails you?" Midsummer quickly rushed to her aid. "I.. I don't know. The air suddenly felt so heavy, and my legs.. tired." She rubbed the lower half of her dress. "This whole place feels wrong. Like I am walking on Venus. If that makes sense." She laughed in a slightly uneven way. "Can you get up?" Void asked. "I really don't think I can." She sighed.

"Maybe this girl was not meant to leave the city?" A slightly annoyed Victor wondered. "Maybe. But she will adjust to her new environment in due time. As did we all. But for now." Ezra walked forward, placed his hand in front of her and conjured a wheelchair for the lady. "While you are here, you can use this." He helped her get inside the contraption. "Ooh. Thank you!"

"Void. Who is this?" Crescent raised her voice, feeling that she could use an explanation. "Oh. Uhm. This is.. miss Echo. We found her in the simulated city." He started to give one. "_I_ found her." With Alpha interjecting.

"Yeah Yeah, my name is Echo now. Nice to meet you! Are you another friend of Midsummer? He said he had a lot of them. But I don't know why they couldn't come along with us. Are you guys mad at each other?" The girl seemed awfully chipper despite her confusion. ".. My name is Crescent Aurora.. now. And our relationships are... complicated." She turned her icy glare towards Midsummer. "What did you tell her?" Clearly Midsummer had been spending some time with her already. "Nothing but the truth, believe me. I would not lie to a miracle." The nightmare duelist swore. "Aheehee. He keeps calling me that. But I don't know, I was just lucky. I don't remember why or how, but I am sure I will soon enough!"

"Hey mister Ezra!" The girl turned her wheelchair around. "Could you add a joystick to this? Or would that be too much?" She found her current controls rather stiff. "...Hm." Ezra actually chuckled and waved the lance around. The item visualized a joystick controller that would move the chair in every direction. "Yaaaaay." And she started racing through the flowers. "Come, miss Echo. Let me show you what this field can mean for you." Midsummer excitedly followed her, as he gave Crescent and Void one more smile. "...I do not like this." Crescent muttered.

"Be careful that you are not exerting yourself too much, Ezra." Melyria whispered into the ear of Ezra. "It was just a small manifestation and re-purposing of material. My strength is already returning.." The skullfaced man assured her. "You think this is a good idea though? She seems to be on the level, but we dont know what we are dealing with." Cherry voiced her suspicion while keeping a close watch of the nightmare/echo duo. "We do not. But I feel she can still lead us to the remaining items. There has to be a reason why our powers were limited in that realm." He replied loudly. "Yeah and where else are we gonna send her? We can't kick her out of the network. What would even happen to her?" Ulysses brought up a good point.

Void had thought about it himself. Where would she go? Where would they go? What would happen if Cherry, for instance, got banished from the virtual world after all? Would she be able to return? What if the network glitched out and something happened to their stored bodies? What if something happened to his own body right now? Just how long could those STHEREA barriers last? All these were questions that anyone could and should have asked. But he stayed quiet, as he started wondering something else. _"If the chalice was not there? How could Vitruvic capture us? And how did Melyria break us free?"_

"You feel? You mean you are not sure if she is connected to it at all?" Not everyone stayed quiet. "Alpha, what is it this time?" Cherry groaned as the fiery duelist uttered his latest complaint. "I just wanted to know... What our next plans were! Are we giving up on that place? Even if it doesn't have any Legacy Items hidden, we can't let Exeter keep it! What if they're planning to trap more people like Echo in there? How would they be able to tell the fake world from the real one?" His fears did not sound entirely unrealistic. But Millennium would not appreciate his timing. "Hydra has his proxy still inside the city, he is still searching for our sake. On the other hand I do not see you doing anything? Do you have better idea?" Ulysses also reached the end of his usually bottomless patience. "I already told you what I wanted to do! I will do it myself if I have to." Alpha insisted with a clenched fist.

"No." Ezra answered.

"No?" Alpha took a step back. "No, that is not it. There is something else you want to say." Ezra looked him right in the eyes. "Say it."

"I... Fine! You asked for it! I think you're a liar, Ezra!" Alpha spat the words out, to the shock of everyone.

"Did you get kicked in the head? What the hell makes you say that?" Cherry cursed back at him out of sheer outrage. "Think about it! He says he knows what he is doing! But does he really?! We are not one step closer to what he set out to do! The network still isn't ours and Exeter is still doing fine! Instead we went on this wild goose chase and lost one of our strongest allies. An Ally I did not even know we had! We could have done so much more with Sigment's help! And what did we get with his sacrifice? Not the chalice! Not the CTO's sister! We lost her! That place only had one of their prisoners! That's just a drop in the ocean. They wont care! Their plans are still going! And what are you going to do about it! Huh? Nothing! That's what! Still, I'm glad we found her. Not just for her sake, and I am sure you would rather have found your precious chalice. But also... because it means your power is not all that special. Exeter did the exact same thing! So why should we believe in you? Especially when you keep getting weak each time you over-use your lance! When you retreat every time!"

"You better back down, mate. You wont like where you are going." Ulysses gave him a single warning. "Back down? From you? You don't scare me! None of you do! But you see what I am getting at, don't you? Either the lance is not that all that cracked up its said to be. Or your boss cannot use it properly! Maybe Millennium needs a new leader!" If his ultimatum had not been made clear before, the activation of his dueldisk more than certainly did.

"You're gonna duel him? Now!? You have some nerve!" Cherry quickly rose to Ezra's defense. Yet he held her back with his bony hand. "Ezra? You're.." He would rise to the challenge himself. "If he believes that he can take advantage of my momentary weakness, he will learn just how foolish that dream was." His red eyes glared briefly at his tiny associate Melyria. She shrank down to an imperceptible size.

"Alpha, think about what you're trying to do here!" Void cried out. He got where Alpha was coming from, but he did not want to see him get hurt over it. "Stay out of this! I dont need your help. I never needed anyone's help!" Alpha ignited the very air around him. The flowers burned and flames spread around the two duelists.

"What is happening?" Such visible heat and tension did not escape the notice of other duelists, including Crescent. "He.. Alpha is going to duel Ezra. That idiot. He has no chance." Victor scoffed and folded his arms. He would at least enjoy a good trampling. "Ulysses. Tell the others not to interfere. But have them watch. They are about to see what happens to anyone who goes against the family." Ezra took the first turn, drawing four cards and a skill card. "Ha! Ulysses! You can tell everyone to watch and see how weak their savior really is! They don't have to worhsip him! They certainly don't have to fear him!" Alpha drew four cards and a skill card as well. "Everybody fears something." Ezra intoned. "No. Not me." Alpha retorted.

Ezra's LP: 8000 Alpha's LP: 8000 -TURN 01-

"Then show me... If you feel no terror, you can pass every crossroads." Ezra revealed the card; Danger! Jackalope. Afterwards it got shuffled back into his hand. "That old trick? I wont hesitate to gamble, Ezra!" The effect of any Danger! monster forced the opponent into a guessing game: choosing one of the cards in Ezra's hand. If Alpha could find Jackalope again, he would discard it. If not, Jackalope would be special summoned and the chosen card would be discarded instead while a new card would be drawn afterwards. "I have a 25 % shot!" Alpha pointed without hesitation, at the second card to the left. "Are you sure? You can choose again if you wish." Ezra chuckled. "Don't try to BS me! I already made my choice!" He yelled. "Very well. Then I... discard Danger! Nessie." He resolved Jackalope's effect by flipping a different monster around. "What!? But I was sure.." Danger! Nessie got discarded, whose effect allowed Ezra to claim a Danger! monster, another Jackalope, from his deck. At the same time the first Jackalope, the green rabbit with antlers, placed itself(3/500/2000) [Zone 5] on the field.

"You were? Did you think you could follow my movements?" Ezra let out a hollow laugh as he drew another card as a final result of Jackalope's effect. "Shall I be gentler this time?" Promptly Ezra activated another Danger! monster card; Danger! Thunderbird. Though the number of cards in his hand had stayed the same, the deliverer did shuffle the four cards slower than before. "Don't make fun of me! I know where it is! The middle right one!" Once more, Alpha made a hasty decision. One more his confidence betrayed him. "No!" The middle right card turned out to be the second Danger! Jackalope. "Your eyes are failing you, Alpha." Ezra activated the effects of both the special summoned Danger! Thunderbird(8/2800/2400) [Zone 2] and the discarded Jackalope. The former drew a new card, and the latter could special summon a new Danger! monster from the deck. Ezra manifested the red-eyed moth creature of the night: the terrifying Mothman(4/1800/400) [Zone 1].

From all viewpoints it looked like Ezra was simply playing around. "Knightmare Corruptor Iblee." Yet he did take this duel seriously, as he normal summoned the corrupted girl and carrier of the nightmare: Iblee(2/0/0) [Zone 4]. "No monsters besides link monsters can be summoned while I control this card. Therefor I Link summon Knightmare Phoenix!" Then two differently named monsters, Danger! Mothman and Danger! Thunderbird, became link materials that shot upwards into the sky. The dark clouds parted to reveal a moon as bright as blood. The black and red-feathered phoenix(LINK 2/1900) {Up/Left} [Extra Zone 1] cast its shadow down on the fields as it descended in that moons crimson light.

"So you have finally used some of your actual power eh? If it even _has_ power!" Alpha scoffed. "You cannot deny what exists before your very eyes. These were given to me by the creator. These are the proof that his visions were meant for me. But you have only seen mere glimpses. You have yet to feel the full horror... I activate the field spell, World Legacy Nightmare!" Ezra took his opponent, and his witnesses, into the realm of nightmares. Maddening shapes and discolored nausea-inducing colors flooded the already gloomy night sky. And the charred flowers withered while the the earth itself dried out. "!?" Finally Void could see the world Ezra lived in, as his great black throne and tower loomed over the duelists.

"As long as I control this card, my co-linked monsters take no damage." Ezra explained. "Co-linked? But you cannot link any monster!" The Phoenix's arrows did not point down after all. "I was not finished, Alpha. The other effect of the Nightmare allows me to move one Knightmare to a main zone on my field." Ezra clenched his hand and forced the Phoenix [Zone 2] to fly one row down. "And now, I can give my extra zone.. to the Knightmare Mermaid!" Iblee opened up a smaller link circuit and created the glass-bodied mermaid(1000/LINK 1) {Up} [Extra Zone 1]. Its arrow did point down and created a mutual link between herself and Knightmare Phoenix. And this the chain would begin. "Monsters that are not co-linked lose 1000 attackpoints as long as the Knightmare Mermaid persists. And when she is link summoned, I can special summon one Knightmare monster from my deck by discarding a card from my hand! And since she is co-linked, she shall draw a new card in exchange for that discarded monster!"

The deliverer discarded Danger! Tsuchinoko, special summoned a second Knightmare Corruptor Iblee(2/0/0) [Zone 1] and drew a new card all at once. "Come, Tsuchinoko!" Danger! Tsuchinoko, the mythical pink snake creature(3/300/0) [Zone 4], could also special summon itself if it got discarded through any method. Its effect resolved before Iblee could appear on the field.

"He can link summon again.." Crescent softly stated to herself. "Knightmare Goblin!" Indeed, the Knightmare formed its next link in the chain with the secnd Knightmare Corruptor Iblee and Danger! Tsuchinoko as its materials. And a new face of the Knightmare clan revealed himself, submerging from a festering pool of slime; the hideous large-eyed and shield-wielding green goblin(1300/LINK 2) {Left/Right} [Zone 3]. "Knightmare Goblin allows for another normal summon by discarding a card from my hand. And with the blessing of Phoenix's co-linking, I can draw once more." The card of Danger! Chupacabra landed in the graveyard, while the deck relinquished a new card. "And again.." Crescent hispered as the Chupacabra answered its discard by special summoning a different Danger! monster from that graveyard. Ezra used that effect to revive Nessie the fabled Loch Ness seaserpent(7/600/2800) [Zone 4]. "But if you summon something now, you wont be able to discard anything anymore." Crescent commented again, noting the deck's effectiveness while also realizing its limits.

"You are correct. But simple logic cannot always save a soul. Not a doomed one like his.. For him it is The Beginning of The End." Ezra activated the last card in his hand: Beginning of the End. "What!?" This news was no good for Alpha. The spell allowed a duelist to banish five of at least seven DARK monsters in the graveyard, and all the monsters in the grave so far belonged to the dark attribute. "Jackalope, Iblee, Thunderbird, Tsuchinoko, Mothman. These are the cards I banish." And in return, Ezra could make three new draws: giving a wholly new hand of cards to play with. "Link summon! Knightmare Cerberus!" The remaining Jackalope(0/2000) and Nessie fell back into the graveyard, tearing the earth itself apart to open a pit into a burning hellhole. Three beasts howled in the inferno: a burning three-headed hound(1600/LINK 2) {Left/Up} [Zone 4] with a spiked collar, armored claws and two of its faces covered in eyeless helmets. "And now I activate the spell, World Legacy Succession. To give a marked zone to one resurrected monster." Ezra declared his final move, special summoning Iblee(2/0/0) [Zone 5] one last time.

"Wait a second..." The field looked familiar to Void now, hauntingly similar to a field he once created himself. "What? You bastard.. You want to create a..!?" Alpha also came to understand what exactly Ezra had accomplished, and how he could never have stopped it. "I already have. Iblee is the material! I Link summon! Knightmare Mermaid!" He took his last non-link monster, a knightmare card, as a link material for another Knightmare Mermaid. And that crystalline entity summoned herself(1000/LINK 1) {Down} [Extra Zone 2] to the zone marked by Knightmare Cerberus, who co-linked with Goblin, Phoenix and the Mermaid at the other end. "Is this also not something to fear? Alpha of the Salamangreat?" The wielder of the lance did in one turn, what took someone like Void a whole duel to create.

"An Extra Link isn't absolute! I can break out of it!" Alpha yelled in defiance. "You neglected one aspect of this nightmare, Alpha. When the Corruptor Iblee is used as a link material, she can be summoned to my opponents field." The possessed girl(2/0/0) [Zone 2] appeared right in front of the flame-haired duelist. "She can what?" Iblee's aura spread across his entire field, covering every zone with darkgreen spectral flames. "Now he cant special summon anything at all..." Void shuddered with a respectful sense of dread. Iblee's effect and the extra link locked Alpha down from all angles. "And he cannot destroy the link monsters either, right?" Victor nodded. Both Mermaids would drain 2000 attackpoints from all of his monsters. Meanwhile Knightmare Phoenix, Cerberus and Goblin respectively made all co-linked monsters immune to battle destruction, effect destruction and targeting effects. "Now there is power..." Victor made an impressed noise.

"Will you struggle? Or will you give in? Those are the only choices left for you to make, Alpha." Ezra placed two trap cards face down and passed the turn to the cornered duelist.

-TURN 02-

"I.. I will not lose to this! You are not invincible!" Alpha drew his card and smirked. "There is one card that I can still special summon. And one way I can special summon it! I sacrifice Iblee!" The Corruptor disappeared from the field, drawing gasps from the crowd. "Oh? Oh! A tribute summon, of course!" In her place the blue-winged flame parrot Salamangreat Parro(5/2000/1000) [Zone 3] appeared and immediately it(0/1000) got depowered by the Mermaids. "That gets rid of Iblee! Easy! Now I'll get rid of your link monster too. With this!" He activated a spell from his hand, revealing it with an intense fury. "Fusion of Fire! I can fuse a Salamangreat monster with materials from my hand, and either side of the field!" The winds of fire picked up, swirling around him and Ezra. "I will take a Salamangreat and a link monster! To fusion summon Salamangreat Violet Chimera!" The fusion spell burned away the Cerberus-linked Knightmare Mermaid and the Salamangreat Foxy in Alpha's hand, clearing the extra zone for his fused chimera.

"He used his link monster!?" "Incredible. He punched through." Even Cherry and Ulysses could not hide their amazement. The zone that the knightmares claimed now belonged to the cybernetic purple chimera(8/2800/2000) [Extra Zone 2], with wings of blue flames, bladed lance-like limbs, a draconic body and a lions head attached to its left arm.

"Heh. Maybe you should be affraid now, Ezra! Violet Chimera gains half the attackpower of his fusion materials!" The fused beast took 500 attackpoints from both the Mermaid and Foxy, though it lost those again to the other Knightmare Mermaid. "And you might not take damage yet, but I can change that right now! I special summon Salamangreat Foxy from my graveyard, when I discard another Salamangreat... and destroy one of your spells!" The cyber-blue and flame-tailed fox(3/1000/1200) [Zone 4] set the whole field on fire, to cremate the World Legacy Nightmare. "..." Ezra watched his field spell turn to ashes, leaving his Knightmares open to battle damage. "Thi will just be the start. Chimera.. attack."

"You have cleared out the nightmare, but that just means you are back in reality. Where true danger resides." Ezra unveiled his first trap: Danger! Zone. "I draw three cards, and discard two. One of them.. must be one of the Dangers." He threw two monsters away, one of them... Danger! Bigfoot. "!?" The discarded bigfooted creature would destroy a single monster on his field. "Nice try! But you made me too powerful for that, Ezra!" Alpha smirked and activated his skill: the card they gave him. "Legacy of Millennium! You can't hurt my monsters anymore!" He would paint the fused chimera into a golden god, to protect it from any type of destruction.

"Hey Alpha, did you really think we would give people that skill if we didn't have countermeasures for it!" Ulysses laughed out loud. "What did you say?" Alpha flinched in the second it took for his enemy, to nullify his skill... "Judgment of Millennium." ... with a skill card of his own.

_Judgment of Millennium, Skill Card  
__Until the end of the turn, the activation and effects of cards activated on your field cannot be negated.  
__Also, negate any card's effect that would __make your opponent's card become unaffected by other card effects or unable to be destroyed._

"You! You knew all along?" The Judgment of Millennium negated the Legacy of Millennium, and gave Bigfoot a clear path to his victim. The hairy beast grabbed the Violet Chimera by the lanced arm and pulled it down into the graveyard. "They made a skill specifically to counter traitors.." Void shuddered. He would have faced the same fate if he ever dared to use the Legacy against its creator. "Yes, we did. And yes I knew. I knew the doubt deeply rooted in your mind, Alpha. I gave you a chance to evolve, but you refused. You defied the voice of creation and denied yourself paradise. This family has no more need for you.."

...

Darkness. He was not used to darkness. Ever since He joined Millennium, he only knew light. He saw light. He breathed light. He WAS Light. But not anymore. What did he see now? Just charred arms and black skin. What did he smell? Burnt air. What did he touch? A glass wall prison. Where was he? Who was he now? "Prospero." His name. That was his name. What happened to him? He destroyed himself. He gave himself too much energy to break the lair of his enemy, of Vigionair. After that he lost consciousness. He lost his life too, he thought. Yet he survived. At what cost? He did not want to be like this, trapped and powerless. He would rather have ended his own existence than become normal again. Who put him here, who reconstructed his avatar? Who kept his mind connected? Who?

"Ah you are awake." A womans voice pierced the darkness. "I must say, it took quite some time to gather all your parts and reassemble them. But I think I did a good job. Do you think so as well?" She came closer, touching the glass with her hand. "Scarlet.." The woman saved her, the red doctor with her face buried behind a gasmask. "One and the same. now, Prospero. I helped you.. so maybe. You can help me?"

(To Be Continued in Line 083: Revealed with Fire)

**New Cards used by Ezra  
**_JUDGMENT OF MILLENNIUM_

-  
Danger! Jackalope  
Danger! Mothman

-  
Knightmare Goblin  
Knightmare Cerberus

-  
World Legacy Nightmare  
Beginning of the End

-  
Danger! Zone

**New Cards used by Alpha  
**_LEGACY OF MILLENNIUM_

-  
Salamangreat Violet Chimera

-  
Fusion of Fire


	83. Revealed with Fire

**Line 083: Revealed with Fire**

"Sir, Sigment has not yet been located. But they did find your sister. Miss Therese has now been escorted to the fifth level. Shall I tell her you are coming?" Walter the always dutiful AI reported, as his master looked away. "You may not, let her reflect on her own transgressions for a while. And do not call her my sister." Evert Hansen had other things on his head. "My apologies sir, I went beyond my station. I shall do as you ordered." The holographic Walter bowed formally and blipped out of existence, leaving his master to observe the screen in front of him.

_"One by one, they are unraveling the secret."_ Everything that happened inside of that false city got recorded by the champions, including the scene of Therese's capture. Those duelists for hire were at least good for something. _"What did they find in there?"_ Fortunately Millennium were still nowhere close to finding the Chalice. _"That girl..?"_ But that girl, that strange blue-haired girl. She seemed like more than another millennium member, but why did he think that?

"No.. It's her! That bastard, he saved her after all!"

...

"Hi! My name is Echo! What's your name?" The girl made it her mission to get to know everyone inside of this whole new world. "...Himiko. Yoro-Himiko." Some being more receptive to her overt friendliness than others. "And I am Lorelei! Welcome to my castle! I am glad you picked mine first! Kremlore over there made his own castle with dragon statues and bleh. He's just jealous because mine is made of gold and has a drawbridge, so there!" The fairytale princess took a liking to her at least. "Ah, such cool names! Maybe I should get a different one!?"

"You name is fine as it is..." Of course, wherever Echo went, Midsummer would be there. "Himiko. I am ashamed of myself, I failed to greet you as you entered our fold. Can you ever forgive me?" And his charms were not very effective on the zombie princess either. "My stay here is for a different reason than yours I am sure, Midsummer." She had not even counted on him showing up in paradise. "Is he your friend, miss Echo?" She asked the girl in the wheelchair. "He is!" Echo exclaimed. "We are all friends here. But I am if anything, an admirer. Misstress Himiko, and Lorelei. You are now witness to a miracle. Echo is the first human to have crossed over into the network, the first digital soul." Midsummer just could not stay silent about her. "A Soul? You mean like.. she was born here!?"

"Ah. No. Not exactly. I am pretty sure I was like you once, a normal girl." Echo raised the tip of her finger to her chin and started to think back. "I had my own room, my own family, my own friends. But then something bad happened. And somebody put me in here to save me. That was so long ago though.. I still don't remember everything." She knocked the side of her head softly, just to see if it could knock anything back into place. "Fascinating." Himiko's expression changed to one of concern. "You must be someone important to have earned such a privilege. A friend or a relative of a person who is deeply connected to the creation of STHEREA. Or rather.. the network. It must have existed before it even became a dueling realm. But for what purpose?" She could not help but compare this girl to herself, wondering if her own mother and father would have done the same for her. With their means and methods, they at the very least could. "I would be very interested to meet this man that saved you.."

"Hey! What's going on over there?" Echo suddenly jerked her hand to the left, to point at the explosion of fire happening in the distant fields. "Oh that's probably a duel." Himiko mumbled. "A duel?! Can I see!?" Echo excitedly look at Midsummer for permission. "That might not be the best idea. Ezra is dueling, and it can get scary when he fights." Lorelei stated apprehensively. The area looked dark and moody from afar. "She may be right, Echo. Not all duels are fun and games. Some are for fighting." Midsummer nodded his head slowly. "Fighting? But why would you fight? Isn't everyone Ezra's friend too?"

...

Alpha's LP: 8000 Ezra's LP: 8000

The Knightmare sequence. Alpha found a way to break it once. Of the five link monsters, his fusion removed one Knightmare Mermaid. All that remained were the other Knightmare Mermaid(1000/LINK 1) {Down} [Extra Zone 1], Knightmare Phoenix(1900/LINK 2) {Down/Right} [Zone 2], Knightmare Goblin(1300/LINK 2) {Left/Right}and Knightmare Cerberus(1600/LINK 2) {Left/Up} [Zone 4]. Yet it came at the cost of losing his own monster, because his failsafe turned out to have its own escape clause. "The Legacy of Millennium and Judgment of Millennium. Did Ezra make both of them?" Crescent wondered. "Of course. If he has the power to reshape the world. He has the power to make the cards he wants to have." Cherry said with a grin. She owed many victories to his ability. "If that's the case. Why not just print an instant win card?" Victor snorted. Considering the skills used by Exeter's CTO, it would be beyond the realm of possibility.

"Because, Victor, that would defy the balance set forth by the creator. Unfair advantages are not how one proves their worthiness to the Legacy Items." Ezra overheard and gave his bold response. "Unfair? Nothing about the way you duel is fair!" Infuriating his opponent all the more. "Mark my words. You are cheating somehow! I know what I saw! Nobody has that much luck with Danger monsters! Everything you have made is just an illusion right? The mind makes it real and all that? But is this paradise even going to last if you are not around? What even is real anymore?"

"What you see now is real enough." Ezra's opponent only controlled the depowered Salamangreat Foxy(3/0/1200) [Zone 4] and Salamangreat Parro(5/1000/1000) [Zone 3]. He could not reject that reality. Even if he wanted to attack, he could not destroy any co-linked monsters while Knightmare Phoenix lived. "I see what I want to see... Since I didn't use Falco's first effect this turn, I can activate its second effect!" Alpha resummoned the steelwinged fire falcon(4/200/1600) [Zone 2] from his graveyard by returning a Salamangreat, Parro, to his hand. "I set one card." Foxy and Falco would defend him, while a face-down trap would help him for the next turn. "And.. end my turn!"

-TURN 03-

"The truth. What is the truth? The truth is greater than what you know and what you want to know. You could have been a great part of a greater whole. But you remained shackled to your past." The undead face of the deliverer cast its burning gaze at the already fired up duelist. "There is no future for you. Link summon! Knightmare Gryphon!" He shouted out loud, as the Phoenix and Cerberus collided in an infernal sea.

"A link 4?" Just when Void thought he had seen the limits of Ezra's deck, he surpassed them. Not even The Crown went this high up. The two differently named Knightmare monsters turned into a creature of mythology and darkness: a four-winged purple griffin(2500/LINK 4) {Left/Up/Down/Right} [Zone 2] with a dark feathered crown and the symbol of the moon nailed across its eyes. Stars and the night itself covered the sky in the wake of its flight. "Now unlinked special summoned monsters cannot use their effects! And when the Gryphon is summoned, I can discard one card to reset one spell or trap from my graveyard! Return, World Legacy Succession!" Ezra placed the spell face down by discarding a random monster. It seemed though that Gryphon's targets could not be used again in the same turn. And since the Gryphon formed a mutual link with Knightmare Goblin, Ezra could also draw a card to replace the one he lost.

"And the card that was discarded, returns to life now! I activate Consolation Prize!" Ezra unveiled his other face-down trap, a card that could use to bring back a monster that got discarded. The trap revived Danger! Mothman(4/800/400) [Zone 1] in this instance. "And that is not all that can be brought back from the shadows. Dark Eruption! Claim the Knightmare Corruptor for me!" With a spell that added any 1500 attackpoints or less DARK monster, Iblee the corrupted one found her way back in the Knightmare's hands. And her infestation would spread deeply, once Ezra normal summoned her (2/0/0) [Zone 5] to his field. "Iblee special summons one link monster from the grave as well, to form a link with them. Yet their powers are sealed." The dark blight leaked into the last open monster zone, and slowly regrew the flesh of the Knightmare Phoenix as a pale black bird(0/LINK 2) [Zone 4].

"If you're trying to rebuild the extra link. You chose the wrong link monster to revive, Ezra!" Alpha scoffed.

"There are no wrong choices, Alpha. Not when I follow the dreams of the creator. Link summon!" Summarily, the Phoenix transformed into a singular link material and paired up with the Mothman for a new Link 2 Monster: another Knightmare Cerberus(1600/LINK 2) {Left/Up} [Zone 4]. "Knightmare Cerberus can destroy one monster on the field, while I discard and draw one new card!" Ezra threw away a random spell, in order to execute Salamangreat Foxy. The hellhound Ceberus made minced meat out of Alpha's fiery fox with its own terrible claws. "It would seem your current fear was the correct one, duelist Alpha." And finally, Ezra converted Knightmare Corruptor Iblee into the material needed to link summon his third and final Knightmare Mermaid(1000/LINK 1) {Down} [Extra Zone 2]. It appeared above the Cerberus and restarted the Extra link between herself, her other self and every Knightmare monster in between.

_"There is no escaping it."_ Void shuddered. How could any duelist ever hope to defeat Ezra? They would need a style that did not depend on the extra deck at all, something he could never adapt to.

"One remains... to save you from the Knightmare. Which means.." Ezra would do more than simply restore what Alpha tore down. The Knightmare Mermaid activated her effect to special summon a Knightmare monster from his deck, Ezra's very last Corruptor Iblee(2/0/0) [Zone 5]. "Knightmare Unicorn!" Her essence melded with Knightmare Goblin, liquefying into a golden pool that burned up like the sun. His new source of light stood at the center of the extra link: the golden-haired Unicorn(2200/LINK 3) {Left/Down/Right} [Zone 3] with ten blades as its wings. "None remain." Knightmare Unicorn discarded yet another card from his master's hand, giving him a new card to draw and a card to target.. and return to the hand. "Oh he is a goner now." Victor smirked. When the fear aura from the Unicorn seized Salamangreat Falco's body, it could only fly away from the field in terror. "Knightmare Gryphon. Your enemy is in front of you. Strike him down."

"You think you've won? The only one you are convincing with your speeches is you yourself!" Fortunately for him, Alpha still had some tricks left in the bag. "Since you attacked me, I can special summon Salamangreat Parro from my hand in attack mode! You cant stop monster effects that activate in my hand!" Alas, the cyberflame parrot(2000/1000) could not use its effects anymore once it landed on the field. So Parro(0/2000) immediately lost two thousand of his new points to the combined effects of both Knightmare Mermaids. He would but put at death's door anyway if these attacks continued. "And then I activate Salamangreat Gift!" He relied on his trap card to put a stop to that. "I can discard a Salamangreat monster, and send one more from my deck to the graveyard, to draw a new card!" By trading the previously bounced Salamangreat Falco, he could also send Salamangreat Jack Jaguar from the deck to the graveyard. And...he drew a different Salamangreat monster. "Heh. I activate Salamangreat Raccoon!"

Alpha's LP: 10500

"Oh?" Cherry gasped. The duelists lifepoints shot up due to sharp-fanged raccoon made from black steel. "Surprised? I can be lucky too! When two monsters fight, the Raccoon can make mine indestructible for the rest of the turn! And I gain lifepoints equal to the power of your attacking monster!" The Knightmare Gryphon finished its attack, raining shadowwaves down upon the enemy. That attack however failed to penetrate Salamangreat Parro's new armor of flames.

Alpha's LP: 8000

"After all of this, you still deny the power before you?" Ezra made a sound that resembled both coughing and laughter. "It will not disappear just because you cannot see." The remaining monsters unleashed their own attacks. The two Knightmare Mermaid fired beams of crystal light from their foreheads. The Cerberus breathed infernal flames and the Unicorn dropped golden lightning bombs. None of them could kill Salamangreat Parro either. "Ngh." But Alpha felt each hit, each impact. He grit his teeth and steadied his legs, just to push through the attacks. "I have denied it from the start. For a moment you had me fooled, Ezra. But now I wonder why should I believe in you?" He got his second wind, standing this close to the brink.

Alpha's LP: 2200

"Alpha!" Void could not keep quiet anymore. "His power has to be real! The Crown was real too, no matter how much you might think otherwise! And what about the abilities he gave you?" He did not blame Alpha for being suspicious, but the man started to sound delusional. "Heh. Don't kid yourself, Void. I know your thoughts are the same as mine! You were there when my new 'abilities' failed us in that fake city. Why would they do that? Because we weren't in STHEREA anymore? Then the network is bigger than we thought, bigger than HE thought. That is why he wanted to retreat, because he could do nothing in there. Or maybe he was not allowed too! In fact, everything he has done for me, can be done by Exeter as well. What makes him so different?"

"I am different because I know the creator's desires. He wants for me to rule his creation, not Exeter."

-TURN 04-

"Creator this creator that. How do I know he is not some fantasy story to get people to buy into your cult? Maybe you're just crazy, Ezra. Or maybe I can see his visions too, when I have that snazzy Lance in my hands! I activate Salamangreat Falco again!" The smaller blazing bird returned the other flying Salamangreat, Parro, back into Alpha's hand. And that allowed him to revive the falcon [Zone 3] and also to get a new discard for Gift of the Salamangreat. "I discard Salamangreat Parro and send Salamangreat Mole, and draw a new card!" The continuous trap opened several opportunities at once. Though Alpha focused only on what he drew. "Void. I can see it. The path to victory. Can you?"

"What are you going to do? Your set card?" He did notice that Alpha controlled another face-down spell. Because Salamangreat Falco returned a Salamangreat card to the field whenever it went into the graveyard itself. And... the Fusion of Fire did treat itself as a Salamangreat spell. "I knew you would say that. Heh! I activate Will of the Salamangreat, a continuous spell that can special summon one Salamangreat from my graveyard each turn!" Alpha moved to the next step: resurrecting Volet Chimera(8/800/2000). [Zone 2] "And I will use that Chimera as a fusion material for itself! A Reincarnation fusion summon!" So I activate Fusion of Fire!" The fusion spell claimed materials from both sides of the field: and merged the left Knightmare Mermaid with the reborn Chimera, to fusion summon the second incarnation of the purple Salamangreat(8/2800/2000) [Extra Zone 1] from the extra deck and linked it with Knightmare Gryphon. The fused Salamangreat(4700) gained half the attackpoints of its two materials, and it(3700) immediately lost one thousand to the curse of Knightmare Mermaid. Not that Alpha minded.

"Reincarnation? Is that.. a thing?" Victor raised an eyebrow.

"It is! His full power is now unleashed.. When a reincarnated Violet Chimera attacks, I can reduce his targets attackpoints to nothing! And when Violet Chimera fights something with altered attackpower, his own attackpoints will be doubled!" The Mermaid's curse barely mattered now, and would not matter at all after one more move. "I send Salamangreat Spinny from my hand to the graveyard! Which raises Violet Chimera's attackpoints by 500!" He could get it right back up to full with a spin from his cyberflame armadillo. Every single blade of Chimera's wings unleashed a loud jet of flames. "This is it, Ezra! No tricks this time! Violet Chimera! Attack Knightmare Unicorn!"

"In one turn." Double of 4200 would be 8400 attackpoints. Against 0 attackpoints it would be a killing blow. "Can he.. lose like this?" With no traps, it did not seem like Ezra could fight his way out of this. And Crescent realized.. she did not want this to happen. Few did. But Alpha did not need their approval. He pushed through and applied his monsters continuous effect on the golden unicorn (0 atk). "You had four targets. Yet you choose the Unicorn? Why is that, Alpha?" Ezra asked as he discarded a card from his hand. "What?" He activated a monster card... that took the form of his own lance. "Just like the World Crown card?!" Void gasped. Each item had its own in-game incarnation. "World Legacy - World Lance! When my link monster fights your monster, yours loses 3000 attackpoints!" The three-pronged cyberlance impaled the chest of the flying chimera(1200/2000). Its effect resolved before that of the attacker.

"Not in one turn?" Double of 1200 would only be 2400; not enough to decide anything. Salamangreat Violet Chimera(2400/2000) managed to destroy the Knightmare Unicorn with its raid of purple flames, but Ezra remained. "That you targeted the Unicorn, whose effect would have allowed me to draw three cards during my next draw phase, shows that you accounted for another turn. Preparation for ones own failure, is a fear of failure."

Ezra's LP: 5600

"Shut up! It's still my turn! And you cannot remake your extra link anymore!" Even if his opponent could remove the fusion monster from the extra zone, he could not possibly summon any more Knightmare Mermaids. The extra deck could only hold so many cards. "And how could you know what I am affraid of?" Alpha shouted as he activated another effect from his graveyard. Having successfully destroyed at least one monster activated the Salamangreat Raccoon from the graveyard and made that monster add itself back to Alpha's hand. "You think I care about losing your protection? Your 'power'? I don't have anything left to lose anymore, Ezra!" Salamangreat Spinny could also, since he already controlled a Salamangreat monster, special summon its curled armored body(3/0/1500) back from the graveyard in defense mode. If he wanted too, he could link summon right now. But that would eventually cost him his strongest monster, as Violet Chimera(2800/2000) reset his attackpoints to normal at the end of all that fighting. "So tell me, Ezra! Why should I be affraid?"

-TURN 05-

"Because your failure means everything. Not to you, but to those that were hurt by Exeter like Horace. But also to those you had to leave behind to start your holy mission. I have left people behind too, because they would never understand. And though they cannot see us now, that does not mean our defeat will not reach them in the end." Ezra drew his next card and combined his Knightmare Mermaid with the Knightmare Cerberus to link summon a new Knightmare Unicorn(2200/LINK 2) {Right/Down/Left} [Zone 1], to link it with the recharged Knightmare Gryphon(2500 atk). "You dont know what you're talking about!" Alpha protested feebly while the Unicorn's effect targeted Salamangreat Falco and returned it to Alpha's hand. "Margery Rivers and Norman Rivers were their names, weren't they? The ones you fear never seeing again..."

"YOU LEAVE THEM OUT OF THIS!" Alpha could not take it anymore. "I have to now, because you rejected the family. I would have been able to give them a new home. But now they will face Exeter's wrath because of you... Tycho Rivers." 'Tycho' could not take it anymore. "!?" He staggered in surprised. As did the other cyberse duelist. "You know his real name?" Void flinched. "I know the names of everyone who joins Millennium. Mister Adami. The names people choose to leave behind stay with us. But his name will stay with him."

Ezra activated two spells next, while Alpha still reeled from the shock. First came his prepared set card: World Legacy Succession. It revived and linked Danger! Bigfoot!(8/3000/0) [Zone 3] with the Gryphon. "Danger! Response Team! I return one Danger! monster from my field to my hand. To do the same to your monster: the Violet Chimera!" He made the earth rumble and split wide open. "My Chimera!? No!" Both the Bigfooted beast and the purple fusion fell into the depths and their cards landed back in their master's hands. "Yes. And I can also banish my Response Team spell card from my graveyard, to trade one card in my hand for one in the deck." Ezra threw away the Bigfoot card, which meant activating its effect. "My monsters!" The discarded Danger! beast targeted Salamangreat Spinny and crushed it. If there were no Salamangreat monsters, there was no chance for Salamangreat Raccoon's effect to come into play either. "This is the end, Tycho. Where you will reunite with your lost ones."

"No. Not to you. I cannot.. It's not you. I finally get it now! The illusions.. they're yours. But you did not start...Graaahhh!" A last second epiphany came to him, and got smothered by the attacks of Knightmare Gryphon. "Aahhh!" His screams started from the peak and only went down more and more, as they got replaced by whimpers. "I am sorry. I am sorry. I tried. I had to do it for them!" His avatar sank into the depths of the millennium field, and his cries were swallowed as well. Alpha.. was gone.

Alpha's LP: 0

"What did you do to him?" Crescent looked at the spot where he once stood with bewildered eyes. "One final world for him to visit. One more illusion, as he would call it. He will have his old dreams and worst fears haunt him from now until his departure from the physical world. He made his choice, and can never return to paradise." Ezra spoke without sympathy or regret. The duel meant nothing to him now. "But why did he say... Not you?" It meant more to those who watched. Some found themselves questioning Alpha's last words. "Not you. You are not the one... with the power." Including Void.

"What was that?" Cherry and Ulysses both snapped. "I.. I remembered something Static told us." Void came to the realization that he felt angered over what happened to Alpha after all. "That he was surprised that the Lance could do everything we told him too." And that made him rasher than usual. "Think hard about what you are trying to say, Void." Ulysses again interjected, while Ezra himself stayed unnervingly quiet. "That is what Alpha meant isn't it?" Void ignored that. "The lance could not do two things at once, turning virtual illusions to reality and separate avatars from their bodies at the same time. One of those powers.. is not yours. Is it!? It might not even be _a_ power!" He took it a step further even and pointed an accusing finger at the lance wielder himself. The whole family of Millennium had been stunned into silence.

Except _him_. "Is that the truth you cling too now, Crown slayer?" Ezra's voice turned deep and foreboding. "Tycho Rivers never saw beyond his own truths. A poor fool in the end. Do you want to go down his road?" He pointed his lance back at both Void, and Crescent as well. "I see a solution. If you doubt my power, the creators power, then you may taste it for yourself." Energy leaked from the lance and into their bodies. "What did you do to me?" Void hissed.

"I gave you a choice. I will give you a chance to return home, to look back at the world you grew up in and the world you have now. Then, either you are still here within the hour or outside STHEREA. And if the latter is true, you will never be able to return... No more delays, heroes. It is time to decide."

(To Be Continued in Line 084: Code Red)

**New Cards used by Ezra  
**World Legacy Lance  
Knightmare Gryphon

-  
Dark Eruption  
Danger! Response Team

-  
Consolation Prize

**New Cards used by Alpha the First Flame  
**Salamangreat Raccoon  
Salamangreat Spinny

-  
Will of the Salamangreat

-  
Gift of the Salamangreat


	84. Code Red

**Line 084: Code Red**

One hour to come to a decision: to choose between exile and a full membership. An hour was how long it would take for Ezra to recharge his powers. Crescent, Void and Himiko could talk with each other, though they were watched from afar and up close. Beset by curious minds "What does it mean? Why do you have to go?" Echo tried to understand, as for her it seemed like a big enough place for everyone. "They are not like us. Not like me, yet. They only took the first step, and still have a body to return too. I already accepted Ezra's gift, and am no longer tethered to my physical body. Just like you are now." Midsummer happily explained it for her, and for them. "Is that supposed to encourage us, Midsummer?" Void wondered. "You will not feel a thing, Void. Outside of absolute freedom."

"Thanks for the peptalk, Midsummer. But I want to decide this on my own. Seeing as how I have to make a choice now." Void muttered. It did not help that no matter where he went, someone like Lorelei or Midsummer would try to talk him into it.

"Perhaps he is bluffing. You said yourself that his powers could all be empty bravado." At least Yoro-Himiko could be counted upon to give an unbiased answer, though they were in the same boat right now. "I would not count on it. I really have no choice." He sighed, and earned a little resentment from the zombie princess. "You do have a choice, Void. Your prison is selfmade in the end." Compared to her, he had all the freedom in the world. "Sorry, I didn't mean to imply anything."

".. I still don't think they are wrong." Crescent finally spoke up. She did not even seemingly want to leave. "Are they? You saw what they did to Alpha." Even if Alpha provoked it he did not deserve such a fate; Void thought. "Then do you think they are lying? How else did they bring Wagner back?" The weather duelist did not know many truths, but she knew that one. She knew that they had saved Wagnerok. "I am not saying their power isn't real. We all know what the Crown did. I just feel like something sinister is at work here, something hidden underneath all their promises. Ezra definitely is not telling us everything, about how his illusions work.. and maybe even about who really is in charge of Millennium. Then again..Maybe they are still better than the other devils we know." The mystery of miss Echo and her virtual city still presented a very heinous picture of Exeter. And they could not fight a company like that on their own. If he turned back on Millennium now, he could also add Alpha to the list of people he let down.

"Hey?!" The tell-tale rumblings of a new arrival shook the network, catching the attention of the heroes and also the current overseers of the field. "Another? Now?" Cherry and Ulysses both approached the one who teleported in with a crimson flash By now everyone on STHEREA had either already been scared off of the network or joined them, so they were curious to see who it could be. "A good central standard time morning to you all." The doctor herself came calling: Scarlet emerged from her bloodred barrier.

"You!" A mob of duelists came to surround her, with the heroes lining the edge of the crowd. "Good morning. Or is that concept no longer appropriate for you? Either way, let me introduce myself to the class. My name is Scarlet Fever." Scarlet gazed at them all with her haunting red-goggled mask, eagerly absorbing data. "And this must be the Paradise I have heard so much about. Is this only the first state?" She noticed the golden castle in the distance, but not much else. So she turned towards the girl in the wheelchair. "And you must be miss Echo. The one I have heard so much about. A consciousness completely recreated with network elements, a neural network powered by itself. You are a work of art, my dear."

"Thank you? Uhm.. are you a friend too?" Echo herself saw nothing wrong with her, but did notice the creeped out vibe everyone else got from her. "Hey, what gives you the right to waltz in here and scan everything with that mask of yours! Take it off!" Cherry also stepped out of the crowd to meet this intruder. "Ah, Cherry Anise. Another fascinating example of a mind integrated into the system." Scarlet brushed her demands off and simply analyzed the Trickstar duelist like she did everyone else. "I wish I could study you all. But I simply lack the time and space. And that is not what I came here for."

"Then what did you come here for? Not to apologize I am sure." Void also pushed his way through to talk to the woman. How many days had it been since their last duel? Not enough to make him forget or forgive. "Void. Everything I wanted to say, was already said during our last meeting. So you are right, I wouldn't waste your time with sentiment. But you are also right, miss Echo. I am a friend, a friend of everyone. I came here to help you, Cherry. You and the rest of Millennium." She pulled her mask to the side of her head and stared at everyone with her own eyes. "Since your world is clearly incomplete." She smirked. "Incomplete?" Cherry hissed. "Yes. Take that castle for instance. It clearly is just a 3D structure, coated with a perceptive filter that makes it appear as if it were golden. A fascinating blend of assets and optical deception, if I do say so myself. I imagine the same trick is employed to hide most of you, including your absentee leader. Not even my scanners can find him. And I so would like to see him.."

"So that is it? You are going to betray us fully?" Void scolded the doctor. "Perhaps this is part of her plan. Like that stunt Midsummer pulled." Himiko said, keeping her voice low. Even so, Scarlet picked up on the noise. "I am genuine with my intentions, lady Yoro-Himiko. I do not lie, ever. Yet betrayal is such an ugly word. And incorrect too. It can't be betrayal, because we are not enemies. The enemy is Exeter. Some of you already know this." She gave a quick nod to Crescent and turned back to Void, sensing he was about to say his own piece. "We cannot trust you. You have no loyalty to anyone but yourself." And he did say it, with clenched fists. "You should really let go off your grudges, Void. What happened, happened. We should build a better future from here on in."

"Maybe or maybe not. But Void has a point, there is no way we can let someone like you in our family. And while Ezra is gone, I have final say." Cherry unfolded her guitar to transform it into its dueldisk mode. "Dont you mean we?" Ulysses interjected. "Not now, Uly. I am taking care of this. Doctor Scarlet Fever, you wont be getting in. Not unless you defeat me! And here's a hint, you wont!" She drew five cards, fully intending to take the first turn. "Cherry, I know you feel like you let Ezra down. But he wouldn't want you to risk this! We already lost Prospero..." Ulysses tried one more time to stop her, before it was too late. "Don't psycho-analyze me! I know her better than you! We do not need her! We do not need you, Scarlet."

"Ugh." Though Void did agree with Cherry, he did not think it would result in a fight. "Oh, I finally get to see a duel after all!" At least Echo sounded pleased with this development. "Indeed this should be interesting. I have always enjoyed watching the doctor work." Midsummer nodded his masked head.

Cherry's LP: 8000 Scarlet's LP: 8000 -TURN 01-

"Her Work? Heehee! She wont even get a turn! Welcome to my room of terrors, doctor!" Scarlet struck the cords of her guitar dueldisk and set the stage twice over. "Dark Room of Nightmare! From now on, each time you take effect damage, you can add another 300 to the top!" First the walls around them turned into those of a darkly lit torture dungeon, making Scarlet think back to her own private chambers in fact. They clashed horribly with the following field spell however. "Trickstar Light Stage! I can add a Trickstar monster to my hand when this card activates! And each time my Trickstars hurt you, you can add 200 points of damage on top of that too!" Cherry's smile widened and her hand reached into the deck to find Trickstar Lilybell.

"You do not have to teach me, lady Anise. I already know every card. Now you are going to summon your monsters, arent you?" Lilybell(2/800/2000) [Zone 2] could be special summoned whenever it entered a players hand outside of being drawn.

"Well you are not my teacher either, and this is my turn. So you can just hang tight and watch!" Cherry normal summoned a Trickstar as well, a pixie(1/100/0) [Zone 1] with a small tophat on her short bubbly pink hair and a red dress with a black flower skirt. "Trickstar Nightshade, Trickstar Lilybell! Hit it! Link summon Trickstar Holly Angel!" The two fairies flew off into the linking circuit, becoming the guardian angel in blue: Trickstar Holly(2000/LINK 2) {Downleft/Downright} "Now this is where the fun begins! You see, Holly Angel inflicts 200 points of damage if I summon a Trickstar to her link." Cherry giggled greedily, and placed Trickstar Nightshade [Zone 1] back on the field. "And Nightshade can be summoned back to the field if she is used to link summon a Trickstar!" Though Nightshade would be banished if it left the field again. "So. That means Holly Angel will do her damage, and Dark Room of Nightmare adds 300 points!" The holy angel absorbed some of her own shadow to empower her holy blessing, which got unleashed once she linked with Nightshade. "Oh? Oof!"

Scarlet's LP: 7500

"Trickstar Lightstage also inflicts 200 points of damage when a Trickstar monster hurts you! And Dark Room of Nightmare makes that worse as well!" The glowing Trickstar podium fired its own beam of light mixed in with the darkness of the torture room. "Nff... Now I feel it." Scarlet grinned.

Scarlet's LP: 7000

"Each turn you summon a Trickstar, you can do a 1000 damage at once." Crescent felt a little awe at the fact that Cherry could very well make her declaration come true. "Yeah, and I have only just begun! Come out, Trickstar Narkissus!" Cherry could special summon one Trickstar Narkissus already because a Trickstar's effect had resulted in effect damage. And since the blonde flowershooter(4/1000/1800) took Holly Angel's other marked zone, Holly Angel started another sequence of holy damage, light damage and dark damage. "Oh my. How troublesome."

Scarlet's LP: 6000

"Heh. You thought that was bad?" Cherry managed to bring out Trickstar Lycoris as well, special summoning the pink-dress pixie(4/1600/1200) [Zone 2] by returning another Trickstar, Narkissus, to her hand. "How about this? I can use a lowlevel Trickstar to link summon Trickstar Bloom!" She gave up the revived Trickstar Nightshade and opened the link circuit again. The fairy of the night transformed into a joyfilled fairy(100/LINK 1) {Down} [Zone 1] with long orange pigtails, a green dress and a large yellow flower in her hand. "You see, Trickstar Bloom can draw one card... for you! And you know what that means!" It meant that this time Scarlet took double damage. Once from Holly Angel as she linked with Bloom, and once from Lycoris who punished any drawing duelist with 200 points of damage for each drawn card. The Light Stage and Dark Nightmare Room of course amplified both blasts each time. "Already down to half? Got anything smart to say now, doctor?"

Scarlet's LP: 4000

"Well I can say that this is all very educational. The damage you make me feel is an extenstion of the Item's power, isn't it? It agitates the mental link to simulate pain. Also, thank you for the card." Scarlet merely stared at the card she drew. "Oh you like that eh? Well then have some more! I link summon Trickstar Crimson Heart!" Now Trickstar Bloom dematerialized along with Trickstar Lycoris, to summon a less than holy angel. Crimson Heart(2000/LINK 2) {Downleft/Right} [Zone 3] wore a bloodred dress, black leggings and had long wavy brown hair. The crimson trickstar playfully dangled golden handcuffs in her black gloved hand. Oh I like her. She reminds me of me." Scarlet smiled back. Of course, this new summon did trigger Holly Angel's power again and caused Scarlet to lose another thousand lifepoints to all of Cherry's spells and effects.

Scarlet's LP: 3000

"Hilarious. But will you still like her once she uses her power? We will both have to discard one card! And since my lifepoints are way higher than yours, I can draw two new ones! You only get to draw one!" Cherry discarded her Trickstar Narkissus, while Scarlet discarded the Darkest Diabolos dragon. "Now Lycoris wasn't around to punish you that time. But.. she hasn't gone far! Let's bring her back! I activate Trickstar Magical Laurel to special summon one Trickstar from my graveyard!" Magically a wreath of purple flowers appeared, which Cherry tossed to the ground. Lycoris' hand popped up from the graveyard to catch the Laurel and equip it to herself[Zone 1]. This would start the sixth wave of damage as Lycoris linked with Holly Angel. But. first... the Doctor's lifepoints mysteriously went back up. "What?"

Scarlet's LP: 4600

"I meant what I said, Cherry. Thank you.. for this." Scarlet revealed her new monster, having activated it from her hand back when Cherry activated the Magical Laurel. "She used Null Nun and Blooming Dogwood." Crescent gasped softly when she saw what happened. A white-haired ghost nun and her spectral dog floated around the field. And her effect healed Scarlet's lifepoints each time a monster got special summoned. "She must have known who she would duel." Void muttered bitterly. He knew all too well how much Scarlet liked to prepare for specific opponents. "I made you draw that!?" Cherry herself helped Scarlet out by reviving Trickstar Lycoris. Only afterwards did Holly Angel, Light Stage and the Nightmare Room begin decreasing the doctor's life again.

Scarlet's LP: 3600

"You.." Scarlet did not say anything to her anymore. She did not have too, the Trickstar duelist already understood her own situation. "Use Bella Madonna, Cherry!" More so than Ulysses at least. "Shut up Uly! That will just make things worse!" No matter what she summoned now, Null Nun would restore more life than they could take away. The last card in her hand could not be used this turn either. "Fine. You win this round. But barely!" Cherry placed a trap card down and ended her turn. "And I do mean barely!" Once the turn shifted, Null Nun and her healing effect ceased lingering about. And immediately afterwards Trickstar Lycoris would burn Scarlet for drawing a card during her draw phase. Light Stage and Dark Room of Nightmare followed up on the damage, which Scarlet did not even pretend to feel anymore. "Grrr!"

-TURN 02-

Scarlet's LP: 2600

"You are a good duelist, Cherry Anise. Dont think I see things otherwise. Static would not have included you if you werent. In fact I wonder.." Scarlet once again toyed with the new card in her hand. "Were you the one to help Thomas, way back when? You do remember that delightful boy dont you?" Despite her warm smile, she got no response. "Oh you don't have to answer if you do not want too. I just feel very protective of children, and I wish you hadn't involved such a sweet kid with promises of eternity. I may be a doctor, but sometimes I also feel like a mother. I want to coddle my children, but also tell them that there is no such thing as a perfect world." She tried to activate her next card.

But that was when Cherry gave in, and lashed out. "You should shut up too! You have no idea what you are saying!" She yelled while activating her trap card: Present Card. The trap forced Scarlet to discard her entire hand and to draw five new cards. "Hm?" Subsequently, Lycoris would burn her for all five draws: five times 200 damage. The field spell placed 200 points on top, and the Dark Room of Nightmare boosted both blasts with 300 points of damage.

Scarlet's LP: 800

'Don't I? I am curious.." Still, with only a tenth of her usual lifepoints, the doctor showed no signs of pain or weariness. "Can your fantasy sustain itself? You have been living here ever since you stopped playing Static's little game. But unlike the rest of us, you had to pretend to be a victim of the if you are defeated now? What will happen to you, if your blessing ends? Do you return to a coma, like Wagnerok before you?" Scarlet's eyes briefly met those of Crescent, who instinctively shuddered. "You made a choice. But did you fully realize the consequences of that choice? Did any of you? What if Ezra loses the lance? What if something happens to your real body while it is stored inside the network? Are you even sure it is stored? Even if it is, what happens when the network crashes? Where does a body go when the barrier drops? Where does a mind go? So many questions. So few answers. If you have more than I do, then all I want is to hear them."

"I wont tell you anything! Ezra will never fail us! The network wont crash, and I wont lose!" Cherry hissed.

"Oh I see. Now I understand your relation. Still, I disagree with at least one of those statements." Scarlet let out a cackle before she activated the Lair of Darkness. "Ugh." Void figured she would still find a way to play that damned field spell. "Heh. So what?" Cherry shrugged as her Trickstars got turned into fairies of Darkness. "So, I can now tribute one of your monsters as if they were mine. Like this." The spell card, Stand-In, left her hand. "Stand In sacrifices a monster, to bring one with the same original element from your graveyard back to my field. So.." Trickstar Holly Angel's own shadow came to life as her personal assassin. "Holly!" Stand-In tributed Cherry's angel, and targeted it in the graveyard too. "Welcome to my side, Holly Angel." And thus Scarlet took control of the special summoned Holly Angel(2000 atk) [Zone 1]

"You think you can take everything from me?" Cherry howled. "Nobody is trying to replace you, dearie. I am only trying to give you and your friends a lesson. And lessons can be fun!" She seemed very happy at least, partially due to the card she planned to reveal. "Fun like this! I activate the Fang of Critias! I fuse it with my Crush Card Virus to create Doom Virus Dragon!" A miraculous fusion took place between a spell and a trap card: an experiment she enjoyed greatly. "The Fang of Critias? Now that's a deep cut." Ulysses could not help but be impressed that someone used one of the Atlantean promos. Critias belonged to a special set of spells that could create bizarre fusions from unique materials: traps in this instance. The original virus merged with Critias the long-fanged black dragon. The merger left the dragon(4/1900/1500) [Extra Zone 2] with a purple body and flatter bonier scales. "My first extra deck summon Do you like it? You probably wont, since Doom Virus Dragon destroys all monsters with 1500 or more attackpoints."

"All of them?" Cherry winced. With Holly Angel no longer on her side of the field, the other Trickstars lost their destruction immunities. Both Lycoris and Crimson Heart got infected by the plague of doom and collapsed right before their master. "Ah. I believe I can finally draw again." Scarlet moved on, activating an Allure of Darkness spell to draw two cards. Then she had to banish a dark monster, Bearblocker, from her hand. Otherwise Allure of Darkness would have discarded both cards at once. "Come on out, Ahrima." The other card she could keep and normal summon: Ahrima the Wicked Warden and devil hound(4/1700/0). "Do I need to go on? I think most of us know how this will end."

"You don't have it.. you don't have enough attackpoints yet." Cherry insisted; saying something true but also something that could change at the drop of a hat. "Oh?" Or the activation of a skill card. "Then allow me to use this, my Forbidden Surgical Operation. Thanks to your Present, I have a monster that I can now special summon: It's called Capshell." The illegal surgery started. Her fancy skills brought a ball-shaped imp juggler(2/0/0) back to life. "And Ahrima will sacrifice one dark monster, to draw a new card for me!" The Warden beast sacrificed Capshell within a magically created black coffin, to put three effects into play at once. Ahrima itself drew one card, Capshell could also draw a card whenever it got tributed.. and Darkest Diabolos could special summon itself(8/3000/0) [Zone 4] to the field since one of her own monsters had been tributed. And that brought her gathered attackpower already up to over 8000. "I believe you call this a one-turn kill. It might not be on the first of all turns, but it certainly wont leave you alive... Will it?"

"You, have made, your point." The crashing thunder broke up the two duelists. "No way!" The thunder that spoke like an old friend of Cherry's. "Prospero!" He had returned.

"Prospero!?" Void twitched. The thunder dragon duelist: why did he come back now? "Hey! Where have you been up to, buster?" Ulysses walked up to the thunder entity. He looked different now, various metallic bracelets and small mechanical aids kept his body in a more human shape. "I, was lost. The destruction, I caused, split my avatar, beyond function. But, it was her, that restored me." He pointed his electric finger at the doctor. "Her?!" Cherry did a double-take, her smile flipping into a frown.

"Guilty as charged. It was I that found his remains and put him back together. And then we had a nice heart-to-heart." Thunder sounded and lightning illuminated the sky. As Prospero touched the ground "I owe my, survival, to the dear, doctor. But, I owe, what happened before, that, to another." The man of living electricity set his bright eyes on Void next. "..." The cyberse duelist could not talk his way out of this anymore. Prospero only had to say it: what happened at Vigionaire's. "You, Void, are still here? Ezra, has grown too, soft. If he does, not have, a plan for you, and your kind, I will, create my own."

"Now now, we are not enemies, remember?" Scarlet interrupted as she held both her hands up and.. surrendered the duel. "Hey!? What?" Cherry sputtered.

Scarlet's LP: 0

"I never came here to win, just to prove my skills. Now I have shown you what I can do as the duelist and as a the doctor. So if you still want to banish me, you can go ahead." She left her fate in the hands of Cherry now. "What? But I.. didn't win." The Trickstar protested. "And there is no way we can kick you out after you did this for us." Ulysses laughed. "But why did you though?" He did find all of this very confusing. "Because she's our friend!" Echo exclaimed suddenly.

"Correct. I came here, so we could help each other. Prospero is not the only avatar I plan to restore. But I started with him as a gesture of good faith. That said I did not come here with just one gift. If you let me, I think I can help you with your other problem as well. Our mutual problem. I may know the way to locate not just one.. but all remaining Items. And all I would need is to get a glimpse of the ones you have." The doctor chose her words deliberately. "Wait? Ones? Plural? What do you mean?" Void inquired. "Ithink you already know. Prospero gave me a hint, and now I have analyzed all of you enough now to now the difference between what is real and unreal. Ezra is not the one who severs.. So I do not need to talk to him. I just need to talk to your Cister Melyria..."

"To me." The tiny duelist had been there from the start. Melyria briefly flashed with a pulse of light, exposing her entire nervous system while armoring herself with pure energy. This display lasted but a few seconds, and she now appeared at regular size. "Yes. Good morning to you too, miss Cister... the owner of the World Legacy Armor."

(To Be Continued in Line 085: Mutually Assured Creation)

**New Cards used by Doctor Scarlet Fever  
**Null Nun & Blooming Dogwood  
Capshell  
-

Doom Virus Dragon

-  
Stand In  
Fang of Critias  
Allure of Darkness

-  
Crush Card Virus

**New Cards used by Cherry Anise  
**Trickstar Nightshade

-  
Trickstar Bloom  
Trickstar Crimson Heart

-  
Dark Room of Nightmare  
Trickstar Magical Laurel

-  
Present Card


	85. Mutually Assured Creation

**Line 085: Mutually Assured Creation**

"At last!" Donna let out a mighty cry as she read her latest messages "Is it Scarlet?" Neo guessed. As everyone had been waiting for a sign from the doctor ever since the mess at the recreated city. "Yes. She says she's finished work on a key that will let Giganoto access his avatar again. Now I can let him know that. Yes!" The wrestler pumped her own fist to celebrate. "Cool.. But what is the other stuff about?" Neo took a closer look at the message itself. "Something about a neutral meeting ground? She says she wants to meet there soon. She has important news about the Legacy items and Exeter. But why can't she just come here?"

"That must be because of Hydra." Asterisk joined the conversation. "The invisible guy? Oh yeah, he could be watching us. Right now!" Donna shouted and threw her arm into the air, as if that could hit the unseen duelist. "Hah! I bet that gave him a scare!"

"A neutral meeting ground? What was wrong with the old one?" Veyron wondered why she did not just invite them to her dungeon lab. "Who knows with her. What do you think, Asterisk?" Zettai turned to the agent for ideas on how to proceed. "I say we check it out. But we have to be careful." He of course still did not trust her, not after what happened between Void and her.. "Donna. Since Giganoto cannot come here, tell him to meet us there too." At least they had better numbers this time. "He might still be sleeping right now, but I will wake him up soon enough! Ha! But I doubt it's a trap! She's been nothing but a help so far!"

...

"The World Armor?" "A second Legacy Item. That explained everything. "You.. because you could save Wagner. You lied to us?" Crescent snapped as she began to see the signs that had always been there. Void as well, and he could tell that a revelation like this only came as a surprise to him. Ulysses and Cherry were not shocked at all. "Yes. I was the one who saved Wagner. Not with Ezra's power. But my own. Ezra possesses the lance, which allows him to alter what people sense and see. He is the one who can paint the landscape of STHEREA to create this paradise. But I am the one who severs mind from body, who brings people fully into the network. We did not tell the whole truth... the Lance was not the only item we discovered before we started Millennium. There was another. We kept it a secret, so that our enemies would not find out who they really had to target to cause our collapse."

"So much for that now.. Prospero, did you tell this woman?" Only the first five members of Millennium knew about the second item, and a disgruntled Cherry Anise could only count one of those five as a suspect. "Of course, not." The man of thunder shot out his reply. "Well that is a half-truth. I did craft that theory all on my own, based on what I learned from Prospero's avatar composition and from your friend Ezra's little show at the end of the tournament. There were just too many discrepancies between all the simulations I ran. But of course I could not be sure until I fixed Prospero up and asked him a few questions. You might still not trust me, but I could have gone to anyone with this information. Asterisk and his friend might have come to the same conclusion, if you had not gone and blown up their main headquarters."

"Alpha was right all along." Void shook his head. This also explained why Melyria could still use her powers within Echo's world, despite not having the help of Ezra. "He should have gone after you, Melyria." The cyberse duelist noted, though he did not mean that as a threat. Of course, Prospero already saw him as one regardless. "Is that, what you want, now? I had almost, forgotten about, you. Your mission, was to infiltrate, us? Was it not? I imagine, nobody is listening now. Since I, destroyed them! You are all, that is left!"

"And we will let him make the first move."

"Ezra!?" Weakened no more, the wielder of the lance revealed himself while all else went dark. Once more his black tower and spiked throne were at full display as he clouded the five, along with Void, Himiko, Crescent and Scarlet, in an impenetrable void without gravity and sound. "I would almost look forward to such a test." He sounded slightly more unhinged than before. Anything seemed possible now. "Prospero. I knew you would come back to us." But even the mighty Knightmare duelist could not deny his joy at the return of his companion. The void vanished as quickly as it appeared, leaving just a quivering fear in Void's throat.

"I have, come back to folly, Ezra. Why has, nothing, changed in my absence?" Despite his kind words, Ezra received nothing like it in return. "That is how you respond, Prospero? What do you mean?" Ezra detected resentment instead. "They, fooled you, Prospero, you were too weak, to notice. The enemies infiltrated, our paradise, and, halted our progress." Openly expressed resentment. "I was never fooled, Prospero. Merely delayed. Void and everyone like him will face their crossroads now. Do not forget who you are talking too." Ezra would not be intimidated, and Prospero did not let himself be either. "I, did not just talk, about him. It is you, who seem to, forget. You have, forgotten to look, at the world, outside! You, and Melyria too! They, do not fear us! They, see us as children! They pretend, that all, is right! Why do you, think, that they, have not yet sent, all the forces, of the world, at us? Because, Millennium is a joke to them! If the doctor, knows your secret, then Exeter will eventually, find out, as well!"

"What are you babbling about?" Cherry hissed. "It is true, I am affraid." Scarlet provided come clarifications. "I have been keeping an eye out, and you do not look good. Nobody wants to join your gathering anymore, nobody can. The world writes you off as a cult of fools. It is almost miraculous how they managed to turn every online community against you. I knew Exeter had a lot of sway with every world government, but this seems excessive. Also your 'rescue' of Echo has only provoked Exeter into turning every ADI in every sector hostile. They will also mass produce CIDs, since they cannot trust their own admins anymore. The only reason you are safe, is because they cannot find you here. And how long will that last?"

"But that is also the reason why I am here. I cannot do anything by myself, and I certainly do not want to risk myself. I needed help, we all needed help. And I knew the others would not see it my way." She exchanged a knowing glance with Void. "So I came to tell you where we should be looking for the one thing you need. The thing that will fix your problems and even the tides again."

"Then you have found one.. Another Legacy Item? How? Where?" Ezra narrowed his burning eyes. "Besides yours you mean? Yes I have. It was all rather simple really. Once I heard how Anders located his item, I realized that I should have been more creative with my search programs. I only looked at code, but mister Static himself said that the Items could take any form they wanted too. So instead I followed every possible trail of breadcrumbs: from visual distortions to audio errors or incorrect physics. I disregarded the random and charted the patterns. And so.. I found a series of graphical glitches that were not mirrored by the underlying scripts, glitches that had no reason to exist: leaving dots on the map." She quickly flashed a map of the dotted out pattern with her dueldisk. Just long enough to give them a clue of where to go. "This area is how far I narrowed it down. That is technically why I am also curious to find out how you located your Lance, Ezra. And where did you find your item, Melyria? Was it you who that found Ezra, or did it happen the other way around? You see I suspect that one Item can sense the other, that you did not meet by chance."

"Hey, what are all of you talking about with such serious faces?" Echo intruded just as Melyria and Ezra wanted to reply. "Hello again, lady Echo. We were just establishing negotiation terms." Scarlet answered with her trademark crooked smile. "Negotiations? Like so you have something everyone else wants? Like one of those items?" And the mystery girl talked back with a surprisingly insightful remark. "That is quite accurate" Scarlet did not quite know how to follow up on that. "But shouldn't everyone have it? Can't you share it? What about all your other friends?" The blue-haired girl wondered.

"They are, not, friends." Prospero growled. "But they could be! They like this place just as much as you, don't they? So maybe you can talk with them and tell them that you're about to make it even better! You shouldn't have to be enemies, right Void?" Echo turned her immensely happy face towards an unsuspecting Void. "What? I.." He was taken aback by her intensity. "If we could convince them that we are not the enemy, perhaps." Enough to make him genuinely ponder the possibility. "And give, you, the chance to, run away? I, think not" Of course, Prospero rejected the plan outright precisely because Void considered it. But he had one voice he could not silence.

"Echo, you have read my mind." Scarlet's voice. "I had already planned to bring this information to the others on a neutral ground. There we could discuss terms and perhaps start cooperation. In my opinion this whole feud between you has been pointless from the beginning. That said, from your side I would suggest you send your newer recruits as representatives. My friends the heroes would react less intensely if they did not see Ezra and his closest companions." The doctor pointed her finger at Victor in the middle of her speech. "The same applies to you, Veyron might be there after all." One brother would definitely overreact to the other. "I'm not affraid of Juan! And why do you get to give us orders now? I say you are staying right here and I go to this neutral place of yours!" The other brother cried out. "That is fair, but I cannot guarantee that it wont escalate."

"Even if it comes to that, we can use this. If the heroes are engaged elsewhere, we can look for the fifth item undisturbed." Melyria realized, and came to like the plan. "Scarlet, I would like for you to stay with us. Midsummer, you have proven yourself so far. You shall lead this mission: start a conversation with the Heroes of Pandemonium. Take a few of the other new recruits, I am sure Lorelei will be excited to go." The wasp woman nodded at the masked duelist who merely formally bowed to show that he accepted her request. Lorelei also happily bounced in the background as she heard the news. "Can I come too? I can't do that teleporting thing, so I have to ask." Echo clasped her hands together. "Naturally. Everyone should meet you. And I will be there to take care of you." Midsummer stated and bowed before Melyria to accept her orders.

"What about us?" Lady Himiko dared to ask.

"You still have a choice to make. The hour is almost over." Ezra reminded them of the deal. "The deal? Don't, tell me you, were going, to let them go, back?" Prospero knew what kind of deals his companion liked to make with doubting recruits. "We gave their avatars a timer, Prospero. Or rather, I did." Melyria clenched her hand. She did not have to keep it a secret any longer that she was responsible for that weird feeling Void and the others received some time ago. "If they do not come back, their avatars will be erased from the network forever. They cannot hurt us from the outside. But.." Melyria gave Crescent and Himiko a quick look. "I trust them all."

"I, do not. It is, a good, thing. That I, returned. I will, monitor them, their network activity." Prospero swore as he crackled with energy. The fact that he could do that did not surprise Void. "I think you will be watching me alone." Void stated. Crescent still did not budge, and Himiko did not have a choice. "I know I will come back, but I just.. have to get one last look." He lied to himself. "Then go, see what you leave behind." Ezra condoned his departure, leaving him to risk everything for one sake or the other. "Right." Void sighed, and disconnected from the network.

...

"Scarlet has not lost her sense of style." Veyron said, as he took in the surroundings of 'neutral zone'. The five duelists found themselves inside of a ruined two-story cathedral, with its windows and walls smashed in. Not just that, but a layer of ice coated the floors and trees outside, while snow drifted down down the holes in the roof. "She sure does seem to have a lot of time on her hands." Donna chuckled. An area like this could only have been made by a skilled coder. "Hey I can stream down here! Sup guys!" Neo meanwhile focused on his biggest priority, something he did not get to do often nowadays, and began talking to himself. "You can?" A fact that greatly troubled Agent Asterisk. "Scarlet would not let you record anything, unless she wanted too. But I have no honest-to-god idea what that is." He could come up with a lot of reasons, all of them unpleasant ones.

"Someone is coming." Zettai shouted, having kept track of her surroundings. More than a dozen figures quickjumped in and materialized on top of the second floor of the cathedral. "Giganoto?!" Donna looked up, hopeful.

"Millennium!" She saw not her friend. She saw Midsummer and Echo, Lorelei and Victor, and a whole lot of other unknown faces. _"It was a trap!_" Shouted the many users watching Neo's stream. "Heheh. Is this all that remains of the heroes? Your group of friends is dwindling, Juan." Victor greeted the duelists warmly. "Victor!" Naturally the sight of his own brother drove Veyron slightly madder than usual. Midsummer's presence did not help either. "Traitor!" Zettai projected a shark cannon and aimed it at all of them. "Why are we all yelling?!" Only then Echo roll by in front of Midsummer with an excited cheer, which managed to defuse the situation to some extent. "What?" Zettai put down her cannon.

"Okay, everyone calm down! We didn't come here for a big showdown. Scarlet sent us here to talk." Lorelei quickly stepped up to the end of the balcony before tensions could rise again. "Did she now?" Asterisk in turn walked forward to meet her halfway. "I should have expected as much. Alas, some of us are indisposed. We are still chained to time after all." That excuse technically only applied to Bionis, but the agent duelist was not going to tell them why they were missing the other members. They still could not account for Sundowns or Himiko's whereabouts, and Blanche claimed to have urgent business in the real world. "Now it is my turn to ask you a question. You already took some of our friends into your world. How do we know that they are not harmed? Why did they not come to meet us? Why not Scarlet?" Asterisk knew more went on then what Millennium wanted them to know.

"Hey we treated them well, even Himiko! She is gonna be one of us too soon! You can be a part of the family too! Especially you, Neo!" Lorelei pointed her finger down at the cyberduelist. "Wait? Himiko was with you guys? Also why me? What did I do this time?" Neo did not like it one bit.

"You are doing it right now, Neo. You are our window." Midsummer now took over the conversation. "A fine morning, afternoon, evening and night to the world out there. My name is Midsummer Nightmare, and we speak on behalf Millennium. We came with a message, a message of peace and friendship." He nodded at Echo, who silently encouraged him to keep talking. "Anyone who can see this, knows about STHEREA. But they do not know enough, they do not see what a paradise it truly already is and what it can be. This is more than a game and it is inhabited by more than artificial minds! People can life here, be reborn here! We have proof of that!" The masked man talked to them now, to Neo's followers.

"Whoa! Whoa! This is starting to sound heavy, Midsummer." Neo did not know if he could show this live. "Getting scared? Tch, if you wont do it for us. We will find someone who will! Plenty of streamers in the sea!" Victor said with another sneer. "Are you going to make us, Victor? The days of you telling me what to do are over!" Veyron lashed out back at him. "Feh! I don't need your approval either! Or do you think you can stop us?" That only fueled Victor's anger in turn. "I want to stop you! Do you know how much trouble you caused for me? Everyone thought I was the spy, because you used me! You told Millennium everything that I told you! And they helped the Crown almost destroy me!" Veyron could not forgive his brother for all of that. "Heh, it's your fault for telling me in the first place. And you're still mad about that failed attack of yours? The one where you ran like a coward?" And his brother did not ask to be forgiven. "I'm not running this time, Victor! Do you want to settle this? Because I do!"

"Hey, what did we say about antagonizing them?" Lorelei tried to calm them down, only it did not work so well this time. "Save it. Juan is just as stubborn as the rest." Victor only saw blood, his own blood. The other millennium duelists were getting unruly as well, one of them even started transforming into a half draconid to prepare for battle. "You have our answer already." And Zettai did not plan to cooperate either, despite being outnumbered. She, Donna and Veyron activated their dueldisks.

"Midsummer. What do we do?" Echo did not like this. Negotiations broke down far too quickly. "...Nothing. If they want this, then Ezra will choose their fate."

"If we have to do this, then he is mine!" And so it started. Lorelei jumped down and landed right in front of Neo with a giggle and a smile. "Whoa!" The cyberduelist met his opponent. Zettai and Donna soon found themselves engaged as well. "Damn it!" The ace duelist had wanted to challenge Midsummer, but a random goon got in her way. And Veyron.. would accept just one target of course. "Victor. You are right, we should settle this once and for all." They had never dueled before. The moment finally came. "Heheh. Okay then, Juan. But not here. Let's decide this somewhere less noisy. Some place you and I both know." He quickjumped away. "You wont get away, Vic!" Veyron pursued, knowing fully well where he would end up.

"You know we don't actually have to duel." In the mean time Neo made another attempt to resolve matters pre-duel.

Except his opponent approached him with an unexpected amount of idolization. "But I want too! It has to be you! I am your biggest fan! LoreleiLaura101, remember!?" And now she made him duel her. "Uhm, thanks? I do remember seeing your name a few times." Neo liked to remember his most frequent watchers, though that did not make this less confusing. "Heehee. Is everyone watching right now? Well, here I am guys! But don't worry, I am not like one of those crazy girlfriends." She started to talk to the stream itself, the many duelists watching Neo's duel. "I just like Neo, and I wish he would join us. He can become my prince and we can rule in my place together and spread the message of Millennium. Oh sorry, I should talk to you..not to them! You could have anything you want!" She clapped her hands giddily. "But I know, it will take some getting used to. That's why we have to duel, to help your transition!"

Neo's LP: 8000 Lorelei's LP: 8000 -TURN 01-

"I see." Neo saved his comments to the stream for later. "Well, if we must, we must. And since I apparently have the opener, let me summon.. Cyber Dragon!" Neo started his turn off quickly, normal summoning the spinal Cyber Dragon Herz(1/100/100) [Zone 1], who got treated as an actual `Cyber Dragon` because of its first effect. "And Cyber Dragon!" Normal summoning said 'Cyber Dragon' enabled the special summon of the fourth iteration: the sleek silver Cyber Dragon Vier(4/1600/2100) [Zone 4]. Its name also became 'Cyber Dragon'. "And.. third time is the charm, Cyber Dragon!" Both machines, which included a Cyber Dragon link material, passed away into the linking circuit. "Cyber Dragon Sieger that is!" Glowing blue and better armored, the hexagon marked Sieger(2100 atk/LINK 2) {Left/Down} [Extra Zone 2] coiled down unto the field like a metallic spiral. "Nice, right? By the way I can use Herz' effect now that its gone into the graveyard." That effect gave Neo the chance to move a 'Cyber Dragon' from his deck or graveyard to his hand. "I add Cyber Dragon classic! And that was that!"

-TURN 02-

"Eh, I dont like em." Lorelei shrugged. "What? You don't?" Neo took that strongly. "I don't fancy cards like that. Too modern, too cold and lifeless." The princess would rather look at the cards in her own hand. Which she would soon reveal to him and his cameras. "This.. is a lot nicer." She discarded the first: Gilfe the Phantom Bird. "A fairytale monster?" At first Neo didn't recognize it, but he had his followers' comments to fill in the gaps.

"Uh-huh! From the story of the Griffin. If I send my little birdy friend to the grave, I can add one special card to my hand. Sorry, Gilfe, that they gave you such a mean effect. But.. I have to do it." Lorelei traded in her Phantom Bird for a field spell. "I have to get it, my special castle! The Golden Castle of Stromberg!" A field spell that changed the entire landscape to suit the whims of the princess. Golden walls and towers rose, with her standing on the front gate. "Hahahaha! This is the castle you can live in,once you join me!" She smiled down at Neo and his Cyber Dragon, who looked puny when compared to this stronghold. "Oh boy."

"Now each turn I can summon a Fairytale-monster from my deck. But I cant normal summon that turn though. So here she is, my own princess from Cinderella: Prinzessin!" The front gate opened, and a blonde woman(4/300/600) [Zone 3] calmly walked out across the drawbridge. She wore a blue sparkling dress with a purple rose at the waist, just like Lorelei's dress. "Cinderella? Does that mean.." Neo could not help but notice the pumpkin growing out of the ground in front of the castle. "YES! When I have my Golden Castle, Prinzessin can summons Pumpkin Carriage and also equip the Glass Slippers to herself! Lorelei took the two named cards and placed them on the field. The pumpkin transformed into a carriage(3/0/300) [Zone 4] pulled by two white horses. "When Prinzessin has her Pumpkin Carriage, she can attack directly!" Prinzessin(1300/600) meanwhile placed her feet inside an equip spell that gave her 1000 more attackpoints: a pair of glass slippers. But she kicked both off her feet and hurled them at Neo. "Whoa hey!" The glass shattered against his arms, cutting one of his cyborg wires. "That stuff is sharp!"

Neo's LP: 6700 -TURN 03-

"I hope this duel never ends! Hahaha!" The princess meanwhile had placed two trap cards facedown. "But no matter what happens, your ugly machines wont go anywhere near my castle!" One of those traps got flipped around as soon as Neo drew his next card, and placed a house made of candy and cake on the ground. "What on earth?" Neo felt like he was losing his mind; seeing this house open its doors and drag Cyber Dragon Sieger inside with a long elastic tongue. "Heehee. Even though your monsters dont need to eat, I can still make them explode! This is the Gingerbread House! Each turn I can give your monsters 500 more attackpoints! And if they have more than 2500 afterwards, they will be destroyed and I will gain back 500 lifepoints! Hahaha!" Just one bite from the house became too much for the link dragon(2600 atk) and it blew up like a tin balloon before bursting into confetti.

Lorelei's LP: 8500

"I repeat... what on earth!?" This was not what he expected from Millennium's duelists..

(To Be Continued in Line 086: The Princess and the Dragon)

**New Cards used by Neo  
**Cyber Dragon Sieger

**Cards used by LoreleiLaura101  
**Gilfe the Phantom Bird  
Prinzessin  
Pumpkin Carriage

-  
Golden Castle of Stromberg  
Glass Slippers

-  
Gingerbread House


	86. The Princess and the Dragon

**Line 086: The Princess and the Dragon**

_"Guh."_ Weariness, exhaustion, stiffness, tension, pain, coldness; the many colors of reality's discomforts hit Charles all at once. Despite his prolonged stay within STHEREA, his body having been in a limbo of energy all this time, it felt as if he had not eaten or slept in months. How long did he stay down there? The sun had already set, many times over. Even with the internal clock of his dueldisk, time got away from Void so easily. The minutes, hours and days did not even matter. One could stay in paradise, one could stay conscious, for as long as they desired. Ages could turn into moments.

Was that why they let him go? So he could experience the hardships and restrictions of physical life one last time? This bitter shock to the system could drive any human back into the arms of Millennium. This drab colorless apartment could not compare at all to the wondrous bright lands within the network. Void could do everything Charles could not. He could not give that up.

_"No."_ But one could see it a different way. _"This .. is home."_ He did not feel like he did not belong here anymore. The opposite happened, his return made him realize how much he missed this. Though he could not explain to himself why, or what he missed specifically. _"This feels right... I finally feel.. like I can think again."_ Why did he stay with Millennium for so long? Why did he ever consent to joining them? The plan to capture Ezra had failed so many duels ago. They grew stronger, while he came no closer to taking the Lance away from them. Now he had to think about the Armor as well!_ "Something in the air... Something in that world of theirs made me want it. It IS an addiction. Even if they are not creating it themselves, the network still has an effect!"_ Perhaps that was the real realization, that your mind changed ever so slowly the longer it stayed outside of its body. But if that were true, then it would be dangerous for everyone. Then humans were not meant to exist like that. It could make someone forget who they were! And yet.. he knew he had to go back.

_"What do I do? Prospero says he is monitoring my internet activity. I cannot even leave this room without triggering a dozen systems.. There must be some other way I can let everyone know where I am going.."_

...

"Why is everyone fighting now? This isn't what I wanted. I just wanted to talk to them." Echo watched as the Neutral zone rapidly became anything but neutral. The duelists of millennium engaged with the heroes of Pandemonium, despite them having no clear reason to hate each other. At least she saw none. "Alas, this is the way of dueling. There will always be an opponent. Even if you have create one yourself. They cannot help it, it in their blood." Midsummer stood by her side, observing the various skirmishes down below. "But why? Why is dueling so important? This whole world was turned into this? It was so peaceful before."

"Trust me, I wish it were peaceful as well." The two were not alone. "Miss Echo, I presume?" One duelist stayed behind to get properly acquainted with the girl in the wheelchair. "Yeah. Who are you? You look pretty!" Echo cheered up as soon as she saw him: Agent Asterisk. "Thank you for the complement. My name here is Asterisk." The agent was slightly blindsided, but went with it.

"What do you require, Agent?" Midsummer felt less amused by his appearance. "I only wanted to introduce myself, and to tell her our side of the story. We are not the ones who broke the peace, Midsummer." The agent kept his distance, noting how protective of Echo the jester duelist seemed. "But you perpetuate the divide. I told you from the beginning, that we should all join Millennium. You missed your moment." Midsummer shook his head and placed his hand on Echo's shoulder. "Are we going? But I just met him!" Echo sighed. "And you should be wary of him. Liars are the most dangerous kinds of duelists. It is best for us to leave." His masked face glared at Asterisk. "Til another time, Asterisk." He quickjumped away, along with the mystery girl, before Asterisk could get another word in.

"I'll remember that, Midsummer."

...

Neo's LP: 6700 Lorelei's LP: 8500 -TURN 03-

The duel between Neo and Lorelei continued, a duel of bizarre tales. Lorelei's Golden Castle would destroy any monster if they tried to attack her. Pumpkin Carriage(3/0/300) [Zone 4] prevented any user from targeting or destroying said castle. And Gingerbread House would overfeed his machines to destruction each turn. He seemed as bewildered as his followers. "You holed herself up pretty well. But I have never seen a fortress my dragons cannot breach!" But Neo knew how to break through; with his trusted rampager. To set it up he normal summoned the Cyber Dragon Core(2/400/1500) [Zone 2], yet another machine that treated itself as 'Cyber Dragon' while outside of the deck. "Core adds a Cyber spell to my hand! Cyber Rev System! This is a spell that can special summon a Cyber Dragon from my graveyard! And that monster cannot be destroyed by card effects anymore!" Neo also revived Cyber Dragon Sieger(2100 atk) [Zone 4]. So now he had at least one 'Cyber Dragon' immune to her traps and spells.

"But I also activate Polymerization! One Cyber Dragon on my field, plus one in my hand equals.." His fusion spell took both the Core and a Cyber Dragon in Neo's hand. "Chimeratech Rampage Dragon! I fusion summon it to Sieger's link!" The multi-sided chimeratechno-body(5/2100/1600) [Zone 3] opened its facet for three rampaging dragon heads, and could destroy up to two spell or trap cards on the field.

"Oh that's rude. You shouldn't break my stuff, not when I have my special skill: Legacy of Millennium!" Sadly it would never get the chance. "Ah dang." The Millennium skill made her face-down cards as bright and indestructible as the Golden castle. "Your dragon's effects wont do anything now, teeheehee."

"But his attacks might! I equip my fusion with Super Strident Blaze! As long as I have this spell equipped to a machine fusion monster, you cannot use any effects during my battle phase! Doesn't matter if your field spell is unaffected, this effect targets you Lorelei!" Lorelei's Golden Castle Stromberg would not activate if it could not obey her orders. "Then, Chimeratech can send two Cyber Dragon monsters from my deck to the graveyard to give himself two extra attacks!" Two of the three heads fed on another Cyber Dragon Herz and Cyber Dragon Core in the deck. Sending another Herz into the graveyard allowed Neo to use that card's effect too: to redraw the second Cyber Dragon Core from his graveyard. "And when my battle phase starts, you will see Sieger's effect too! It chooses one monster with 2100 attackpoints or more, and gives it another 2100 attack and defense points. Neat huh?" A pulse of cybernetic light flowed from the link monster to the fusion monster, supercharging the the now triple-attacker Chimeratech(4200/3700). "Let's Battle!"

"Ohnonono!" Lorelei knew where the attacks would go. She also knew that Super Strident Blaze could even create a more attack chances for the Rampager by banishing Cyber Dragons from the graveyard. Her immortal yet powerless Prinzessin(1300/600) [Zone 3] would take too much damage for her to survive. "Waboku!" She needed her trap, the trap that prevented battle damage to her for the rest of the turn. "What!? Ah, I was too late!" Neo had to let her activate Waboku before he could enter his battle phase: a battle phase where nothing could be killed or injured. "Man I came close, didn't I?" He sighed and placed a card face-down behind his monsters.

-TURN 04-

"Maybe you did. Maybe you didn't! I'll never tell as long as you keep dragging your toys around!" Lorelei said as she suddenly banished ten whole cards from her deck. "Whoa.. that's a heavy cost." Neo realized that she had to do this every turn, or else the Castle of Stromberg would destroy itself. And she could not skip a single payment. "Heehee. That's alright. I have like 60 cards in my deck. All of them precious fairytales, like Hexy Trudy, Thorn Princess or... the Iron Hans!" Lorelei bobbed her head back and forth as she reactivated the effect of the golden field spell once more, and special summoned the bearded lumberjack Iron Hans(4/1200/800) [Zone 1] in attack position. "When Iron Hans is summoned, he can summon the Iron Knight too! From my deck! And the Iron Knight will give Iron Hans 1000 attackpoints!" Iron Knight(4/1700/700) [Zone 2] rode in on his majestic horse, wielding a silver lance. His(700/700) power went down by 1000 attackpoints as long as Iron Hans existed. But Iron Hans(2200/800) took that lost power for himself. "Do you know the story of Hans, Neo?"

"Uhr.. No. I am sorry." Neo shook his head. Though he imagined his streamchat had been filled with answers already, he was too focused to look at the comments right now. "Heehee. That's alright! I will tell you once this is all over and you have become one of us!" Lorelei revealed one more card from this specific tale: a continuous spell. "Your monster cannot be destroyed right? But it can be sent to the graveyard! I activate Iron Cage!" The rose-vine entangled iron bars of a magical cage slammed down on top of Cyber Dragon Sieger, and imprisoned him deep down beneath the ground.

"Hey!" Iron Cage had sent his monster into the graveyard. And on the next turn, it could special summon that monster to her side of the field. "Heeheehee.. Sorry for laughing so much! But I love it when things go like I want them too! I am so close now! Heeheehee!" Lorelei entered the battle phase again, and made Prinzessin perform another direct attack. "Ugh." The Slippers shattered against his arms once more, cutting more metal away. "At this rate you're gonna tear all my appendages off!"

Neo's LP: 5400

"Good! I wont have you look like that anymore either! But you get something in return. Enjoy the new shoes, my cyberprince!" Lorelei giggled loudly as, when Prinzessin inflicted damage, she(300/600) could select a new wearer for her equip spell. "Eh?" The Glass Slippers attached themselves to the tip of Rampage Dragon(1100 atk)'s tail. "Heehee. Too bad they only fit my Cinderella! Any other monster that has them equipped loses 1000 attackpoints! Iron Hans, remove the dragon from the garden please." The slippers distracted the Chimeratech dragon so much that it did not notice Iron Hans stomping towards it. The Axe wielder slammed his weapon into the core of the fused dragon and caused a massive explosion with one hit. "Gaahhh!" Neo got pushed back even further away from his opponent. "We're halfway there. I cant wait for you to see my place! You will love it!"

Neo's LP: 4300

"Lady Lorelei. I dont know.. if you know.. what you are asking. What do you want after you defeat me? For me to join you in your castle? To become your friend? A another fan? You cannot tell me to like that." Neo said as he clutched his chest to support his aching body.

"Why not? Why wouldn't you wanna live with me? With us? You love STHEREA don't you? That is why you keep showing it to the world!" The princess seemed to not want to listen, burying his concerns under her cheerfulness. "I do. But just because I can do this now, does not mean I want to keep doing this forever. I know I can't." It made a lot of money, sure. But he did not do it for that. She knew that as well. He did it because he enjoyed dueling. "You wont need to! You wont need money when you're one of us! You can make your own beauties!" Lorelei on the other hand gladly made her own jewelry, her own rings and diamond tiaras. She did not care that she wore objects that were not real. "You just need a little push, I understand!" To end the battle phase, the Iron Knight attacked and threw his lance away to tear off Neo's cyber-shoulderpad, leaving another visible wound on his getup. After that attack Lorelei placed a trap card face down and ended her turn.

Neo's LP: 3600 -TURN 05-

"Maybe that makes you happy. But I cant tell how long that will last. Some of my fans tell me what I am doing is making them happy as well, which always surprises me. Never figured myself as a funny guy, but I guess it helps them to stop thinking about the real world. But maybe that's the thing, if the fantasy becomes the only world. Doesn't it lose all meaning?" Neo shook his head. "I'm sorry. I just don't see myself in that kind of future! Sooner or later I have to take care of more than STHEREA. But that does not mean I wont fight for it now in my own way!" Neo declared as he normal summoned his second Cyber Dragon Core(2/400/1500) [Zone 2] and used that monster's effect to add the Cyber-spell, Emergency Cyber, to his hand. "I activate Emergency Cyber and add Cyber Eltanin to my hand!" His Emergency spell searched the deck for a LIGHT Machine; one of the strongest in his deck. "And then I activate my trap card: Born From Draconis! And special summon a level 6 or higher Light-attribute machine from my hand!"

"Huh?" Lorelei's face turned pale as a dazzling light erupted to rival that of her Castle. "Born From Draconis special summons Cyber Eltanin! And also banishes every Light Machine, on the field and in the graveyard, to give Eltanin 500 attack and defense points for each banished card!" Seven flashes enhanced the light: created by consuming the energy of the two Cyber Dragon Cores, the two Herzes, Vier, Sieger and the original Cyber Dragon. Their metal and power gave rise to a floating mechanical dragonhead(10/3500/3500) [Zone 3], with a small dragons head stciking out from its mane of spikes. "And when Eltanin is special summoned, all other monsters on the field are sent to the graveyard!" Seven smaller cyberdragon drone heads orbited the machine of Eltanin, four of which fired a devastating beam towards Iron Hans, Iron Knight, Prinzessin and Pumpkin Carriage. "Kyaah!" Lorelei let out a cry of terror and disbelief. Despite the protection of Stromberg, the inhabitants of her golden fortress got wiped out with a single effect.

"My friends! You took away my friends!" Lorelei began to freak out, pulling her her hair down. "I am sorry!" Neo offered a genuine apology, in spite of his own realization that he would have to keep attacking her like this. "But sometimes you can't win everything you want." Neo had to put his sympathy aside for now, he could not let the others down. "Lorelei, here Eltanin comes!" The battle phase saw his machine target the princess duelist on her own. "Eeeh! No!" She hid behind the walls of her fortress, which would normally have deflected the attack. But the Draconis trap protected Eltanin continuously, making its massive light ray too strong for her field spell. The blast left a large hole in the side of the castle: a permanent weak spot. "..I set a trap card, and end my turn."

Lorelei's LP: 5000 -TURN 06-

"No. You are wrong! I can get what I want! Ezra promised me! I want my best friends, I want my prince! I want my happily ever after!" Lorelei drew another card, feeling the increasing dread of consequences. The consequences of losing this duel. "We will have a ceremony! We will invite everyone we know! Nobody will ever leave me!" She seemed more delusional than manic at this point, as she banished another ten cards from her deck to maintain Stromberg. "Spell card! The Water of Life. Now that I don't have any monsters, I can summon one from my graveyard to the field! Prinzessin!" A vase poured healing water into the scorched earth, making grass grow once again and regenerating the body of the Cinderella princess(300/600) [Zone 3]. "See, you didn't take her away from me at all!" For the rest of the turn, only the effects of the monster summoned by Water of Life could be activated. But the Prinzessin could use both of hers after a special summon as well. She resummoned another Pumpkin Carriage(3/0/300) [Zone 4] in defense mode and... "Huh?" Did not find any glass slippers.

"No." The princess could not be a princess. "You must have banished your extra Slippers equip spells in this turn or the last." Neo figured. Since the Golden Castle banished its cards face-down, there was no way to be sure what it removed already. "Well... I still have Hexy Trudy!" Lorelei already lost a lot of her favroites to the costs of the Golden Castle, but she could still use the castle's effect to special summon the strongest monster from her deck. The gates opened for a blackhaired woman(8/2600/2100) [Zone 3] in a seductive red dress. Red stripes marked her cheeks and a malicious smile tugged at her lips. "Her effect wont work, Lorelei!" Hexe Trude had the ability to destroy one card to double her own attacks, which would be all but useless against the Draconian Cyber Eltanin.

"I don't need her too use her effect! I have Metamorphortress!" Ever a fan of strongholds, Lorelei created one from a trap card. The Metamorphortress flipped face-up and transformed into a castle-golem(4/1000/1000) [Zone 5] made of clay and crawled over from the backrow to the front. "Hexe Trude will be equipped to my new metamorph! And they will combine their attack and defense!" The red lady jumped on top of the moving stronghold, and channeled her dark energy through its(3500/3100) stone towers. "My monsters will win! They will always win!" Metamorphortress raised both its arms and extended them towards Cyber Eltanin like a torrent of sand.

"I activate the Forbidden Chalice! Your monster gains 400 attackpoints! But its effects are negated!" And halfway during the attack, Neo poured down holy water from the sacred chalice. "Oh no!" Metamorphortress became stiff and soggy like quicksand and swallowed Hexe Trude unintentionally. With no effects, it(1400/1000) could not gain any attackpoints from its equipment. "No no no!" Cyber Eltanin countered the weakened Metamorph and blew a hole through its earthen torso. Sand scattered everywhere.

Lorelei's LP: 2900

"No! Why, why would you do this to me?" The princess felt her tears well up. "I thought we could be together forever!" With only the Prinzessin left, in attack position, the fairytale duelist had no more hopes for a happy ending. "People like me here! People like my castle, my stories, my friends!" Lorelei would lose it all if she lost here. She would lose Ezra's blessing and be ejected from STHEREA. Even if those blessings were not as real as she would have liked. I am not trying to be a bad guy, Lorelei. But you can't stay here forever... it's not healthy." Neo did feel awful about what he had to do now. Finally checking in on his chat did not help: half his stream followers wanted to spare her as well. But.. a few in particular were different from the rest. "And people like you over there too, Lorelei."

-TURN 07-

"What? What do you mean?" The princess flinched. "That I should have been paying more attention to my stream. Then I would have noticed... them. Lorelei, your familyand friends are watching us too. Your classmates, everyone who knows you." Neo forwarded a link to his own stream to his opponent, something he never had done before.

"Wha? They..." She recognized a lot of usernames, a lot of older friends. Names she had forgotten about that all came flooding back. "But they never.." And her own mother and father had shown up as well, using their own real names. "Mom. Dad. Why? Did you do this?" She snapped, she did not want to remember. "I didn't. They found my stream on their own. They were desperate to find any clues about where you had gone, Lorelei. They missed you." Neo put on a smile for her sake. "And you can see them again, if I finish my turn." The last battle phase began. "I... why did I forget them? Why did I forget that they loved me? I don't know what to do." She shook her head. No matter how much she tried to deny it, she felt a longing. She felt homesick. That feeling of bliss could no longer bury her sadness. "I wanna go back..."

"Okay." Neo nodded and declared Cyber Eltanins attack against Prinzessin. The stream of light blasted Lorelei's lifepoints away. "Lorelei?" It happened faster than Neo thought it would. Like a mystical fable, the princess faded into stardust and left the network peacefully.

Lorelei's LP: 0

"LORELEI!" Not everyone accepted this. "What did you do?!" Two duelists slammed into the stone pavement: one dressed like a pharaoh and the other looked more dragon than man. "Whoa.. Hey, you're Kremlore and Pharaohslayer!" Neo now recognized him as the guys who lost to Zettai and Veyron in the tournament. "That does not matter anymore! You took away my castle rival!" Kremlore grunted his eskewed priorities. "What matters is that you took Lorelei away from us! And you will pay for that!" Pharaohslayer slammed his fists together. "She wanted to leave!" Neo protested. "We do not believe that! Nor do we care!" They activated their dueldisks. Just because Neo won one duel, did not mean he could flee the scene. Millennium still outnumbered the heroes, and now it also looked like they were going to gang up on him. "Where is Bionis when I need him." The cyborg duelist grimaced.

"Will I do instead?" Before Kremlore could choose his opponent, someone else picked him. "What? Who has the audacity?!" He turned around to see the duelist they had overlooked before: Scura. "You!?"

"Scura, you came back!" Neo happily cried out. "I thought you had gone!?" Pharaohslayer cursed, left to duel Neo by himself. "Yeah I was, for a bit. Had the old angry phonecall with my own folks. They wanted me to stay out of this mess. But... I came back. Because I caught your stream and saw you were in trouble. Plus Scarlet gave me her invite message too." She grinned and prepared her cards. "So you have rejected us." Kremlore grimaced back at her, baring his large fangs. "Yeah of course. What did you think, I was gonna keep sticking with you weirdos? No way, I finally get to do something that I have a say in. Anyway, Neo. You take Ramses over there, and don't lose! I had to leave my apartment all dusty and dirty to save you!"

"Thank you, Scura!" Neo nodded and concentrated on his opponent. "'Thanks?' Hehe. I can get used to hearing that word." And she would enjoy it. After all if people called her a hero, she might as well act like one.

...

"You have, returned." Said Prospero with astonished clarity. "I said I would." Void replied, leading him to discover that living lightning could give a mean glare when it wanted too. It appeared that Melyria and Ezra had also waited for his return. Only now could 'the process' begin for him and two others. "Then it is time." Himiko waited only because she did not want to go back home as a prisoner. "This is not an end, is it?" Crescent felt a desire that she could not explain."Yes. It is time. I am ready." And Void, had his plans made.

"You are. You will receive the gift without my Lance's illusions cloaking the transfer. This gift we call the Armor of the Creator." Ezra stepped aside, so that Melyria could do her great work. "You will not feel a thing. As soon as my armor touches you, it will connect with your mind and your nervous system." She illuminated her body again, with an armor of radiance. The glow exposed her brain and her every nerve. "The body, the avatar, the mind and the network will all become one. You will know more than the game, the dueling, STHEREA. Because this world is more than that. And no, this is not an end." She gave a bright and wide smile at Crescent. "You can always choose to abandon this power and flee to reality. But you may not need too. Because if we can build our better future, then we can bring everyone precious to you to this world instead."

"Now that you know this." Melyria suddenly grew two extra arms, made from pure energy. "Welcome to Millennium!" And she poured the light of the armor into all four duelists.

(To Be Continued in Line 087: Change Yourself Before Changing Others)

**New Cards used by Neo  
**Cyber Eltanin

-  
Cyber Revsystem  
Super Strident Blaze  
Forbidden Chalice

-  
Born from Draconis

**Cards used by Lorelei  
**Iron Hans  
Iron Knight  
Hexe Trude

-  
Iron Cage  
Water of Life

-  
Waboku  
Metamorphortress


	87. Change Yourself Before Changing Others

**Line 087: ****Change Yourself Before Changing Others**

Even within STHEREA, there would always be that one thing that connected you to your true physical nature: an itch on the inside of your ear or a burning sensation on your knee. One way or another the mind reminded you that your body waited for you to return. Void had been feeling that itch for days now, and it only intensified during his brief return to his apartment. Now, all of that, was gone.. Melyria sent her power into him: the power of the World Armor. He could see the veins and nerves light up underneath his skin, he could feel his body getting lighter and his thoughts louder. At once the network became more real and more unreal. He witnessed Paradise in its full glory, Void could hardly describe it. Majestic silver mountains and pearl palaces lining the horizon. Hundreds of homes of all kinds inhabited by peaceful duelists. Plants of every kind, animals in lakes and between the many clouds. It truly looked like a slice of heaven on earth. And here his exhaustion faded away forever, replaced by an ethereal calmness and eternal strength. He could forget about Charles now, he could forget about everything.

If only..

"It is done." He still had his plan to cling too, the last tether. Though she gave him this wonderful gift, he could not see her as family. But Void was not the only one. Yoro-Himiko, Crescent: they all received the same blessing and freedom. "I never dreamed.." In Himiko's case, she looked like she had found something she lost years ago, she seemed uncannily happy. "That.. was it?" Crescent on the other hand seemed to have the same expression as she did before, she sounded almost disappointed. "Some accept it faster than others, hm. You only have to let it happen, miss Aurora." Said Melyria. Perhaps Crescent needed more time, due to her own measured way of living.

"You do give off different readings now. It almost makes me wish I could undergo the same operation, so I could study myself." Only doctor Scarlet Fever had yet to accept Melyria's power. "You know our arrangement. First you lead us to the next item, yeah." Because Melyria could not trust the doctor just yet. But as for the others, they were part of Millennium now.

Just like Midsummer Nightmare. "I bring grave tidings." The verbose duelist with the mask unexpectedly returned to paradise, him and Echo. "What are, you doing back, so soon?" Prospero let out an electric snarl. "That which I have already confessed to, being the bearer of bad news. The negotiations fell through. There was too much embittered blood between them." He unhappily explained. "Yeah. Everyone is fighting each other..." Echo shared his misery.

"That is inevitable, miss Echo. They fight for the real world, they want to take this one away from us. I had hoped to spare you this truth, but you cannot go around it." Ezra gave the girl a sympathetic shoulderpat. "And.. they are not losing, Ezra. I know it, I feel my converts fading... ." Even from this distance, Melyria could tell when someone like Lorelei left the network for good. "Well that aint good! We oughta help them!" Ulysses cried out. But Ezra dismissed him rather coldly. "No. Their numbers are still superior to those of the heroes. Being part of Millennium also means giving yourselves up for the greater good. They gave us a chance to find the fifth Item. And we shall take it now. It will be just us. Ulysses, you shall take care of paradise in our absence. And the Good doctor..."

"Hey! You did the thing with the armor! Why didn't you wait for me?" Shouted Echo, once more interrupting Ezra's grand speech. "You can sense that? Wait, you knew about the armor all this time?" Void reacted with astonishment. "Yeah, didn't you? Nobody talked about it, so I didn't wanna make a big fuss about it myself. Also you feel different now. Less heavy, and closer to me.. Am I making sense?" This girl never ceased to surprise him or the others. "It would seem you have an instinct for such matters. But is is not necessary to share the gift with you, miss Echo. You seem to already be a part of this network more so than anyone else." Ezra did not see how his lance could improve her now. "But perhaps you should come with us. Your presence may yet help us locate the item in question." As he spoke, the girl's face lit up with a beaming smile. "Can I?" She looked to Midsummer for approval. "I would have suggested the same thing myself." Midsummer consented. It looked like he would be joining them on this trip.

"Do you wish to follow us as well, Crescent, Void, Yoro-Himiko?" Melyria turned to the others. They still had plenty of choices. Crescent said nothing but nodded her head slowly, and Void.. "Yes." Gave his answer without thinking. He would take this as far as he could go. "This is one step too insane for me, for now. I need to... adjust first." Himiko on the other hand, chose to stay behind as she still felt overwhelmed by her new state. "I do not know what I will do next. I can only hope that you do." She said as she intentionally exchanged glances with Void. "..." Of course he did not reply, but from that alone he knew what she wanted him to do. Part of her was still on their side, but the process had left her confused. Void wondered if that meant that he too would forget about what he wanted in due time.

"Well, the more the merrier. Ezra, I presume you will be taking care of prying eyes with your unique talents? Where we are going, Exeter could easily interfere." The doctor prepared the coordinates for the quickjump. "Consider it done. Now, lead the way." The time for waiting ended here. "Yes yes." Scarlet punched the big button and away they went...

...

Kremlore's LP: 8000 Scura's LP: 8000 -TURN 01-

"So Is this what they do now, mission after mission. It sounds like an army to me. And not the exciting sweaty kind of army." Meanwhile at the frozen courtyard, Scura started his duel against Kremlore, a member of supposedly peaceful Millennium.

"This is what you get when you recruit duelists into a family, Scura. We will defend our home if we have to. My home." Kremlore summoned his first monster in a rather peculiar way. "Oh Tillroo." He made a ringing bell noise with his dueldisk, and let maid walk on to the field. But the Kitchen Dragonmaid Tillroo(3/500/1700) [Zone 1] was no ordinary maid, despite her wardrobe. "What the hell? You use these?" Two curved blue horns poked out of her long red hair, and a red-scaled tail curled out behind her back. "This is my Dragonmaid. My servant! And when she answers my call, I can add another Dragonmaid from my deck to my hand! Though she will need to discard another card afterwards." Kremlore chuckled as he added a Dragonmaid card called Tinkhec to his hand, before sending a Laundry Dragonmaid to his graveyard. "They may look gentle now, but they hide a draconic beast inside of them waiting to break free! Just like me!" The mans chuckle turned into roaring laughter as he bared his fangs.

"Whatever you say."

"Heh. You are so judgmental. As if your dreams are any less valid than mine? These cards have no soul to break, I can tell them to do whatever I want! Laudry, I need you as well!" Kremlore revealed his spell: Dragonmaids Hospitality. As long as he controlled one maid, he could revive another with a different element from he first. Since the Kicthen maid belonged to the flames, he could special summon the water-elemental and youngest servant: Laundry Dragonmaid. The tiny cleaning lady(2/600/1600) [Zone 5] had softer fur on her tail and horns that resembled those of a goat. But she too could become a fearsome dragon if her master willed it. Right now though she carried far too many clothes to keep her balance. "Laundry, when summoned, sends the top three cards from my deck to the graveyard. This clumsy girl." The blue Dragonmaid fell to her knees and caused laundry to spill everywhere. Thee cards fell along with it: Dragonmaid Ernus, Dragonmaid Downtime and Dragons Mirror. "But I can.."

"Waitwaitwait! Just a second. Before I forget." Scura snapped upwards and activated a monster from her hand. "This guy here can summon himself on the field, face-down if he wants too. And that's because you sent one of your deck cards to the grave. Eheheh." She slammed it [Zone 3] down as hard as she could. "What?!" Kremlore took every offense at being interrupted. "What? Can't you read anymore? That was Kongreat, the Prime Primate of the Konglorelberlah!.. The Konglorghefergernudders. Its Primineral Kongreat, alright? Don't make me wish I hadn't added it to my deck or something.."

"... As I was saying." Her opponent simply ignored her outburst and played a permanent spell. "I can take my cards back with Dragonmaid Welcome!" As long as he controlled the continuous spell and two Dragonmaids at the same time, he would receive one Dragonmaid card from the graveyard during each of his turns. In this instance he corrected Laundry's effect by redrawing Dragonmaid Downtime. "This shall do for now, girls. I set two cards and end my turn!"

-TURN 02-

"You know I don't care how you well you get into the role, but I feel like you're giving Dragonmaid duelists a bad name." Scura mused to herself as her turn began. "So you have dealt with the maids before?" Kremlore asked her in return. "Not personally, but I..urhm.. heard about them. And I am not gonna let them get around to transforming," She did not have to tell him that she liked looking up cards like the Dragonmaids herself, though she would never use them. She did not mind smashing them either. "Anyway. Here is Kongreat again! If he flips face-up, two of your cards will be destroyed!" The mineral-bodied primate(8/3000/2000) raised its fists from the earth and created two crevices with its rising punches. "And I target your set cards!"

"My spells and traps? Hmph, your foolishness exceeded my expectations! Or is it fear? Either way, your monster will find no luck here!" Kremlore flipped both cards to use them ahead of their planned destruction. "I activate Dragonmaid Downtime! I can recall one Dragonmaid to my hand, to add another from my deck! Tillroo! Come back to me." His continuous trap bounced back the Kitchen DragonMaid and added the Nurse Dragonmaid to his hand. "And I chain with my quickplay spell, Dragonmaid Sendoff! My other Dragonmaid returns to my hand and is replaced with another that becomes indestructible! Laundry, your work is done! Let Tillroo take over!" The second card only reversed the previous order by placing the fire dragonmaid [Zone 1] back on the field in defense mode. The maid of wind flew back into her master's hand. Kitchen Maid's effect then added a Dragonmaid Lorpar card to that hand as well and discarded Laundry. "Now Tillroo cannot be destroyed for the rest of the turn! That was a waste of effort! You may think you are skilled for having triumphed against Ulysses. But he was holding back! I wont!"

"Meheh, like I would have done any better targeting your monsters. I know Dragonmaids have all kinds of annoying as hell retreating effects and cards, you would have just used your traps and spells to save them. At least this way I got rid of your continuous trap." Scura placed another monster on her field: a pale greenhaired woman(3/1600/1400) [Zone 4] with a rose in her hair and a right bodysuit. "And now I'll kill your maid with Subterror Nemesis Archer! If she attacks a face-down monster, that monster goes back to the deck! So let's see if we can get that done!" Scura activated a spell from her hand. "The Book of Moon!?" Said book forced Kitchen Dragonmaid into a face-down defense position. "No fancy transformations for you, and no battle protection either! That's my kind of battle phase!" The nemesis woman would fire her arrow with a bow greater than herself. The arrow impaled the set maid with such force, that she flew all the way back into Kremlore's deck. "And you can have some too! Kongreat, direct attack!" The Konglomerate primate hurled rocks from his own arms at Kremlore, knocking him down to the ground.

Kremlore's LP: 5000

"Rgh! You will wish you had finished me off. Because now I will stop treating you gently." The draconic duelist bit his lip in anger. "Oh no!" Scura gasped sarcastically as she placed two trap cards down and ended her turn.

-TURN 03-

"Laugh while you can! Nurse Dragonmaid Nasary, come down here and show her where everyone belongs!" Kremlore revealed his so maniest maid of many colors: the earth-elemental nurse Nasary(2/500/1600) [Zone 4]. Scura had seen almost all of them by now, at least in their human state. "Great, my least favorite." Though one might think the Nurse looked sweet with her pink hair and smiles, she still had the tail and claws of a dragon. And the inner spirit of one as well. "Nurse's ability will call another Dragonmaid from my graveyard! Come, Laundry!" The young blue-haired dragonmaid(2/500/1600) [Zone 5] returned to the field once more, to discard three cards (Kitchen Dragonmaid, Return of the Dragonlords, Parlor Dragonmaid) from the deck once more. And since he controlled two Dragonmaids now, he could reactivate his Dragonmaids Welcome spell card to reclaim Dragonmaid Hospitality from his graveyard.

"I activate Hospitality again and special summon Parla, as her element is different from those of Laundry and Nurse!" The final servant arrived this turn all the way from the grave: the wind-elemental Parlor Dragonmaid Parla(3/500/1700) [Zone 2]. Her green hair and skirt were shorter than that of the other maids, while her horns looked flatter and thicker. The green dragonmaid tripped and let her plates fall to the floor. "I knew you would drop it, Parla. Heheh." That was her effect after all, to send one Dragonmaid card from the deck to the graveyard. The card she let slip was Dragonmaids' Costume Change. "The hour is at hand, my ladies! One of you will be recalled!" That discarded spell could be activated right away, to return itself to a players hand by also returning a Dragonmaid from the field. "Your work is done!" He took the wind-maid back.. Only to use her for his next summon.

"Now become one with Dragonmaid Nudyarl! I activate Dragonmaid Changeover! And fusion summon the House Dragonmaid Hauskee!" The fusion spell merged Parlor with another dragon monster (Dragonmaid Nudyarl) in his hand: two specific materials for the mistress of all Dragonmaids. The fusion took on the elements of wind and water and poured it all into a black maelstrom. Her shadow turned monstrous for a brief moment, before it settled on a more human form inside the black and white dress of the headmaid. Hauskee(9/3000/2000) [Extra Zone 2] wore a sophisticated smile and set of glasses on her red-tip horned face. The draconian tail and bloodred wings attached to her arm covered the remaining dragon features. "House-key? Ugh, puns."

"Yes. Hauskee can dismiss anyone she does not like! Whenever a Dragonmaid returns to my hand, she destroys one of your monsters!" The battle began. And the phase change allowed both Nurse Dragonmaid and Laundry Dragonmaid to fall back into Kremlore's hand, to special summon two level 7 dragon monsters from his hand or graveyard. And their effects would naturally synergize with that of the House Dragonmaid. "Two cards are returned, which means both your dwellers will go back to the depths! And I will summon Dragonmaid Ernus and Dragonmaid Nudyarl!" The Husky maid opened her mouth wide and breathed a beam of dark flames straight across the field: wiping out Kongreat and Subterror Nemesis Archer simultaneously. They were no more, and so were the young maids. Nurse transformed into the pink ram-horned dragon of the earth: Ernus(7/2600/1600) [Zone 3], while Laudry became the snake-like and blue-haired dragon Nudyarl(7/2600/1600) [Zone 4] of the waters. "You are next, Scura!"

"You'd like that, but no." Scura grunted as she revealed two cards. "Before you destroyed him, I sacrificed my monster with Subterror Succession! That lets me add a flip monster to my hand this turn!" The first, the continuous Subterror trap card, added Subterror Behemoth Voltelluric to her hand. "Don't mope though, you still killed Subterror Nemesis Archer But that just means I can special summon a Subterror from my deck in defense mode!" She placed the very useful Subterror Guru(4/1600/1800) [Zone 5] in face-up defense mode. "Maybe you should stop under-estimating me! Everyone does it, and I am getting pretty sick of it!" She snarled as well and tried to activate Guru's quick effect.

"There is nothing to under-estimate! You could not even make it into the tagteam tournament! Everyone knows Ulysses only saw you as a pity case. But it its too late for you to come back now!" Kremlore countered it immediately. "Dragonmaid Lorpar! If I discard this dragon from my hand, your monsters effect will be negated for the rest of the turn!" While the dragon of the winds could not stop the Archer's effect from the graveyard, it could keep Subterror Guru powerless and helpless. "Bah!" And afterwards Nudyarl the dragon of water flooded the Guru away with a tidal wave. "Now this is the final blow!" Kremlore bared his fangs once more and spread his wings. He sent House to make the second attack. "Final? Yeah right!" Scura however lowered her own lifepoints first, by making a lifepoint payment. "I activate Burst Rebirth! And reset Subterror Guru!" The trap cost 2000 lifepoints, but rewarded her with a new defender.

Scura's LP: 6000

"Impudent little..." Kremlore could not take his attack back now, so he had let House's attackpoints go to waste on the face-down Guru. "Heehee." And since it flipped face-up before dying, Scura could use Guru's flip effect and drew a Subterror card (Subterror Cave Clash) from the deck. "Laugh while you can. But when I discard Dragonmaid Tinkhec from my hand, my monster gains 3000 attackpoints during my attack!" The master combined the fire of the red dragon with the terran forces of Dragonmaid Ernus(5600/1600), and dropped a cluter of molten stone down upon Scura. "Gyaaahh!" The pain transcended everything that came before. She swore like an actual shower of lava fell on top of her.

Scura's LP: 400

"That is what a dragons fury feels like, Scura!" Kremlore slammed his hands together and ended the battle phase. At that point both Ernus and Nudyarl would transform back into their human selves. The dragons retreated to his hand and Laundry(2/500/1600) and Nurse(2/500/1600) got resummoned to the field in defense position. "This is a dream you gave up on. Now you get to go back to being poor miserable whatever your true name is!" The dragon duelist ended his turn.

"My real name? Heh." Scura spat as she sat down to preserve her strength. "You know even though I've been living in here for way longer than I should've, I still haven't forgotten it. At least I can pronounce my real name. Can I say the same about you, Kremlore? What does that even mean? Is that what you wanna be called for the rest of your life? You can pick any name you want now, right? But you didn't. That just makes you look like you're not taking this seriously at all. You didn't even bother to use that fancy skill card they gave you." Scura actually felt like laughing a bit, as she came to this realization. "I am serious!" Her opponent refuted her many words with few of his own. "That was your comeback? Really?" It just made her see more and more that she already hit the nail on the head. "I do not need a comeback! You are the one losing here! I don't use my skill on weaklings!"

-TURN 04-

"Eh, maybe losing is not the worst thing anymore." She shrugged. "After all you bat#$ $ crazy people, that talk I had with my own folks felt rather refreshing. I think you would hate to lose a lot more than me... But then again." Scura drew her card. "I still want to win more than lose the people I do like! I add another Subterror Guru to my hand!" Scura loudly declared her intentions with her continuous trap. Subterror Succession could sacrifice the Subterror Behemoth Voltelluric in her hand to draw a slightly weaker flip monster from her deck. "And Guru will flip himself face-down, and your headmistress." The newly normal summoned Subterror Guru(4/1600/1800) [Zone 3] found no obstacles for its powers this turn. It switched itself to a set position and scared House Dragonmaid into a similarly hidden position.

"I also activate The Shallow Grave! We both set one monster from the graveyard again to the field. Eheheh." Scura's newest card brought the demonic behemoth Voltelluric back, though nobody could see it yet. "I have to?" Kremlore meanwhile reset Dragonmaid Lorpar to his field. Her confusing actions affected his confidence slowly but surely. "You have too yeah. So thanks, now there are four set monsters on both fields." Scura played her final card as well: the gift of the first Guru. "Subterror Cave Clash! My Subterrors gain 500 attack and defense points for each face-down monster!" If she controlled any, the Cave Clash would add 2000 points at once. "But you cannot attack with face-down monsters!"

"What? You didn't know about my favorite skill?" The veiled girl cackled and slowly stood back up. "I guess you wouldn't. Because I never used it against Ulysses either. I always forget to prepare it, except this time! I activate Shadows Alive! Which means my set monster can attack you directly this turn, with its defense points!" Her very own shadow mixed with the face-down Behemoth card and spread across the mansion floor like spilled ink. "Directly, with its defense points?" The darkness passed his Maids and crept up around him. The pitchblack outline of the giant winged serpent Voltelluric(4000/5000), boosted by Subterror Cave Clash, rose above the dragonmaster. "I guess this is goodbye for you, Kremlore. When you see your old friends.." Scura pulled back her own hood and veil, revealing her long black hair and brown eyes. "Tell em, Scura... No. Jenna sent ya!" Voltelluric fired its blast. "No What happens to me now!? Gwaaah!"

Kremlore's LP: 0

"How would I know?" Scura did not expect to have any sympathy for the guy. "!?" But she did look shocked, when parts of the dragon duelist began to fall off. "No. I am going back to.." His wings dropped from his back, his fangs were retracted and his claws shriveled down to simple nails. "You're becoming normal again." This had to be because of her victory. "No! I do not want too! You cannot do this to me! You.. I... I have to return to Ezra!" In his desperation he tried to grab the Legacy of Millennium. Except, that card could not be found anymore. "No. He..." Without the power of the items coursing through him, the game treated him like any other player who went over the time limit. Unlike Lorelei, Kremlore tried to resist it and got punished for it. "Gaaaah!" STHEREA erased his avatar on the spot, booting him offline. "Eeesh. This network aint kidding around." Scura shuddered. She had never seen a forced log-off before. "Good. I hope it hurt.."

"Scura, you did it!" Neo shouted. "Oh. Uhm yeah, of course." The rest of the icy cathedral came into focus. Neo had not finished her duel with Pharaohslayer yet but rested firmly in the lead. Zettai and Donna were still dueling as well. It looked like they had finished off opponents already though, and were close to wrapping up their current duels as well. "These guys... kinda suck. Honestly."

"Why are you all so strong?" Pharaohslayer expressed his own disbelief at his situation. "Maybe we're just better?" The veil-less girl shrugged. She finally felt like Static chose her for a reason.

But before she could pick on the next challenger.. and after Agent Asterisk shouted his warning. "Look out!" One small crack in the air appeared, all falling snow flakes froze and... the entire building disintegrated. "What the **%^?" What once existed as a neutral zone, ceased to be. Every duelists, engaged or otherwise, landed back in a proper sector of the game: the sanctuary of the sky. "Why are we back here?" And Scura counted up to fifty hazmat-wearing CID drones and mindless ADIs surrounding them. "Because I made you come here." And at the center of it all stood a lone pirate.. a duelist they had all considered to be lost. "Hello guys." Skylander smirked.

(To Be Continued in Line 088: A Thousand Milestones Behind)

**New Cards used by Chiaroscura001  
**Primineral Kongreat  
Subterror Nemesis Archer  
Subterror Behemoth Voltelluric

-  
Subterror Cave Clash

-  
Subterror Succession  
Burst Rebirth

**Cards used by Kremlore  
**Kitchen Dragonmaid  
Laundry Dragonmaid  
Nurse Dragonmaid  
Parlor Dragonmaid  
Dragonmaid Nudyarl  
Dragonmaid Ernus  
Dragonmaid Lorpar  
Dragonmaid Tinkhec

-  
House Dragonmaid

-  
Dragonmaid Hospitality  
Dragonmaid Welcome  
Dragonmaid Send-Off  
Dragonmaid Changeover

-  
Dragonmaid Downtime


	88. A Thousand Milestones Behind

**Line 088: A Thousand Milestones Behind**

"Skylander. When did you get better?" The gang had a million questions for the returned pirate of the sky. The least of which was his new hazmat-wearing friends. "He has not returned, he is a fake! They could not save Wagner either! He sounds all different now!" And Scura quickly pointed out another obvious inconsistency. "Nono! I am the real deal! You guys didn't think I normally talk like a pirate did you? I know this is serious, Exeter told me about what is going on. They gave me these drones for extra security. Because of _them._." He glared at the millennium duelists, who he had put at bay with his reinforcements. "I just wanna talk this over. Live if I have to." He knew Neo was recording everything. Exeter allowed it for a reason.

"Oh yeah? And how are they gonna take care of us eh? We will not go down so easily!" To capture the rebelling crowd in a bad light.

**"Violence will be punished."** One hazmat drone acknowledged the challenge from a random Millennium duelist. And activated its own dueldisk in response to her demands. "They are still giving them a fighting chance?" Zettai did not expect that. "I... what is this?" And what the millennium duelist did not expect was her loadout. She got no searchers, extenders or any defensive cards either. "They are.. cheating!" The girl shouted. "I told you, I just wanted to talk. Dueling will get you nowhere now." Skylander shook his head. "I can already tell this will be a long discussion. At least you guys can... wait. Someone is missing. Where is Veyron?"

...

"This place, of course." Victor lured Veyron out to where he wanted to settle the score once and for all. The Cosmopolis Ultra Athlete sports stadium. "This is where you had your first online duel, thanks to me. Its only fitting that I end your career here." His brother had already started up his dueldisk and drawn his cards. He wanted to get this over with as soon as possible. "You did a lot for me. More than I wanted. But now you seem to be doing everything for yourself." Veyron Never thought he would have to duel his brother. Yet here he was, a part of Millennium. "Hmph. I am tired of talking about the past already. It's time to bury it. This will be where our roads split for good, little brother. But yes, I am doing pretty fine."

Veyron's LP: 8000 Victor's LP: 8000 -TURN 01-

"This time you can watch me duel!" Victor started the duel with two continuous spells: Heavy Metal Raiders [Zone 2] and Dragonoid Generator [Zone 4]. The former had no immediate effect on the duel, but the latter cost 1000 lifepoints to activate.

Victor's LP: 7000

"Heheh! When Dragonoid Generator is on my field, I can summon up to two dragonoid tokens each turn!" A large bed of mechanical eggs lined up the field behind Victor, and opened twice to spawn two tiny dragon/machine pawns(1/300/300) [Zones 2 & 4]. "And since I have two machines now, I can activate Iron Draw two draw two more cards! And I combine that with my skill card: Suit of Cups. It doubles my draw if I roll a heads!" Victor tossed his coin knowing how it would land. "Heads!" It would land the way he wanted, which meant he could draw four cards. "Pretty good eh? I make my luck for myself now! Combine that with a few tricks I saw your competition use, and I can turn myself into a duelist that can beat even you!"

"Anyway, I tribute summon Cracking Dragon!" Victor sacrificed both tokens for the black steel cyberhacking dragon(8/3000/0) [Zone 3]. "Now how about this trick? When I make a token with Dragonoid Generator, I also have to make a token for you when my turn ends!" He smirked, placed a trap [Zone 5], and let the turn pass. "And whenever a monster is summoned, Cracking Dragon makes it lose attack equal to its level times 200! And you lose the same amount of lifepoints!" Two more of the metal Dragonoid eggs popped open, giving Veyron two tokens(1/300/100) [Zones 2 & 3] as well. "!" Immediately Cracking Dragon fired two beams of green light from its many cores, striking both tokens(100/100) and leaving the residual harmful energy for their new master. "Tch." Veyron felt like he got hit by a wave of radiation.

Veyron's LP: 7600 -TURN 02-

"You certainly have developed your own style, Victor. A nasty one at that. But ... Barricade Borg Blocker does thank you for the token." Veyron used the right dragonoid as a tribute, to tribute summon a giant windfan that transformed outwards into a fighting robot(5/2200/2200) [Zone 3]. "Are you sure you want to do that, brother?" Of course Cracking Dragons effect got triggered by the normal summons as well and its cores lit up. "Yes, I wont slow down for you, Victor. This is Fantasti Striborg! It can discard one card to send everything in its column back to your hand!" Striborg looked directly at Cracking Dragon. So even though it and its user could not avoid the damage inflicting lasers, the fanrobot(1200/2200) did push Cracking Dragon off the field. "Tch, you're so wasteful with your resources."

Veyron's LP: 6600

"Oh that discard had a point, Vic. Because I feel like gambling too! I activate Summon Dice!" Veyron revealed a spell, and a virtual die. "And the result I want is.." He tossed the stone and caused it to land on a three. "That one! Summon Dice can revive one monster when it gets a 3 or 4!" Veyron used the special summon for his discarded monster: F.A. Sonic Meister(4/1200/1000) [Zone 4]. "Ha. You were always a dice man, Juan. But the coin is luckier!" Victor scoffed. "Well see about that when we reach the finish line! I activate F.A. Winners!" Veyron played his own continuous spell, a card that set cast an archway of light on the as of yet invisible racing tracks. And every activated F.A. spell, trap or effect would add a level and in turn 300 attackpoints to the F.A. machines like Sonic Meister(5/1500/1000) [Zone 1]. "Save your lines and explanations for the uneducated, Juan. I have heard them too much to even stomach them!"

"Very well, Vic." Veyron would not waste words anymore either. He special summoned the F.A Auto Navigator from his hand by stealing the one extra level from Sonic Meister(4/1200/1000) and turning that into the Navigator's(1/0/0) [Zone 4] new level. "I add Formula Athlete circuit Grand Prix!" The effect of the Navigator also moved one of the F.A. spells from the deck to Veyron hand. "And then I Synchro summon, the Dawn Dragster!" Now he used almost everything; the Navigator tuner, other Dragonoid token and Striborg, to create his racer of the light. The Dawn Dragster synchro athlete(7/2100/2000) [Extra Zone 1] raced out of the extra deck. "I activate Iron Draw too!" Veyron revealed his own iron spell. Since he controlled exactly two machines: he could draw two cards. "I guess we do share some tastes." Victor smirked.

"I guess so. But this spell is my own! I activate the Grand Prix!" Sonic Meister(5/1500/1000) and Dawn Dragster(8/2400/2000) gained another level/attackboost from the newly activated F.A. Circuit. But that field spell also added two temporary levels to the double-engine Sonic car(7/2100/1000) and the seven engined white Dragster(10/3000/2000) once Veyron entered his battle phase. "Dawn Dragster attacks directly!" First the white racer would enter the race.

"Nice try! But I summon Trifortressops from my hand in defense position!" A giant mechanical triceratops(6/1600/2800) [Zone 4] landed in the middle of the circuit with a heavy thud. "I see, since I special summoned 3 monsters this turn, you can bring that fortress of a machine out. But Vic, you made one mistake!" Veyron played a quickplay spell from his hand: F.A. Down Force. "Dawn Dragster can inflict piercing damage!" Down Force added two more impermanent levels directly, and one permanent level indirectly, to the attacking Dawn Athlete(13/3900/2000). With its new speed it could plow through Trifortressops as if it was made of butter. "Too bad Heavy Metal Raiders can negate the destruction of my dark machine!" But instead the Fortress dinosaur stayed put and survived the piercing damage to its body.

Victor's LP: 6900

"True. But Lap one still complete!" The Dawn Dragster raced passed him, through the victory archway. "What? F.A Winners? That's your goal?" Victor winced. F.A. Winners was a continuous spell that banished an F.A. field spell from the deck each time a Formula Athlete with 5 or more extra levels inflicted battle damage on another monster. "You never won with that spell!" And if that spell banished three cards with that effect, the user would automatically win the game. "There is always a first time for everything, Vic." Veyron banished an Offroad Grand Prix field spell. "And now I activate F.A. Pit Stop from my hand!" The next quickplay spell took two levels away from Dawn Dragster(11/3300/2000) to drew one new card. The synchro slowed down, Yet Sonic Meister(10/3000/1000) kept building up speed thanks to the activations of Down Force, Winners and Pit Stop. "Your Heavy Metal only activates once!" Veyron finished the battle phase by having Sonic Meister run Trifortressops down once and for good. And, having successfully destroyed an opponent's monster, Circuit Grand Prix allowed Veyron to draw one new card.

"Ha! I knew you would! But now I can do this!" Victor slammed a new machine on the board. "Desperado Barrel Dragon!" When a DARK machine died, the triple-barrel gundragon(8/2800/2200) [Zone 2] would be special summoned from the hand. "Then I will activate F.A Test Run on Dawn Dragster and Desperado!" Veyron revealed his newest draw. "My athlete switches to defense mode and your monster is destroyed!"

"Some quickplay spell that is! It's still too late!" Unfortunately Desperado Barrel Dragon possessed an even quicker effect, which called for three coin tosses at once. "Hmph." Victor did not end up so lucky this time however, as only one out of three coin tosses landed on heads "I can destroy one of your monsters!" Desperado had just one shot and used it to bring down Sonic Meister, just before Dawn Dragster collided with the mecha-dragon during its test drive. "You are too predictable, brother! You think you can out-think me: when I was with you every step of the way?" And since another monster had been destroyed, Heavy Metal Raiders could resummon Cracking Dragon(3000/0) [Zone 3] from Victor's hand. The spell enabled a quick machine summon whenever another dark machine killed someone else. "And you still can be! It is not too late to turn back, Vic!" Veyron pleaded one more time as he placed his last card face down.

-TURN 03-

"Save it, Juan. It's not like you can stop what already started!" Victor normal summoned a tinier cyberspace beast: the winged wyvern of steel: Jack Wyvern(4/1800/0) [Zone 2]. He also made his Dragonoid Generator 'generate' another dragonoid token(1/300/100) [Zone 2]. "Jack Wyvern will special summon a dark machine from my graveyard, by banishing itself and another one of my machines!" The winged machine bathed its metal body in a green light, and died along with the also consumed Dragonoid. All the remaining radiation re-assembled into a bigger holographic monster: the Desperado Barrel Dragon. "Let's see if it works this timw!" Victor tossed his coin thrice... and made it landed on heads two times. "Aha!" Not that it mattered, Victor could only take down one target: F.A. Dawn Dragster. But it did leave Veyron wide open. "See? I don't need a fancy victory. I just need to do enough damage! Barrel Dragon! Attack Juan directly!" The mechanical gun dragon loaded a bigger bullet into its chamber and unloaded a wide blast upon the speed duelist. "Ghuah!"

Veyron's LP: 3800

"Why did things turn out this way?" Veyron grunted. "We're family, we are not supposed to fight." He clutched his chest. The attack hurt him more than he expected, likely due to the source. "Are you getting emotional now that you are halfway closer to losing again? Ha! We're brothers, we always fight! It used to be about silly things before, sure. But this time is different! You want to follow the rules and be a nice guy? Go ahead! But don't drag me along with you! I know where you want me to go, and I am not going! Cracking Dragon!" The other machine dragon unleashed its green energy rays, wasting even more of Veyrons lifeforce. "Ungh.. Victor."

Veyron's LP: 800

The gambling duelist then placed another trap card down and switched to the end phase, at which point Dragonoid Generator created another token(1/300/100) [Zone 3]. Soon after Cracking Dragon burned the dragonoid(1/100/100) and its master for 200 points. "I said I was not listening to you anymore, Juan."

Veyron's LP: 600 - Turn 04-

"Fine. Then you wont mind me doing this." Veyron put on a weary smile and he revealed his trap card: Magnet Force. "!? I know what you're up too!" Victor cursed. The trap would make all of Veyrons machines immune to monster effects for the rest of the turn: immune to both Cracking Dragon and Desperado Barrel Dragon. "So? Are you willing to waste your ammo on a token?" If Desperado Barrel Dragon wanted to fire, now would be it last opportunity. "Yes! Because I know what you can make with two machines!" Victor activated the Barrel Dragon's power, spinning three coins and getting just one heads. "Tch! This would be so much easier if I still had my programs." Normally he would be getting triples all the time. He still destroyed the token at least. "Weren't you supposed to have true luck, now that you joined Millennium?" Veyron snickered to himself. "What? Of course I.." Victor had pulled it off once. But now he started to wonder, had Ezra just used his powers back then to influence his luck? "Why do you never shut up?! You always talked too much!"

"Yeah I know." Veyron continued. Now he could freely normal summon his F.A. Whip Crosser(4/1200/1000) [Zone 3] without fear of activating Cracking Dragon's burn effect. "I banish Formula Athlete Test Run!" Veyrons spell in the graveyard could be activated again to destroy a card on the field. And Veyron destroyed his own field spell, since Circuit Grand Prix would claim a new F.A. spell from the deck upon its destruction. "The field spell adds Formula Athlete Pit Stop! And activate it!" At the same time, Whip Crosser added levels to itself for each activated F.A. effect. So the biker(7/2100/1000) gained three from Pit Stop, Circuit Grand Prix and Test Run. Yet he immediately lost two to make a pitstop. Veyrons new spell claimed the levels and drew cards from the deck equal to the number of Pit Stops in the graveyard, plus one. "And now!" Veyron drew a spell and a trap.

"I special summon Auto Navigator again!" Another stolen star got absorbed from Whip Crosser(4/1200/1000) into the holographic navigation girl(1/0/0) [Zone 1], who could also special summon herself from the graveyard. And her effect triggered again as well, adding another F.A. Circuit Grand Prix field spell to her user's hand. "And now, Victor. I will do what I should have done a lot earlier!" Auto Navigator and Whip Crosser slammed into a vertical circuit: a link circuit. "I link summon Formula Athlete Shining Star GT!" The ultimate racer and the fastest racing machine were born. Shining Star(0/LINK2) {Downleft/Downright} [Extra Zone 1] blazed across the field like a comet. The link athlete gained its power from linked monsters, so it did not have a lot of attackpoints now. "And.. I bring back Dawn Dragster!" That certainly changed when Veyron activated the first F.A. Pit Stop from the graveyard. Once he banished that spell, he could special summon his Formula Athlete(7/2100/2000) [Zone 3] from the graveyard and link it with the Grand Tour Formula racer(2100 atk).

"That damn thing again." Victor grunted. "Just because it crashed once, does not mean it is out of the race." Veyron played two more spells: the second Circuit Grand Prix from his hand, and Down Force from the graveyard. Each time a spell got activated, Dawn Dragster(9/2700/2000) gained one level and Shining Star GT(2700 atk) gained one athlete counter (3 counters). But the effect of Down Force created two more levels for the Dawn racer(11/3300/2000), and the Circuit added another two stars once the battle phase started. Thus with each spell, both synchro monster(13/3900/3900) and link monster(3900 atk) grew stronger and faster. "Just get it over with already!" Victor had never been too patient with his brother, but at least he was never on the receiving end of the attacks.

"My pleasure!" Shining Star GT attacked first, ramming into the Cracking Dragon and crushing it under its wheels. Though Shining Star GT could not inflict any battle damage either, it did destroy a monster. So Veyron managed to draw a new card with the effect of Circuit Grand Prix. Still something about that battle bothered the speed duelist. "You're not using Heavy Metal Raiders?"

"I am saving it, Juan." Victor only cared about Dawn Dragster's target. "Are you now?" Veyron declared his second attack, and Dawn Dragster(14/3600/2000) started its attack run. "Yeah like you are saving your synchro's effect. But I am not gonna give you a choice!" Victor had enough and revealed his trap card: Jelly Bounce Cannon. "Oh?!" A jelly shooting cannon installation threatened to bounce Dawn Dragster back to the extra deck. "You just love every weapon, don't you?" Veyron deftly negated the trap's effect by reducing Dawn Dragster's level by two. His synchro(12/3600/2000) could still make quick work of Desperado afterwards. "You laugh now. But, when I do take battle damage, Heavy Metal Raiders can also absorb that damage into my machine as he protects it!" The Barrel Dragon(3900/2200) pushed back with renewed and stolen energy, forcing the synchro racer to drive around it.

Victor's LP: 5800

"But as I always like to say: you still took damage!" F.A. Winners still counted that as a hit. It banished F.A. City Grand Prix from the deck to add the second lap to Veyrons record. "One more to go, Vic." He placed two cards face down and ended it on that.

-TURN 05-

"You wont have your way. You cant have your way! Everything you ever did? That was me! It was _always_ me." Victor reactivated his Dragonoid Generator to make two more Dragonoids. Veyron could have stopped it, but he feared Victor's face-down traps more than a simple token generator. That was a mistake. "I sacrifice both tokens, and summon Gizmek Orochi! The Serpentron Sky Slasher!" A mistake that allowed Victor to special summon his newly drawn monster: a mechanical reptile(8/2450/2450) [Zone 4] with three snake-heads, four claws, two blades and three cannons extending from its back. "Now go ahead and negate its effect! You will have to, Juan! Orochi destroys your Grand Star otherwise!" Gizmek Orochi took three random monsters from the extra deck and banished them face-down: in order to fire three cannon blasts at Veyrons link monster. "Ugh." The Shining Star could at least negate one monsters effect for the price of one Athlete Counter, causing Serpentron's energy build-up to fizzle away. But This negation effect would only trigger once per turn.

"Finally!" Victor capitalized on this weakness right away and gave the barrels of Desperado another spin. "There!" And all three coins landed on heads for once. "Here is the luck you joked about, 'Veyron'! I guess fortune has had enough of you! I destroy all your monsters!" Since Desperado rolled a successful triple, it would also drew one new card from the deck. And of course its gunbarrels claimed a victim: destroying both Dawn Dragster and Shining Star GT. "End of the road, brother! Desperado, direct attack!"

"Heheh." Unexpectedly, as he stared down the triple barrel of Desperado Barrel Dragon, Veyron could only laugh. "What could possibly be funny now?" Victor would not stop his attack now. "Just that your luck, at its best, still works against you. You managed to blindside me... Had you only destroyed Dawn Dragster, you would have won. But now, I can do this." He revealed his continuous trap: F.A. Dead Heat. "When I am attacked directly, I can special summon one Formula Athlete from my deck! I special summon the Turbo Charger!" A four big-wheeled futuristic dune buggy(6/1800/1500) [Zone 3] bounced out of the deck and kicked up dirt everywhere as soon as it entered the field. It too gained 300 attackpoints for each of its levels. But even with the Circuit level speedboost, Turbo Charger(8/2400/1500) could not escape the blasts of the Barrel machine. So now Veyrons fate truly lied in the hands of chance. "Once per battle, Dead Heat can raise my monsters level by four! But only if I roll a dice higher than yours!"

"Ah, so this is what it comes down too? A test of luck?" Victor swapped out his virtual coin for a virtual die. "Yes, which one of us was born lucky." Veyron prepared his own die and the two brothers tossed both stones at the same time. "!?" Veyron shocked himself by rolling a 1. "Ha! I cant believe it! You are.." Yet... so did Victor. "What?!""

They both tied with the lowest possible result. "This has got to be some cruel joke." Victor sneered. Neither of them expected this. "...Perhaps something is telling us that we should not be fighting at all." Veyron smirked. "No. That's nonsense! Roll again!" Per the rules of the Dead Heat trap, both played had to reroll in case of a tie. This time Victor managed to get a five this time. "Ha!I am.." But... Veyron could beat that, with his six. "Sorry, Victor." Dead Heat resolved, giving Turbo Charge 4 levels through the traps own effect. And the effect of the trap also made Turbo Charger levelboost itself(13/3900/1500) once.

"Oh, so that's your funny plan? Making me selfdestruct?! Too bad it doesn't matter! I activate Limiter Removal!" Victor snapped back and made the Desperado dragon(7200/2200) twice as powerful as before by removing its limits. "Your older brother will always be one step ahead! You don't get to tell me about my mistakes now! I.."

"I have Limiter Removal too, Victor." And so Veyron revealed the other set card, his own limit removing quickplay. "Ah..." The spell rendered Victor speechless and left Turbo Charger(7800/1500) with double _its_ previous attackpower. "You already attacked." No matter how many shots Barrel Dragon unleashed, all of them were dodged by the Formula Athlete as it circled back around and ran over Victor's machine. "And FA. Winners activates for a third time." The damage, caused by his monster with more than 5 extra levels, made the continuous spell banish the Circuit Grand Prix from the graveyard. All three field spells were now removed: all three laps of the race completed. Turbo Charge crossed the archway and ended the duel. "You won.. you finally pulled if off on your own."

Juan's LP: 0

"I told you. I am better than what you used to know. But I never wanted to be better than you." Now that he made it this far, Veyron could take no joy from his victory. His anger got abandoned at the racing circuit. "But you were. You always got... what I wanted. I could only be the man behind the man." Victor saw his own body despawn piece by piece. The system forced him to log out. "I did all of that for you, Victor! And this duel as well! It does not have to end this way. Where are you? Please, let me help you!" Veyron did not know where his brother would end up, once he returned to reality. He did not want him to run away again. "Where else do you think? Our home. That where I always was. But why bother now, Veyron? They will come for me, I ticked off a lot of people." If the authorities would not get him, the dark side of the dueling world would. Only Millennium could have protected him perfectly. "Because we're still family! You have done wrong, and justice should be served." Veyron activated his own log-off sequence. "But I will be there to see that nothing bad happens to you along the way." Both duelists vanished. They would see each other again on the other side.

(To Be Continued in Line 089: Follow the White Pixel)

**New Cards used by 'Juan' Veyron GT  
**Fantasti Striborg  
F.A. Turbo Charger

-  
Summon Dice  
F.A. Winners

-  
Magnet Force

**New Cards used by Victor**  
Trifortressops  
Jack Wyvern  
Gizmek Orochi the Serpentron Skyslasher

-  
Dragonoid Generator  
Heavy Metal Raiders  
Limiter Removal

-  
JELLY Bounce Cannon


	89. Follow the White Pixel

**Line 089: Follow the White Pixel**

In one section of the real world, two different siblings faced off. "You havent explained her yet, Therese!" Hansen cried out again, slamming his hands on the table. The one he spoke to, only through audio, was his own sister in a sealed office several floors below. "I told you what I know about her! They found her while I was dueling your minion champion!" She had to tell him everything she experienced, because he had also made clear to her that he had 'apprehended' several duelists at his sanctuary in the sky. He simply showed them Neo's own stream, which told her that they had no idea how much danger they were really in yet. "How could she be there then? Tell me!" So he did receive plenty of information about Millennium, enough to satisfy any man. But when they came to the subject of Echo, she could not help him.

"I can't! It seems to me like you know more about her than I do, Evert! What was that place? Why were you rebuilding an entire city?" And he might have been a CTO, but she was still his sister. She tried to turn the questioning around several times. "We were just testing.." And this time Hansen could not provide a reasonable excuse. "Testing? How to make a fake world? Evert, what is going on? Why are you so afraid of this girl? Why does Himiko's family have access to the A.I. projects? Why are you storing memories of your coworkers? What did you do?"

"...This conversation is over." Evert hovered his finger over his console. "Evert! Tell me you are not going to hurt those kids! They did nothing wrong! Evert! You can't keep hiding this!" Therese pleased. She did not care about herself, only about Neo and the others. "I... " But Evert, though he reflected on it briefly, cut off communications before she would ever hear an answer.

...

"It's pretty!" Echo declared with great joy, as the item hunting party: Ezra, Melyria, Prospero, Scarlet, Void, Crescent, Midsummer and Echo, landed in the sector Scarlet designated. 'Pretty' would not be the first word on everyone's mind when they layed eyes upon this new world. They stumbled into a rose filled garden, with arches and stairways strewn about and a permanent sunset in the sky. Only the sun looked like a bloodshot eyeball and the stairs twisted in ways that did not seem possible. "Is it supposed to look like this?" Void scratched his head. Parts of the world floated upside down, above the clouds. Gravity and geometry were twisted sideways, rocks floated freely in the air and vines extended for miles and miles.

"Welcome to the ZONE." Scarlet began. "At least that's what Exeter called this failed experiment. They were trying to create an Escher-styled virtual space with impossible physics and warped dimensions. Needless to say they failed and dumped every asset in the debug zone. But it is amazing that they came this far to begin with." She had already visited the place by herself before. "Marvelous. I had no idea Exeter could even aspire to such wonders." Midsummer touched one of the clouds, feeling his hand drift through it like misty snow. "Perhaps they did make it. Perhaps not. Regardless, it would seem the Item has nestled itself here. But I have been unable to find it on my own." Scarlet started leading them across the literal yellow brick road.

"You talk as if the item has a will of its own." Void commented, as he tried to settle in on the weirdness. "They do. Don't they?" Crescent interjected, remembering Ezra's words. "Yes. The Creator's will, the one who made this world. His work has been buried by Exeter, allowing them to take the credit. But I hear him. When I return to my thrones I receive his visions, his wisdom. Melyria can also feel him. And now you can too, can't you?" Ezra turned softly, burning his searing eyes into the mind of Void. "... I do." His answer surprised him, but he did sense something pulling and pushing at him. Yet he could not tell from which direction; there were so many to pick from. "That is good. If you can sense it, then you can help us find it too." Melyria smiled. The eight of them would find the Fifth Item in no time.

"Evening."

Or rather, the nine of them. "Hey its the ghost guy!" Much to Echo's amusement Hydra reappeared, discarding his cloak for his black baron avatar... "I see there have been some developments." Schwarzwald/Hydra turned to look at Prospero and then at Void again. "Oh yeah, I brought your electric friend back.." Scarlet began to explain, though Hydra ignored her. "I surmised as much already. I am more interested in you, Void. Have you finally become one of us?" He seemed to share a lot of the same distrusts as Prospero did. "He, claims, he has." Prospero said with a spark.

"I _have_ joined you. I am as free as the rest of us." Void did not have to lie about that. "What about you? Have you found anything else at that city?" He could even find a common ground: the secrets of Exeter. "No, I have not, unless the next item is disguised as simple brick in a wall. What I did find is enough cause for concern. That world goes far deeper than the surface. I located space inside the buildings. Entire rooms were recreated; control rooms and offices, bedrooms and halls, vaults and bunkers. Familiar places, places of rulers and finances. If I did not know any better, I would say that was a place where one could trap your enemies.. and make them think they were still living their real life. And not for a noble purpose." Hydra's red eyes shifted toward the lady Echo. "Are you certain that this city was made for you to have a life in? That it was drawn from your memories? It does not seem to have your presence in mind. It seems far greater than what one person would ever need."

"I dunno.. I just assumed it was." The girl shrugged.

"There is something else I have been meaning to ask, miss Echo." Something that Void nearly forgot during all the hectic moments of the last few hours. "You said something about surprised that Sundown was there. What did you mean?" He could already guess the response. "Huh? Oh the cowboy boy! Well, I just thought it was a bit of a surprise that he was there. I've spent so long with.. well.. fake people. That I can tell when someone is different. Like you were different. But he felt more like... a part of the world. You know? But he isn't? I thought there were a lot of those people out there, that looked just like things you have pictures of. Midsummer told me about them." The word escaped her at the moment, but everyone knew what she was talking about.

"ADI's? Sundown is an ADI?" Crescent stammered. "That is not possible. I would have noticed if he was." Hydra insisted. "Oh? Can you tell things like that too?" Echo wondered, looking at the baron with big eyes. "I could tell from the beginning that you were different. But Sundown can't be. Yes, the data for our avatar bodies are basically the same as data for ADI bodies. But he has a user ID, he registers as a player on the network. It doesn't add up.." He shook his head. "Maybe. But Static did tell us, that one of us was special." Void began to ponder this revelation as well. "You take what Static says as gospel? He was just trying to seed more discord." Hydra grunted with disdain.

"Static? Who is that?" And Echo chimed in again because of her own curiosity. "The man who brought us all together. But he seeks the items for himself. We did as he was told, for a while. Until we realized what kind of power the items wielded." Midsummer gave her all the facts, which she eagerly absorbed. "Hmm. It is possible, he was always around at the arena beyond. Perhaps he's not an ADI then. But he could be something unique." Scarlet opined. Naturally this conversation drew her in too. "I really wish he had stepped into my lair. I would have known on the spot. He didn't enter my safezone either."

"Sundown.. is the special one?" Crescent repeated it to herself, as she struggled to process the information. "Crescent, are you okay?" Void noticed that she sounded afraid. "It's.. I always thought.. that Static meant me." She said with a despondent sigh. "You? Why would you think that?" Void exclaimed. "Because I always felt.. wrong inside. Like I wasn't a part of anything. Everyone always called me not normal. And I felt like I had to go somewhere else." Thinking back to her past only made her more miserable. That was a feeling she understood well. "Hmph. There is nothing wrong with you." Melyria surprisingly stepped in, and placed her hand on Crescents shoulder. "You are a magnificent being, one whose light cannot be diminished. And my power only works on those that are willing to accept it, on humans no different from you and I. So let those others speak, you finally have a place where you belong. You found us. You feel that way, don't you, yes?" Crescent nodded back to her. "I do feel...closer to where I think I have to be." She smiled again.

"If you want a second opinion, you can always ask me for a scan. Or we can let miss Echo decide." Scarlet gave her her own assurances. And from the way Echo looked at her, Crescent could also tell that the virtual girl detected no strange qualities to her.

"Is this, pertinent? We have better, things, to do." But at that moment, Prospero cut in with a flash of electricity, to remind them all of what they were here for. "I thought the wellbeing of our brotherhood was always pertinent, Prospero." Scarlet smirked. "Yes... But nevertheless, we, must find, the Item." And they could not do so by just walking around talking to each other. "Agreed. We should all split up. This twisted dimension is clouding my senses, as if there are a dozen items instead of one. But most of us can feel the presence on their own. So we shall all follow a trail." Ezra figured they had a better chance divided. "Very, well." Prospero grunted. "This might be interesting, having to perform a search with your senses as well as my tools." Scarlet said to Prospero as they headed off in a random direction.

"Those two have become rather close, hmm." Melyria muttered. She went her own way, as did Midsummer, who lead Echo in her wheelchair. Ezra also moved away but shared one last look with Hydra. "I know. I will maintain cover from above. If one of us sees something, I will alert the rest. I will be watching you." Baron Schwarzwald bowed and disappeared once more. His words were clear, and obviously intended for Void before anyone else.

"Crescent, do you want me to go with you?" Void offered, not thinking it would make much of a difference. "I would rather be.. on my won. But thank you, Void." The girl lowered her head and walked away quietly. "..." Void wished he knew what went through her right now. Or what went through him? He still did not feel many changes or effects from Melyria's power. Except for the fact that he could definitely detect a presence in this world. But he could not control who would find it first... He wanted to be the one. He had to be the one. Everyone counted on him.

...

And so Crescent walked alone, on one of the many winding stairways that this world offered. It seemed to lead her passed rivers streaming upwards or diagonally, though they looped back around and never ended. Where did she go, she could not tell. The roads were similarly infinite. Scarlet told her to look out for strange colors, but everything here looked strange. Perhaps this was a test from the item? Crescent did not know why she thought about it like that.. It brought her no closer to finding the item. Where would it be hiding, and in what form? She knew only one thing, she did not hate this place.

Nor was she alone. "Ezra?" Suddenly she came across the deliverer himself, holding the lance in his hand. "Crescent. It seems fate has brought us together." He spoke with his deep foreboding voice, threateningly gesturing at the layers of sky. "I presuppose that this realm is taking us for a fool. Tell me, have you seen any sign of the item yet?" Even he appeared to be as lost as her. And with the chaotic rules in place, it could very well be the case that they somehow ended up in the same spot despite going in separate directions. "Ezra. Are you.." So why did this feel wrong? "What is the matter, Crescent Aurora? Did you see something haunting?" His way of talking, his body language, it all looked off. Crescent could just tell that this 'Ezra' did not belong here.. "Who are you?" This one did not deserve to have that appearance. "What are you saying? It is I!The Grand deliverer!" Despite all his protests. "You are lying."

"Really? Man, what gave me away?" The lance wielder suddenly spoke with a much higher pitch, and his avatar glitched out. "I thought I had such a cool disguise too. Guess I should've listened to V when he said it would never work." The woman behind the disguise turned out to be none other than Madam Blanche. "Blanche.. you are here? How? Why?" Crescent felt this only raised more questions. "Oh, answering a question with another question eh? Sorry, for once I am not snitching. Then again I didn't think I would run into you, I didn't plan that. But I know what you and the others are looking for here.." Blanche admitted as she looked around the confusing world and the giant glowing eye in the sky. "I guess you haven't found it yet."

And while she did that, Crescent looked behind her to see if she could spot anyone else. But they were already far far away. "You want the Item for yourself." She was alone. "Or you want to give it to mister Static.. Or Exeter. Don't you?" She had to do this alone. "I can't let you." Crescent activated her dueldisk and prepared her cards. "Whoa. Whoa! I dont wanna fight you, Aurora! We're on the same side here! I dont trust Static either, and Hansen not at all. We just wanted to find the thing before anyone else. Dont tell me you actually want to help Ezra!?" This had been the first time that the two saw each other since Crescent ran away. Blanche had no idea that the weather girl had became this dedicated to them. "I do. I owe it to them."

Crescent's LP: 8000 Blanche's LP: 8000 -TURN 01-

The duel could not be stopped anymore. Crescent already took out her cards and claimed the first turn. In that turn she normal summoned the tiny Weather Painter Snow(3/0/2200) [Zone 2]. Her effect would then activate a Canvas spell or trap card from the deck. "You owe them? Are they forcing you to do this? What about Void? What about Scura?" Blanche did not like what she heard for even a second. "Void is fine, he is helping them too. Scura left, which is also fine.. But you do not understand, you did not see them save Wagner. This is the least I can do to repay them." Crescent shook her head and made her choices. "Snowy." She picked the color of white and element of ice, activating the continuous spell of the Snow Canvas [Zone 2]. "And Rainbowed." Afterwards, the Snow Painter gained her new power from the spell's snow falling down in her column; the ability to banish herself and add a new Weather card to Crescent's hand. The girl added a continuous trap card and placed it [Zone 3] face down.

"Is that what this is all about? Crescent, I'm not sure I buy that." Blanche narrowed her eyes. "But it is true. I just want to help people." Crescent meekly protested. "There's nothing wrong with that. But.. arent you worried that they are just taking advantage of you? Look I am sure Wagner is an okay guy, but he was not all roses and sunshine. He used you too, though I bet he didn't notice that because of his own ego. And now he's gone, and you are just letting others tell you what to do instead. Can't you just set them aside? Dont listen to them, or to me for that matter! What do you want?" It seemed to her like Crescent had a complex: an inability to act independently. "I want the truth. And it is somewhere near us." And no words would get through to her.

-TURN 02-

Blanche drew her card, and the Weather Painter Snow [Zone 2] returned to the field in defense position. "The truth. Well, I have my own. So if we cant be nice, we will do things this way." Blanche activated two spell cards: first setting the continuous Pinpoint Landing on the field and then revealing a new normal spell. "Bingo Machine! Go! Lets add three Blue-eyes support cards to this little gamble." A lottery machine shaped like the three-headed blue eyes dragon popped up from her hand, and swallowed three cards (Blue-Eyes Solid Dragon, Blue-Eyes Chaos Max Dragon, Blue-Eyes Alternative White Dragon) from her deck. "So take a chance!" The cards were kept hidden from Crescent, who had to randomly select one. "Ah.. Now." She called for a stop, and the machine did just that. The third dragon-head spat out the selected card: Chaos Max Dragon. "Tres bien!" Blanche returned the other two cards to the deck and prepared her newly acquired monster.

"I activate the Advanced Ritual Art by sacrificing a normal monster in my deck! A Blue-Eyes for a Blue-Eyes!" Her third spell would be a special ritual one. It sent one Blue-Eyes White Dragon from her deck into the graveyard, and used its lifeforce to animate the massive destroyer dragon: Blue-Eyes Chaos Max Dragon(8/3000/0) [Zone 3]. "Here we go, Crescent!" Since she successfully summoned a monster from her hand, Blanche could draw one card through Pinpoint Landing. "Chaos Max cannot be targeted by or destroyed and he inflicts double piercing damage! I hate to do this, but I am not gonna drag this out!" The dragon fired its blast of white and black light.

"Then.. I have to do this." Crescent revealed her trap. She did not settle for just one color this time, she called upon all seven. "Weather Rainbowed Canvas. When you control a monster, I can banish one of mine once a turn. And then I summon another." The light of the rainbow struck the second, third and fourth columns and included Snow in its glory. Crescent removed the icy painter, and converted her element into that of liquid water. "I summon the Weather Painter Rain." A bespectacled young girl(3/1200/1400) [Zone 3] with thick blue braids, a large flowing dress and teardrop-like wings burst through the prismatic river and caused rain to fall everywhere: rain and thunder. "When Rain is summoned, I can activate one Weather Canvas from my hand. I choose the Thundery Canvas." Lightning storms darkened the zone of Rain, because of the newly activated continuous trap [Zone 4].

"Thundery? Whoa now!" Blanche called back her attacking monster. If Chaos Max battled Rain now, the Thunder Canvas' effect would bounce it back into her hand. "Was that... a trick just now?" Blanche realized, Crescent could simply have set that trap last turn instead of using Rains effect to activate it. "... I knew you wouldn't attack me unless I looked helpless." Crescent openly confessed to the deception, minor as it was. "I did not think you had it in you." Blanche snickered and placed a trap card facedown as her second main phase started. "I wish I saw this side of you more often." She almost ended the turn at that, but Crescent would not let her yet. "I sometimes feel like I have too many sides. Sides people do not like. This side is the only one that never gets me hurt... I activate my Snowy Canvas." The icy spell had to banish the Painter Rain first, to draw a new Weather card (Weather Painter Thunder) from the deck. "Now the turn ends."

-TURN 03-

Immediately Snow[Zone 2] and Rain [Zone 3] returned to the field in defense and attack position respectively. "I guess that's why I like this deck. The weather always changes. And now there is a storm." Crescent normal summoned another one of her many painters: Weather Painter Thunder(4/1700/0) [Zone 4] the fan of yellow and lightning. "There always will be one." And she activated her skill card: Eye of the Hurricane, returning her Snowy Canvas spell and targeting one of Blanche's set cards for destruction. "You like to destroy, but so do I! Your set card, will disappear!"

"I do like to smash stuff, I am not very good at being subtle. That's why Mirror Force is my favorite trap. Buuuut.." Blanche allowed the trap to be shattered. "What if this trap is something else? I activate Mirror Force Launcher! When its destroyed by a card effect, I can set it back on the field along with a Mirror Force card from my deck!" The cascade of water and banished snow drowned the Mirror Force Launcher, but also facilitated the resetting of both that continuous trap and the infamous Mirror Force.

"You. tricked _me_ this time." Crescent lost her excitement when she realized her move backfired on her. "I guess I can only be half as good as everyone else, if I try everything at once." She let out a sigh and reactivated the Snowy Canvas [Zone 2]. The Painter Thunder then made her attack against Blanche. "I would say you're at least pretty good at making me feel bad." Of course, as expected, Blanche activated her Mirror Force trap in order to reflect the attack back to the Painters Thunder and Rain. "But you're pretty good at dueling too!" The white haired duelist noted as Crescent silently saved both her monsters from the reflected attack. The Snowy Canvas banished Weather Painter Thunder to claim Weather Painter Sun from the deck. The Rainbowed Canvas simultaneously banished the Rain painter to special summon Weather Painter Aurora(6/2200/2000) [Zone 1] in defense mode. Defending monsters like her and Snow could avoid the destruction of Mirror Force altogether. "I guess.. I thank you for that. And for everything else. You were always kind to me, Blanche." Crescent placed one trap card face down and made her turn end.

-TURN 04-

"Well, I wish I still could." Blanche drew her card and saw the usual suspects return: Weather Painters Rain [Zone 3] and Thunder [Zone 4] in defense mode. At this rate, Crescent would have the full rainbow set. And that would become a problem: a link 3 problem. "But I did say I didnt want to drag this out, so.." Just one attack from Chaos Max would inflict 8000 points of piercing damage against Weather Painter Thunder. It seemed too easy, Blanche knew Crescent wanted to trick her again. "Chaos Max! Attack!" And yet she could only play along.

"I am glad you did that." Crescent smiled and revealed the element of her trick: the earth. "I activate Quaking Mirror Force. All your monsters are switched to face-down defense position and cannot flip themselves back up again." Crescent caused a massive rumble, splitting the earth itself apart. "Oh that's right, you like Mirror Forces too." Blanche's ritual dragon toppled over and set itself down. "One for each element I suppose." She had already seen use the wind mirror force, and counted herself lucky that she did not run into the drowning one.

"What.." Crescent's mind seemed to be elsewhere. "Blanche, did you see?" In that brief moment where the floor had crumbled, she could peer into the digital abyss beneath. "What? What did you see?" Usually STHEREA would just mimic a pit of shadows for such visual effects, like whenever one activated a field spell that simulated a bottomless pit. "Colors..." But Crescent saw something different, she saw a mosaic of all the colors of the spectrum. There were even colors in there that she had never seen before, ones that the human eye simply could not see. "The Item, it is around us. We were this close all along." Crescent finally understood now why nobody could find it before. Because it did not take a solid form. It appeared as the spectrum of light itself. "What?" Blanche missed it, she saw nothing of the sort now with the floor closed up again. "I have to do this now, Blanche. I feel it, this is what I was meant to do. It does not want someone with just two colors. It wasn't someone with all..."

(To Be Continued in Line 090: When Skies are Grey)

**New Cards used by Madam Blanche  
**Advanced Ritual Art  
Bingo Machine, Go!

-  
Mirror Force Launcher

**New Cards used by Crescent Aurora  
**The Weather Painter - Rain

-  
The Weather Rainbowed Canvas  
Quaking Mirror Force


	90. When Skies are Grey

**Line 089: When Skies are Grey**

A perfectly insane world illuminated by a glowing eyeball. What could Void expect to find here? He knew the item had to be here, but to him it felt like it existed all around him like the air. The air that suddenly got very solid. "Oof! There you are. Come inside, quickly but normally!"

"Wha? V?" Void took a few steps and found himself inside of a strange bubble forcefield, wirh Vigionair on the inside. "You're here?" Of all people, the encrypter showed up to help him? "Well we are a little short on hand here, and Asterisk had his own problems to deal with. But when Blanche came in, I knew I had to make quick work of it. What, you didn't expect me? Show some gratitude!" After all, Vigionair did not have his lair anymore. He might as well do some fieldwork. "But how.." Void wondered why he did not show up before. "You like it? Its a combination of my disguise kit and the projection tech. As long as we keep walking inside of it, everyone on the outside will only see you walking. Our conversation is perfectly hidden. I had to take extra precautions because of that nuisance Hydra. Don't worry, we all have emergency evacuation software as well."

"We?" Void felt his heart skip a beat. "Of course, Blanche is here too! That foolish girl had to try out the disguises though. I told her it wouldn't work, and now she's run into trouble." Vigionair shook his head. Nobody ever listened. "Blanche? We have to help her!" Void freaked out. He got her into this mess. "Not possible! We have an item to find. Do not go off schedule now. This is our one chance, I am this close to cracking its code. Besides, she may not need our help. Either way.. she understood the risks."

...

Blanche's LP: 8000 Crescent's LP: 8000

"Hey, Crescent? Are you sure that just happened? I mean I know why you are here, but..." Blanche liked to think she had an open mind. But imagining colors that did not exist went beyond her comprehension. "I did see it, Blanche. I am not crazy." Yet she stood opposite of a girl known to never lie. "Hey I didnt mean it that way." Blanche halfway apologized. Crescent did not really listen. "People always called me weird. Except Wagner... except Ezra and Melyria." She got trapped in her own head again. "Hey. Everyone is weird, that's not so bad. Look, I am not good at picking the best words, so just ignore the edges of every sentence. You're smart, that is what matters. You're giving me a real challenge too, kinda annoying." Right now Blanche only had a set dragon she could not flip back face-up again. On the other side Crescent controlled four Weather Painters: Aurora(6/2200/2000) [Zone 1], Snow (3/0/2000) [Zone 2], Rain (3/1200/1400) [Zone 3] and Thunder(4/1700/0) [Zone 4]. The weather duelist also possessed three Canvas cards: Snowy [Zone 2], Rainbowed [Zone 3] and Thundery [Zone 4].

"But I kinda knew you liked Mirror forces. So.. I did hold back just a little." Blanche had no solution for monsters anymore now that the battle phase passed. But she could do something about the spells and traps. "Paladin of Felgrand!" Her normal summon for the turn went towards the blonde knight(4/1700/300) [Zone 3] in silver armor. Into its blade, the Paladin could equip a level 7 or 8 dragon from the deck. "I give it Arkbrave Dragon! And then.. I will sacrifice him and my Blue-Eyes Chaos Max Dragon!" The Paladins secondary power allowed it to tribute two monsters, itself included, to special summon a level 7 or 8 dragon from the graveyard. "To bring back Arkbrave! Your cards are only protected against targeting and destruction, which Arkbrave can beat easily!" Now reborn, the goldlined wyvern(7/2400/2000) could banish all face-up spells and traps on the enemy's field.

"Ah. Then I.. Activate my Canvas!" So she used what she could, while she could. The Rainbowed Canvas let Weather Painter Snow banish herself to special summon Weather Painter Sun(4/1600/400) [Zone 5] from the deck. Weather Painter Thunder in turn got removed via the given effect of Snowy Canvas. That allowed Crescent to draw a new Canvas card from her deck: Cloudy Canvas. "Nice. Less nice for me, but still." Afterwards Blanche's Arkbrave Dragon flapped its four wings to awaken a storm of golden light and wind. Her storm dispelled all three weather conditions: snow, rainbow and thunder. Arkbrave(3000/2000) then gained 200 attackpoints for each card it banished. "Good old 3000 attackpoints. I guess I am predictable like that" Blanche smirked.

"But I can predict what you are gonna do. Not that its bad to be predictable. Still.." Blanche would not be using many effects next turn either, once Crescent made use of all her Painters. No Mirror Force would help her then. "I activate Mirror Force Launcher! If I discard one card during my main phase,I get Mirror Force the classic!" Blanche discarded the White Stone of Legend, and reclaimed her favorite trap with her continuous trap. And thanks to that discarded White Stone, she could also add a Blue-Eyes White Dragon from the deck to her hand. And I will also use this! Melody of Dragon Awakening! I discard one card from my hand, and add two dragons yadda yadda. You know how it goes." Two dragons with 3000 ATK or more and 2500 DEF or less, she could pick any pair with those parameters. Naturally she selected another regular Blue-Eyes White Dragon and one Alternative Blue-Eyes White Dragon after she discarded the first Blue-Eyes from her hand. "And then, I activate my skill! Master of Summoning!"

_Master of Summoning, Skill Card  
Special Summon 1 Level 7 or higher Monster from your hand. __Return it to your hand during your opponent's next End Phase._

"A new skill?" Crescent was taken aback as Blanche special summoned the classic Blue-Eyes White Dragon(8/3000/2500) [Zone 4] from her hand in defense mode. "Can't always stay predictable, Aurora!" Blanche could also draw a new card now, thanks to Pinpoint Landing. "I have to minimize the damage somehow. Though I will still set this card, you know which one." The Mirror Force hid behind the blue dragon, and that ended the white womans turn.

-TURN 05-

"The colors, maybe.. that is why." Crescent began talking to herself as she drew her next card. "Huh? Is anything wrong, Crescent?" Blanche still cared, even if they were dueling each other right now. "Blanche. Did you know, that colorblind people can see every color in here? Did you?" But she came up with an unexpected tangent. "Ehr.. I read about that once yeah." Blanche figured that if someone said that, it was probably true. "Maybe that is the gift, the clue. The colors are brighter than ever, because they want us to find someone. The Creator..." Though the conclusions that Crescent drew were hers and hers alone. "Creator? You mean like.. the guy who made STHEREA? Or.." The blue-eyed duelist did not like how much she started to sound like Ezra. "I do not know. But I feel drawn towards this world, this place. Ezra told me that there is a voice buried in the network. Maybe I wasn't helping them as much as I was helping the voice. Maybe I was meant for this all along."

"Because I can control all the colors." The Weather Painters Thunder [Zone 2] and Snow[Zone 4] returned from banishment. "Link summon, Weather Painter Rainbow." The orange light of Sun then crossed with the Blue water of Rain and the purple mist of Snow: creating the threeway link circuit for the Weather Painter Rainbow(2400/LINK 3) {Downleft/Down/Downright} [Extra Zone 1]. The light of the new rainbow linked with the Painters Thunder and Aurora. "Rebirth summon, Weather Painter Sun." Crescent followed it up by activating the effect of the sunny painter in the graveyard. It took a continuous spell from her field, a Weather Canvas Sunny that she activated at that point, and burned it down to bring himself [Zone 4] back in defense mode. "And the Cloud." Sun's revival activated the Weather Canvas Cloudy [Zone 3] card from his owner's hand. The owner herself normal summoned the last color needed to complete her painting: Weather Painter Cloud(4/1500/1000) [Zone 3] of the white clouds. "Here we come, Blanche."

"Oh boy." Blanche could do little else but accept the punishment. Activating an easily negate-able Mirror Force now would be a bigger waste. "Cloudy Canvas weakens a monster, but it can also attack directly this turn." The Weather Painter Sun vanished into the painted clouds, banishing itself and using an attack-halving effect against Arkbrave Dragon(1500/2000). That left it at a disadvantage when the goddess of seven colors came to collect its life. Rainbow fired a prismatic stream from her canisters: burning, freezing and burying Arkbrave all at once.

Blanche's LP: 7100

"I am sorry about this too." Crescent banished two more monsters to use the effect of the Cloudy Canvas. Cloud targeted Thunder, so that she(850/0) could attack directly in this turn. And after her attack, Thunder disappeared to target Aurora(1100/2000). Both painters flew over the Blue-eyed dragon on their clouds, to blast Blanche from above. Thunder lashed out with a staff of lightning and Aurora dropped a wave of boreal lights down on top of her opponent. "Brr... I know you are. But it doesn't feel that way." Every single attack made the white-haired girl feel like she experienced the proper and horrid weather conditions: going from extremely cold to intensely hot at the drop of a hat. "You.. went through the ritual, didn't you?" It dawned on Blanche now, how Crescent had learned how to make attacks feel real. "I had to." Crescent whispered. She placed a single trap down and ended the turn. "But I wont let you get hurt like others were, like Wagner was. I owe you that much. I only want you to not be in my way anymore."

Blanche's LP: 5150

-TURN 06-

"You know, Crescent. I don't want to be in your way. I just don't really think there is a greater purpose here, just a bunch of people trying to make sense of something random. Destiny, purpose, legacy; I never really cared about that stuff. I cant touch it, so why should I want it? Maybe I'm just shallow. But I do know one thing. If you want something, it's better to take it with your own power. You don't have to just accept what the world throws your way. If you dont know what to do, thats fine too. Just ignore it, dont follow it." As her turn began, the Blue-Eyed dragon returned to Blanche's hand. But now the effect of Arkbrave Dragon would trigger from the graveyard. Since it died last turn, it could revive one of Blanche's monsters in this standby phase. "!?" Of course, Crescent quickly blocked this summon. So the divine Weather Painter banished one of her linked companions, Thunder, and negated Arkbrave's effect. Just as Blanche predicted. "Because you are already strong enough by yourself, Crescent. Instead of being ordered around, you are giving the orders right now."

"That is different. This is a game, it has rules. It makes.. sense." Crescent sighed.

"Yeah and people dont. I know that too. Doesnt mean there is a meaning to it. We can all be special, but we dont have to be. And I dont feel like being special. Guess I am just another chaotic mind." Blanche introduced another element to the duel: Blue-Eyes Alternative White Dragon(8/3000/2500) [Zone 3]. "A mind with a simple track! Rainbow cant stop special summons, can she?" The seven colored goddess had no response to the summon, so Blanche could chain Pinpoint Landing to the special summon. "No, but it can stop your spell." Crescent banished Weather Painter Cloud through her link monster's light and destroyed the continuous spell before Blanche could draw a card off it

"Hrm." Still, solving this turn was as simple as attacking and destroying the Rainbow. But Blanche would need a little more attackpower to get beyond Crescent's Cloudy Canvas. "Return of the Dragonlords!" So she played one more spell. "I can special summon my dragon, Arkbrave Dragon!" Either she would banish Cloudy Canvas or force Crescent to banish the last Painter linked with Rainbow. "Sorry." Or Crescent would do both. "I negate your effect, and activate Stormdragon's Return to unbanish my monster." Namely through her trap card. The Dragonstorm struck the banished zone with lightning and created an opening that special summoned the banished Weather Painter Thunder[Zone 3] back to the field. Afterwards Rainbow's own effect resolved through the banished Weather Painter Aurora, which negated Return of the Dragonlords.

"Your return was a little faster than mine eh? In that case! I activate Alternative White Dragon's effect!" One more effect to activate, to smash into Rainbow's negation powers. If Crescent did not stop it, Rainbow would be destroyed by the dragons burst stream. "Why do you keep trying? Arent you doing something because of what others want too?" Crescent blocked that just as easily, and finally removed the last link: Weather Painter Thunder.

"Heh, now you get it. But one of my motto's is this.. Dont let hypocrisy get in your way, nobody knows yourself better than you! And for the record, I am doing this because I want to do it. But it helps that I have someone I can trust. That does not happen often." Blanche laughed and banished Return of the Dragonlords from the graveyard. "I banish my spell, so that my dragon cannot be destroyed!" There were no more effects that Crescent could prevent. And Blanche still had a few cards left to play. "Trade In!" Blanche discarded her level 8 monster, the normal Blue-Eyes White Dragon, and traded it in for two new draws. "Heh, excellent. I activate this little thing. Extra Foolish Burial! It costs me like half my lifepoints, and I cannot set any spells or traps anymore. But that means I can send one monster from my extra deck to the graveyard!"

Blanche's LP: 2625

"And that happens to be Neo Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon! A card that negates an effect that targets my Blue-Eyes! And destroys the source of the effect!" With that card in the graveyard, Blanche would be able to attack Rainbow freely... without fear of the Cloudy Canvas. "And its a good thing you negated my dragons effect, so now it can still attack! And I can say this: Blue-Eyes attacks the Rainbow!" At the end of the day, the light of the spectrum could not resist a pure white radiance. Blue-Eyes Alternative White Dragon blasted Crescent's colorful link monster to prismatic pieces, ending her control over the field. "Ah.." The tide turned against Crescent, and she could no longer use her spells against the dragons. "Rainbow always dies, in one turn. People are just too chaotic." Crescent sighed as she also let the Rainbow be hit by the dragon's attack. She would be better off using the Clouded Canvas on her own painters next turn.

Crescent's LP: 7400

You're starting to remind me of Void. Not all people are bad. Heck, Wagner was kinda decent too. I guess some Millennium guys arent halfbad either, but the guys at the top... Then again I guess this isn't about them anymore." Blanche still had to do something about her defenses, which was where her other card could come in handy. "Let's have a synchro summon! With the Priestess with the Blue Eyes!" A silverhaired woman(1/0/0) [Zone in an almost uniform-like white and blue dress appeared holding a dragon-shaped bell in her hand. The sound the bell made started the synchronization process between her and the regular Blue-Eyes. "And I summon Blue-Eyes Spirit Dragon in defense mode!" Her new majestic blue-eyed dragon(9/2500/3000) [Extra Zone 1] was whiter than a ghost, and just as transparent. "While I have this card, no monsters can be special summoned at the same time!" Blanche explained and declared the end of her turn.

-TURN 07-

"But, my monsters are not summoned at the same time." Crescent demonstrated by summoning all of her Weather Painters, Thunder[Zone 5], Cloud[Zone 4] and Aurora[Zone 3], one by one. Then she looked at her drawn card. "...I am sorry again, Blanche. I know you still have Mirror Force. But.." Blanche activated the effect of Weather Painter Thunder: destroying one continuous spell to activate a new Canvas from the deck. "I havent used the rain yet." The clouds turned dark and filled with water, the Rainy Canvas [Zone 3] replaced that of the Clouds. At the same time the painter of clouds activated his effect in response to the destruction of one Canvas, and he returned the Cloudy Canvas to her field. "I send your trap back to your hand." Crescent then washed her Weather Painter Cloud away, banishing him so that the rain could drown the Mirror Force trap. "Oh. Yeah I figured." Blanche grew a little worried. But she still had enough lifepoints to withstand two direct attacks, and her defending dragon could not be destroyed with Crescent's currrent power.

"The world...Do you see it Blanche?" The girl seemingly drifted off again, focusing on the clouds and rain drops that she had thrown in the air. "Uh, Crescent? What are.. What did you do?" All of the sudden, the colors of the world looked more vibrant than ever. Even the girl of white could see what the girl of many colors saw: refracted light of impossible rainbows. But she had no idea what kind of light source could create such colors. "This world. It's not what they want us to see, it is what we want to see. It is.. a dream come true." Crescent stretched her hand out, wrapping her fingers around the eye in the sky as if she wanted to pinch it. And then she attacked with her Thunder weather painter. "What the?!" But it was not an in-game attack. She made her monster strike the world itself with her paint brush, coloring the eye in the sky. Her action caused the color of the world to change from red hot to cold blue: altering fabric of reality just by willing it. "Okay. Now I have seen everything." Blanche gasped. The cold blue light lit up spots across the realm, causing blue roses to grow from rock and air.

"We were wrong to look for it it in one place. He was all around us. Not an object yet, not the sun but the sun's light." Crescent fired another blast with the Sunny Weather Painter, turning the light into a deep purple. More roses grew, shedding petals all over the place. "I can see you. I can help you!" The Auroral painter struck the sphere last, causing all kinds of colors to break out. Now the entire battlefield grew littered with flowers. And their falling petals came together like a mosaic. "This is it.. The World Shield." The mosaic transformed into a large segmented kite-shield, with two spikes sticking out from each side and a glowing eye-like sphere embedded in the center. "Great..." Blanche mumbled. Crescent had found it before anyone else could. "But the duel is not over yet!"

"But it is. You tried hard I know. But you cannot win any more." Crescent activated a new continuous spell: Possessed Awakening. "Possessed Awakening adds 300 attackpoints to my monsters for each of my elements." The suns fire, the thunder's light and the aurora's darkness: three attributes covered by four colors. Each of Crescents Painters would gain 900 attackpoints because of their union. Aurora(3100 atk) had enough power to break through the defense of the Spirit Dragon and Sun(2500 atk) and Thunder(2600) were equally monstrously powerful. "Oh..." Blanche had gotten so wrapped up in trying to punch through the rainbow, that she overlooked the individual Painters. The sunlight and thunderstorm left her arm scorched and numbed. "Guh!... So you won the fourth item.."

Blanche's LP: 0

"No. She won The fifth."

"Yikes!" Blanche recoiled as Melyria suddenly appeared in the middle of the scene, growing from a pixie size to a humanoid one. "Oh right, the amazing shrinking lady." Blanche cursed her luck. "Melyria. I found it! I did it!" Crescent of course felt a lot happier to see the owner of the World Armor again. "You did, yeah. You have done splendidly. I should have known that the creator's power would manifest on such a level, the graphical glitches were the prelude, hm." Melyria sounded very proud and pleased, showing off her own Item in the process, much to Blanche's deepening horror. "You have one too? What the heck?" That explained the comment about there being five items instead of four. The white lady could only wonder what these ones did.

"What do you feel, Crescent?" Melyria of course wanted to find out the same thing. "I feel... the light. The Creator's light. Anything I want to change, I can change." Crescent picked up the shield and pointed it at the sky. The eye inside the shield fired a ray of light and turned the calm clouds into a storm. The sky turned darker as well. "A visual power? No. This is not like Ezra's ability. This alters the nature of the world itself, not just what we see in it. The weather, the cycle of day and night, heat and cold; all of it is now yours to command. Who knows what we could do if we combine our powers together. Our paradise can finally be real!" This way, Ezra would not have to expend so much of his own power to maintain Paradise. That's what Melyria figured. "But before we tell him the good news. We have someone to deal with, someone who has to make a choice." The woman activated her item, becoming the transparent and ghostly wielder of the World Armor. "Blanche, you have lost the fight. You can now choose to join us, or..."

"Wait!" Crescent raised her voice. "What.. is it?" Melyria faltered, sensing the power within Crescent. "It is not her fault. She does not understand. Everyone lied to her too." The image of Blanche reflected against her shield, and the shieldbearer looked into it. "What... are you talking about?" Blanche grinned nervously. Somehow getting a postponement on this final judgment did not help her relax. "I can see it all now, the true colors of people. The color of the tiles you stepped on to get here. They are all not white. They are black, black because of Exeter. And they are grey.. a Void. It's because of Void." With a start, Crescent raised her head. "Void showed you the way. And Void was shown the way.."

"Ugh." Blanche winced as the great shield struck the whole twisted dimension and shattered all concepts of distance and elevation. The large hollow became a small space. "Whoa.. what?" Void, Scarlet, Midsummer, Echo, Prospero and Ezra reappeared on the same stairs as the rest. "Where did you.. come from?" Hydra and Vigionair got dragged into the daylight as well, no longer invisible. "Fantastic." V groaned. All of the encrypter's protections were stripped away. "It, is you. Working, with Void, once again." Prospero of course felt his electric body charge up at the mere sight of his near-destroyer. "It, was as I said, Ezra."

"Is that so?" Ezra turned on Void. "Is it your doing? Is their presence because of you?" He gestured at both Madam Blanche and Vigionair. "Hey, give us some credit! We found this place on our.." Blanche shouted.

"No.. It is true." But Void answered regardless. Everyone looked at him, everyone besides Echo who seemed fixated with Crescent's new shield. Void saw it too. The fifth item. Now he knew all of his plans had been for nothing. "I did it. I told them how to find this place. Scarlet, you showed me the coordinates before I returned home. I simply passed them on to Blanche." A simple plan that still failed. "How? How, did you do, it? I, monitored your network, activity! You did, not, even leave the room!" Prospero protested. "I wrote a note. On paper." Void chuckled. He had never told anyone that Blanche and him met in real life, that he arranged for her to come by every day. When he returned to his room one last time, he simply left her a written message on his door.. knowing that she would visit soon. That part at least worked.

"Then you lied. All this time." Crescent took the revelation the hardest. "Crescent, I.." So much so that Void began to feel unnerved. She gave off a different vibe now, a terrifying one. "You did not come to save me. You just wanted to stop Ezra. To stop all of this. To stop me from finding.." Her left hand stroked the World shield. "Yes he only sees _his_ world." Ezra joined her, placing the tip of his lance on her shield. "He should only be in that world." Through some unknown connection, Crescent knew what he wanted from her. "This will not hurt, Void. But you have to learn..!" The orb on her shield lit up along with the tips of the lance. "Crescent, I.." And the cyberse duelist got captured inside its light, and faded out...

(To Be Continued in Line 091: At Light's End)

**New Cards used by Madam Blanche  
**_MASTER OF SUMMONING_

_-_  
Priestess with Eyes of Blue

-  
Blue-Eyes Spirit Dragon

-  
Extra Foolish Burial

**New Cards used by Crescent Aurora  
**Possessed Awakening

-  
Storm Dragon's Return


	91. At Light's End

**Line 091: At Light's End**

Charles woke up. In his own bed. His own room, under the light of the sun creeping through his curtains. "Wha..." Had he always been here? How long did his sleep last? When did he go to sleep? What was the last thing he remembered seeing? A dream? _"No."_

No, he saw a bizarre reality. Nothing what took place before had been part of a nightmare, no matter how much he would have liked for it to be. He saw the power of light in a virtual world, the power given to someone he knew. Crescent, Crescent Aurora. The name took a while to get to him. Why? What did he lose when he went from A to B? Was this his punishment? He had done something wrong. No, he had done something right. He tried to do something right. But what did he do? He tried to take that power before anyone else could. Not for himself. But he did not know who else he would give it too. And he was too late now. All of his lies, all of his actions, all that he would have given up. It all turned to nothing, and in the end they cast him out. The real world, that would be his punishment.

"No!"

He could not leave it at that. They needed him! He had to return. Void had to return! The headset, it still lied on his floor. It had to work! "Not..." He put it on his head, and felt nothing. The room stayed the same, his body stayed the same. Banished from STHEREA forever they said. Is this what that felt like? Would he be rejected even if he tried to use another headset, like that of Blanche? Of... Dharma.

Dharma! She could help him, she would be here again soon. If she was not already! Where was she? He did not see her? Did she not enter the network from his place? She must have come by here to see his written message. In fact he knew she did, because the note was no longer there. Where dis she go? When would she be back? He had to talk to her! He had to help her. She would still be down there with them, with Ezra and Melyria. Or... he could talk to others! Of course! He still had access to the network, he could still contact someone online! Vigionair, Asterisk: someone would hear him!

"It's not...No!"

He could not go online. His computer did not even start up. His phone did not connect. His many screens picked up nothing but static. They had done this. Millennium had shut down his access to the world. All he could do now was run outside and seek help from those he knew in real life. But besides Blanche, who did he really know? Who knew Charles? Who would believe his crazy stories? What could someone like him possibly do? His head hurt from even thinking about it. But he could not do nothing, not anymore. Too much was at stake. He would find help, one way or another. He just had to get out of the front door. "Huh?" He just had to undo the locks and step outside. "What is.." He just had to put in the right keycodes to.. "Why isn't it working?" He had to stay. No mat_ter what he tried, the door stayed shut. This was not normal, they could not have done this to him as well. What were they trying to do? Starve him in his own room? A fate like this, he dreamed of it in the past. To end up like this was always one of his worst..._

_"Nightmares..."_

_This was not real..._

...

"What did you do to the kid?" Vigionair immediately chewed them out. From their point of view, Void had disappeared into nothingness because of them: Ezra and Crescent. "He is not hurt. He is just.. asleep. He had to see what I.. what we could do now." Crescent said bitterly.

"Did he, really?" Blanche grimaced and placed her hand on her dueldisk to prepare a log-off. "You can look for him in the real world, but you wont find him there yet." Ezra stopped her. "His mind is still part of STHEREA. But now he is trapped in his own illusion, his own nightmare. That is the fate of all who defy the eyes of god. The fear of god." Not too long ago he had delivered the same unhappy ending to Alpha for daring to defy him. Though _he_ should be back in his miserable world by now. "My power is the power to shape what the mind can see. A dream so lifelike the rest of the senses are taken in as well. But Crescent can go beyond. She can change the way the world physically works. Before I had to support my creations with replicated assets. Now we can make whatever we wish! Paradise is one step closer to us!" He sounded eerily delighted.

"If you dont mind me saying so. You are all insane." Vigionair shook his head. "Insane?" Ezra snapped. "It is the world which has no sanity! I turn madness to peace! Fear to pleasure! You would seek to stop that? Your friend has already lost the right to obstruct us. Do you desire to to fight us, encrypter? Can you?" A confrontation seemed inevitable. The two sides could never reconcile. Not with each other, but also not with.. Him.

_"So there you are."_

A voice. They recognized that voice. "Hansen?" A voice that should not have reached them down this far. _"You thought you could hide from me?"_ He spoke so loudly, it felt as if he had broken into their minds. "The CTO? How did he find us?" Hydra had been given no warnings, he could not detect his presence then or now. Ezra's power should have shrouded them, as until now his illusions had always been completely effective against Exeters leering eyes. Yet he found them. Though he did not come by himself. He instead brought forces that Hydra could sense, but only after they quickjumped into the area en masse. Not just CID and ADI duel monsters units, but mass produced digital copies of admins like Julia and Hieronymus.

"That's just overkill..." Blanche counted at least a hundred, if not a thousand. "Not, enough." Prospero quickly expanded his electric body to do what he could do best, short out anything with its own electric mind. "Raaahhh!" He raged like a thunderstorm, striking the drones in the chest one by one. "What?" But his chained lightning never made it passed the first wave. And the first wave did not even budge. "You had no effect on them, even after I improved your avatar? Amazing." Scarlet felt impressed with this display which left Prospero exhausted and speechless. "I wish I could take one them for myself and pick it apart." She cackled.

_"Are you through? You can tell now that you are not dealing with the average artificial servant anymore, can you?" _The voice of Hansen taunted them once more. "Hey. Are you another invisible guy? You sounds familiar!" Causing Echo to perk up from her chair. _"You... Do you not remember me?" _Hansen sounded surprised. "Should she?" Midsummer asked the CTO in return. But his questions were brushed off_. "I see now, I see everything through their eyes. The heroes and Millennium were working together all along!" _Hansen did not have to answer them anymore. "Hey hey hey. Dont lump all of us together now." Blanche yelled back, while Vigionair tried his best to stay unnoticed. _"Silence! I do not care! You thought you were so strong, so clever. And yet now I have you here, surrounded and outnumbered! You probably want me to tell you why and how I managed to get the best of you. But I wont, I just want you to disappear. To leave my network! This is the culmination of all of Exeters projects! It is my legacy, not yours!"_

"Legacy. The World Legacy. Are you.. using it against us? The World Chalice?" Crescent realized what might have been going on, what allowed the CTO to surprise them. _"Who? Ah. I remember you too. Therese's old partner. What have you been up too? Getting an item of your own? Heh, I will be taking that as well. Or do you want to see Therese get hurt?" _Hansen made his threats, causing Crescent's face to grow pale. "You would not do that. She is family!" She shouted. _"She is a traitor! Like the rest of you. You, Ezra with the World Lance. And there is another with her own Item. I cannot believe I will be adding three of those damned things to my collection today. But I will have them, because STHEREA made them! And I made STHEREA! Me! You will surrender them now, or your friends will get hurt! Maybe you don't believe me capable of hurting my sister. But I have other hostages too! People you thought were safe in that pitiful 'neutral zone' of yours!" _

"The others!?" Crescent gasped. "So that's what's been keeping Asterisk busy." Vigionair grunted. Matters were so much harder to keep track of these days without a fully functioning lair. "This could be a problem.." Scarlet realized her own hideouts were at risk now as well. "So. You, have challenged us, to war." Prospero stood upright once more, recovering his lost energy. _"Can't be called a war when it will be all but over in a day." _The CTO scoffed.

"A war was not what we wanted. But if it is what you desire, then we will fight back. We are stronger now than ever before. If you are sing the Chalice against us, then it matters not what it can do. Not when three times that power will be coming for you! And we shall! Crescent, lend me your power!" Ezra extended his hand, which turned to flesh for the moment. He revealed a part of his true self to her, so that she could once again combine the Shield's light with his illusions. "Yes.." Crescent held the World Shield with one hand, Ezra's with the other. The Deliverer himself then swung his lance around in a wide arc, causing spikes of ice to jut out from the air and soil to freeze or impale the many CID drones. _"What is this now?"_ Visual deceptions alone would never have worked against Hansen's army, because they had no minds of their own. But Crescent made the illusions real enough to cause significant damage.

_"Nice attempt." _But Hansen had little reason to be affraid of them even now, his CIDs and fake admins pulled themselves out or broke free from the ice with relative ease. Any damage sustained regenerated as a strange liquid boiled inside of them. "..." Ezra pulled back his hand, which turned skeletal once more. He could not keep doing tricks like this. "We cannot destroy them. And we cannot fight them, yes? I feel it now, what they have done to some of us already! We have to run! Ezra! We all have to run!" Melyria screamed. _"Go ahead, run! I will find your paradise soon enough too! You cannot hide from me anymore!"_ Hansens voice finally went away, leaving to let his drones do the dirty work.

"Running? What about the others! Hey! Crescent! You're not gonna leave them behind, are you?" Blanche reminded her of everyone still in danger because of Hansen. They could not leave without dealing with them first. "Actually.. I think they are going to be fine." Vigionair finally spoke up. "They are? What makes you say that? And what about Void?" Blanche griped.

"From the sound of things, _he_ will be fine too. As for you... you must be V. I have heard so much about you. You seem more open to the prospect of cooperation." Scarlet approached the partner of Asterisk with a proposition she had already made before. She would not hear any complaints from Prospero this time. "Only because we do not have time to argue." Vigionair looked at Blanche and at the encroaching CID army at the same time. "Uuuughh, fine." Blanche relented. Things could not get much worse now.

"Then it shall be done." Ezra took almost everyone under his expansive cloak, whisking them away towards paradise. Only Echo stayed still, forcing Midsummer to come to her. "Echo. We should leave too." The nightmare duelist followed her gaze towards the oncoming swarm of CIDs. "He is not a man of high imagination, I agree. All the power of STHEREA and he just sends in more empty vessels time after time." Was she looking at them? He wondered. "I... It's not him. Or them." No, her thoughts went elsewhere. "Let's go, Midsummer." She looked away, her smile gone.

...

Every duel with the CIDs always ended the same. **"Activate Cyberdark Cannon. Discard it to add Cyberdark monster to hand: Cyberdark Horn. Then normal summon Cyberdark Horn, and activate monster effect to equip level 3 dragon from the graveyard."** The hazmat duelist went through the standard setlist, summoning the mechanical cyberdarkling(4/800/800) [Zone 1] and equipping it with the draconic cyberdarkling Cyberdark Cannon. The original attackpoints of the equipped dragon were added to Cyberdark Horn(2400/800). **"Activate Cyberdark Claw. Discard it to add Cyberdark spell to hand: Cyberdark Inferno. Activate Spell and Effect, return Cyberdark to hand to normal summon another Cyberdark monster. Then activate effect of Cyberdark Cannon. Draw 1 card when it is destroyed as an equipment."** Cyberdark Inferno pulled Cyberdark Horn back, causing the hostless cannon cyberdarkling to selfdestruct and give its owner a new card from the deck. Afterwards the infernal spell enabled a normal summon of the same Cyberdark Horn(3/800/800). Every move it made it ignored its opponents complains. The drone could only think of one thing: elimination.

**"Activate Dragon Ravine. Discard 1 card, send dragon monster from deck to graveyard."** The hazmat's field spell discarded the Cyberdark Keel in its hand, in order to send Cyberdark Edge into the grave as well.** "Activate Extra Foolish Burial. Pay half of lifepoints. Send fusion monster from extra deck to graveyard. Five-Headed Dragon."**

CID's LP: 4000

**"Activate spell: Overload Fusion. Fusion summon Cyberdarkness Dragon."** And, of course, the enemy had the spell needed to finish its combo. Overload fusion banished the fusion materials from the field and graveyard: the Cyberdarks Horn, Keel, Edge, Cannon and Claw. The five combined into one great mechanical terror: Cyberdarkness Dragon(10/2000/2000) [Extra Zone 1] with its sharp wings and bladed legs, with four devilish horns and two teethfilled maws, and a large cannon strapped to its back.** "Cyberdarkness Dragon equips dragon monster from graveyard: Fiveheaded Dragon."** To add even more power, the great god of dragons added its five-times elemental attackpoints to Cyberdarkness(10/7000/2000) **"And Limiter Removal, double a machine's attackpoints."** Finally, another dangerous spell piled on top of the fused Dragon(14000/2000), making it strong enough to keep the speechless silent. None of their opponents ever got a chance to draw a lifesaving card or to make an attack. No skills could help them either, not even the Legacy of Millennium.

Millennium Duelists's LP: 0

"I warned them. I warned them all." Skylander sighed as yet another fell. Half a dozen had tried their hand at dueling the Hazmats. None won, and all their avatars were deleted afterwards. "This is not justice." Zettai hated watching this. "Well they should not fight back! Neither should you. I am doing this for you guys as well!" Skylander sighed. "You only picked the lesser of two evils." Zettai snarled back. "Call it whatever you want. But I know who is going to lose this war. Just check the media, or your streams. Neo, whose side are they on eh?" Skylander grunted. "I..I don't know." Neo did not even see any new comments come in. Why was everyone staying silent now? "Hmph, they do not want to get hurt anymore. And I don't want to see you guys hurt either. So please don't get any ideas of fighting back. You cannot beat these drones."

Not everyone stayed silent however. "How about we beat you instead?" A new challenger stepped forward. "You?" Bionis Khan..

...

Millennium arrived no worse for wear, but with the threat of Hansen hanging over their head. "You have returned!" Himiko, Cherry and Ulysses waited for them there. "Blanche? How did you end up here?" The zombie princess woke from her serene stupor at the sight of so many new faces. "Wait, you were here all this time?" Blanche did not exactly count on running into her either. "Not you too..." The white haired duelist could tell right away that Himiko had undergone the same process as Crescent and Midsummer. "Starting to regret my choices already. At least Hansen aint brainwashing everyone." In a way she could even see why Hansen would become this crazy about cleaning up his network. "I am not brainwashed, Blanche. Mark my words, I still have a clear picture of the entire situation and of the real enemy."

"Ha. if it were, up to me. You would, not, even have joined us. This, is a mistake." Prospero uttered his static curses and started to follow Scarlet as she moved away from the group. "Where are you going?" Himiko inquired of the doctor. "To check up on my laboratory. I suspect that Exeter will come after you before me, but I cannot take any chances. If I am to concoct a solution for our new problem, I need to have all my tools at my disposal." That apparently also included the lord of thunder, who simply stared at Ezra before he departed with the dear doctor.

"Geez, what the hell happened out there?" Cherry had never seen Melyria or Ezra this spooked. "It's Hansen. He is desperate to silence us." Hydra started to explain. "More like completely bonkers." Blanche added sardonically. "Yes.. and in his desperation he might have turned to the one power that can match ours, the World Chalice. We have no idea what it is capable of, or why he is able to wield it. It does not feel right that a man such as him would be able to control that gift." Melyria stated morosely.

"That sounds all kinds of crazy. Does that mean that he can find us here?" Ulysses began to feel concerned about their safety and that of everyone living here now. "I am affraid so. We have to alert everyone. Ulysses, get them assembled. Everyone who is willing to duel needs to be ready for a counter-attack." Melyria did not yet have a plan in mind, but they had to be prepared for anything. "Yes, I will get right on it!"

"So this is paradise. How quaint. Pedestrian even." Meanwhile, Vigionair considered a few different priorities. He did not seem impressed with the world Ezra had created for him and his followers, mostly due to the lack of technology. Even if they were existing within technology, so to speak. "You do not see it like I do, mister V. And we can make it even better now. We can make all of it real. Like that..." Crescent stared at the golden castle on the horizon, Lorelei's most precious location. Except now it seemed to be falling apart. "What is happening?" The place looked worse than ever. "Lorelei... is no longer with us. While we searched for the shield, they ended up fighting each other. It was her imagination that kept the castle intact." Melyria had to give her the bad news. "Then, even before Hansen was... we were already losing people. We have to do something! It cannot end now!" Crescent finally felt brighter, stronger and more clearheaded than ever. She would not let anything or anyone take it away now.

"How about you start by releasing the poor lad?" Vigionair muttered. "Void? But he.."

"Crescent. Void did care about you! He wanted to save you! It was Hansens idea to use him to infiltrate your group!" Blanche said with a more pleading tone, trying not to make herself mad, as she understood why Crescent felt betrayed. "Himiko, say something!" She hoped that she would at least get someone on her side. "We do need everyone for this if we want to survive." The princess gave her input a more logical approach. But Crescent, despite her conflicted emotions, could also only give a logical and unfortunate response. "I don't know... how." She looked down at her own hands and then towards Ezra. The answers did not lie with her. "Do not mistake this truce for an alliance. If you cross us, you will be banished as well. And the punishment Void suffered will last as long as he wills it. He has been trapped inside his own subconscious. Once he wakes, only then will he return the waking world. That is up to him, not me." And his answers were not satisfactory either.

"Tch, fine. Then I have to go. I have to check.. But your 'truce' better hold, alright? We can kick each other in the shins afterwards. And I bet your bones make a nice sound." She pointed a finger at the skull-faced man. He might have have been the most dangerous duelist this side of the network; she would not let that stop her. "It shall." He seemed to respect that. "I am astonished to see you care so much for him." Himiko also had her own kind of respect for her now. "Heh. Well, he is my boss. Gotta honor the bond." She laughed to herself. But for once, she felt dead serious.

Things quieted down once Blanche left. Though a lot of unsolved dilemmas still drifted in the air. One of them stemming from a little girl's confusion. "I think I remember something. That man, the one who talked. I heard his voice before. He was there when..." Echo's eyes were wide; seemingly struck by an epiphany. "The last time I talked with my friend. My first friend. I heard him as well."

"Wait? Your first friend? What are you talking about?" Vigionair had been meaning to ask about her background. All he heard was that they found her in the virtual city. "Her name is.." As usual, Midsummer felt more than willing to regale him with tales of her wondrous nature. "It's fine, Midsummer. Mister V, I am Echo." But the girl wanted to do it for herself. "Do you want to be my friend too? I hope so. We need a new V I think. But you were asking about me, which makes me glad. Because I think I can tell a little bit more now." She clasped the ribbon on the front of her dress. "That man who saved me, he was from the real world. He put me in here because I would have died otherwise. He checked on me every day, until someone else came to check on me with him. That was him, the scary voice. At first he seemed proud of my friend, and excited to see what he did for me. But then he told my friend not to keep wasting his time anymore on me, that his work would be so much better for others, for richer people.. That is what he told my friend. My.. this world's friend."

"The Creator."

"What!?" Ezra let out a gasp. "Wait? This creator is actually real?" Vigionair had written that term off as just one of Ezra's crazed delusions. The encrypter liked to joke about his own perfection. But to know that another genius had never been heard of seemed hard to believe. "Who is the Creator? Who officially made STHEREA? The Network?" Himiko had never been curious about that until now either. "Exeter put up a long list of testers and coders, and that seemed to be the official team that helped put it all together. But I never really believed it, if you ask me. I knew some of those people on that team; smart but not creative. This breakthrough, this virtual realm and its ability to accept a human consciousness... I always attributed its design to an unknown party that did not want to receive credit." And V's theory seemed to be true, that mystery man seemed to be the one that saved Echo's life.

"Yeah, I remember him telling me.. how he made all of this. How he came up with the way to put my mind into this world. I don't think.. I know, that he did not want it to be turned into something like this. This world where everyone keeps fighting each other all the time. That is.. what the other guy wanted. He did something. Something bad." Echo rubbed her arms, feeling a sudden coldness in the air.

"Hansen. He took the work away from the creator, he started the degrade. I have always said, that he was real. His voice, his light, his fears and thoughts.. they have become one with STHEREA. And these items are all that remain of his power. He left them for us, as his weapons of vengeance!" Ezra pulled out the world lance and pointed it at the skies. "That is why we are right, mister Vigionair. Because we are on the side of the creator. Hansen will pay for his crime!" Ezra said with an intense fury, never before had such anger left his mouth. "If He is using the Chalice, he must be somewhere in the network. We will find him, and we will end him. Then the creator's legacy will be restored!" He broadcast his voice across paradise, rallying every duelist there to his cause.

"Uhm that is nice and all. But how will we find him?" Cherry raised a good question. The network seemed endless, Hansen could have picked a million hiding spots. "I think, he would want to keep the Chalice safe at the same time. He will still have it close by his own world." Crescent spoke up, as she came to a realization. "The elemental palace. That is our way towards him.."

(To Be Continued in Line 092: Confirmation Polarization)


	92. Confirmation Polarization

**Line 092: Confirmation Polarization**

"So is this a closed party, or can anyone join in?" Bionis snickered as he casually walked into the sanctuary of the sky. "You knew where we were?" Neo gasped. "What took you so long then?" Donna happily complained. "Doing stuff. I caught Neo's stream too. Now I'm here." Anyone could walk into the sanctuary whenever they wanted too. Getting out was the problem. "And now I see you here, after all this time. Kinda sucks that it happened this way eh?" Bionis had his dueldisk activated, to challenge the sky pirate. "Khan, you can't be serious." A challenge Skylander did not have an appetite for. "I am. I see a company trying to pressure my friends, and lie to them. Not letting that happen. So I'm going straight after the one in control! And that seems to be you!" Bionis started drawing his cards. He would not pull back out. "Bionis, Exeter doesn't even want to end this the violent way, they are not all bad. They are giving all of you a chance to turn away from this mess!"

Bionis' LP: 8000 CID's LP: 8000 -TURN 01-

"Yeah right. Even if there's some decent folk in there, the people at the top are all rotten. Exeter just does not want to look bad, so they sent a human face instead. But after what happened with Hieronymus, I am not falling for it!" In turn Bionis had doubts about Skylander being Skylander at all. "I am not dueling my friend, just a robot with his appearance! I mean _this_ is a pretty funny coincidence otherwise." When Bionis inspected his hand, he only saw monsters with no spells to bring them out, and a single trap. He could not even fetch a ritual spell right now. So he placed his one trap card face down and ended his turn. "Did you do this, Sky? Just like your pals did it to Millennium?" He knew the Vendread were notorious for bricking, but in all his life he had never run into an opening hand as bad as this.

-TURN 02-

"What? I would never! I am not an ADI, damn it! I duel fairly!" The pirate retaliated. "But you still duel for Exeter." Zettai grunted. "What else should I have done? Let their machines solve the situation? I thought that I could at least talk some sense into you! I don't know why you are still fighting for Static!" Skylander cursed. "We do _not_ fight for him, or for Millennium or for Hansen. We do not compromise." Zettai retorted. "Fine. But I did not have that choice. Exeter helped me recover and gave me a chance to end this conflict my own way, so I will! Just know that I take no pleasure from dueling you, Bionis. But it seems to be the only thing to get through your thick skull!"

"I summon Helmer, the Helmsman fur Hire!" Skylander would lead the charge with the skyfang's merman captain(3/0/2000) [Zone 1]. Like all other lowlevel Fur Hire monsters, he could special summon one other crewmember from Skylander's hand. "Helmer special summons Filo the Messenger Fur Hire!" The next summoned monster; the yellow chick mailbird(1/0/0) [Zone 5], perched on the side of the field. As a monster had been special summoned, Helmer could also discard one card from Skylander's ahnd to draw a new card from the deck. The pirate duelist traded in his 'Bravo the Hero Fur Hire' card. "Filo then special summons Dyna the Hero Fur Hire! And Filo can also special summon one Fur Hire monster from my graveyard when another crewmember is special summoned!" At once, the Messenger brought out two more Skyfang pirates: the goldhaired beastwarrior Dyna(2500/1400) [Zone 2] from the hand and the fiery lizardman Bravo(4/1900/200) [Zone 4] from the graveyard.

"You know if you like Fur Hire so much, I feel like you would be more at home in Millennium. Not that I am judging." Scura mumbled.

"Perhaps in another world I would have. But this is not that world." Skylander said in a subdued manner, before taking the duel to the next stage. "I link summon Folgo, the Justice!" Three link materialized pirates: Helmer, Dyna and Filo, transformed into one dark wolfman(2400/LINK 3) {Downleft/Up/Downright} [Extra Zone 1] wielding a large folded blade. "His effect allows me to special summon a Skyfang monster from my deck! Now I don't know what your set card is, Bionis! But I cannot take any chances! I summon Recon the Scout Fur Hire! And use her effect to summon Rafale!" The leader of the skyfangs called out the balloon-riding scout fox(2/1000/500) [Zone 5]. And she used her first effect to special summon Rafale; a silverhaired draconian swordsman(8/2800/2200) [Zone 3], completing the raiding band. "And Recon can destroy one set card when another Fur Hire monster is summoned! So let's see what it is! Bionis!" The purple fox hovered over the unknown card and dropped a bomb right on top of it.

"You want to see it huh? Well here it is! I activate Vendread Reorigin! I can sacrifice one of your monsters and turn it into a token with the same level as that sacrifice!" Nothing could stop Bionis from using his trap before it got destroyed of course.

"Awgh!" The trap sacrificed Rafale himself, as it could only claim monsters with levels. Afterwards a random pale zombie version of Rafale(8/0/0) [Zone 3] crawled out of the sanctuary's floor to weakly moan at the pirates. "That is not the real Rafale!" Slightly taken aback, Skylander started his battle phase. Since he had special summoned a Skyfang, the lizard Bravo added 500 attackpoints to himself(2400/200) and all his friends (Helmer: 1500 atk, Folgo: 2900 atk) for one turn. Bravo danced through the sky and slashed the token to pieces with his clawblades. "But since I destroyed a monster, I can still activate Folgo's effect! I can draw three cards, when I control three unique Fur Hire members!" In one fell swoop, the pirate duelist replenished his hand. "Now let's see how generous my deck is!"

"Haha! I activate Mayhem Fur Hire, to special summon one Fur Hire monster from my graveyard in defense mode!" The sanctuary rumbled as a quick wave of water passed the middle of the field. It carried the dragon skypirate[Zone 3] with it. "And then I activate my skill card: Global Earthquake! All my monster switch to attack position!" Another tremor struck the dueling field, as it forced Rafale and Helmer to take an offensive stance lower to the ground. "See? This time I did not make the mistake of not using a skill card!" The three remaining fighters surrounded Bionis and gave him a beating with swords, firebombs and dragonflames. "Ugh. I guess that is one advantage of not fighting a Millennium doofus. That doesn't hurt as much." The ritual duelist winced, as he barely made it out okay.

"And it shouldn't! Millennium is the one that is trying to make this world too real! Do you even know how everyone outside sees them? As crazy cultists!" Bionis pointed at the mob of duelists behind the heroes. "Hey, we weren't allying ourselves with them to begin with!" One of the Millennium family members shouted, making a distinction between him and Bionis' friends. "Well Static is just like Millennium, two sides of the same evil coin. I can at least give you a way out! Just take it already, please!" He pleaded with his opponent, with Neo, Scura and Zettai.

Bionis's LP: 800

"Dude I just got back in. I can't run away twice." Scura rasped. "I don't turn my back on the truth, Sky." Donna grunted. "We're sorry too, Sky. But if you had seen what we saw, you would not be on Exeter's side either. It's all a big mess." Neo said with a sigh. "I am not sure I want to see." Sky sighed and placed a trap card face down.

-TURN 03-

"Well, either way, you make for a better conversation than one of those hazmat losers." Bionis saw less and less reason to believe this man to be a fake. "And you even let me have some luck! I activate Allure of Darkness!" With this one new draw, Bionis could even the odds. His spell drew two new card, and banished the DARK monster Vendread Striges from his hand. "Even better! I activate Pre-Preparation of Rites! You know what it does!" The first of those two cards added a ritual spell to Bionis' hand, and also a ritual monster whose name the spell listed. "I add Revendread Origin and Revendread Slayer!" As the Origin spell supported the Slayer, Bionis could draw both. And then he would show off his other new card. "Impcantation Talismandra can summon itself and another Impcantation from my deck, by revealing a ritual monster in my hand!" The other card was a talisman wearing mandrake(6/0/0) [Zone 4]. Its effect revealed the Revendread Slayer and called out one of its cohorts: a living white candle(4/0/0) [Zone 3] slowly melting due to the also animated flame at the end of its wick.

"Impcantations? Have I been gone for so long that you changed your deck?" Skylander flinched. "Uh no. Those are new to me too." Neo would have remembered Bionis using them before. "Heh. I felt I had do a little evolving after we lost in the tournament, Neo. They work pretty well if you ask me. The other one is Impcantation Candoll. It can add a ritual spell to my hand when he is summoned from the deck!" Bionis claimed the other spell of the Vendread: Revendread Evolution. "How on the nose." Scura groaned.

"Well enough wordplay then! I activate Revendread Evolution to ritual summon Revendread Battlelord!" The evolving spell took its sacrifices from the field, hand and one monster from the deck. Bionis chose to tribute the Revendread Slayer (6 levels) in his hand, and a Revendread Core (1 level) in the deck. Those lives were enough to manifest the bone-plated mutant knight(7/2700/0) [Zone 2]. "And Battlelord uses his effect to banish a Vendread card from the graveyard, and negate the effects of your monsters for the rest of the turn!"

"I knew I saved this for a good reason. Bionis, you know that Rafale can negate one monsters effect each turn right?" Skylander retaliated on the spot, discarding a random Fur Hire monster from his hand to trigger the dragon champion's power. It unleashed a fierce howl and silenced the Battlelord for good. The effect got negated and the source destroyed.

"Yeah yeah. But _you_ know that I can add a new ritual monster to my hand when the Battlelord is destroyed, Sky!" Bionis picked the pace back up and claimed a Revendread Executor card from his deck. At the same time Battlelord's effect would send one Vendread monster to the graveyard; Vendread Chimera. "Guess I will just summon the good old Slayer instead! I activate Revendread Origin!" The ritual of origin only accepted sacrifices from the field or graveyard. But in turn it could ritual summon a monster from the graveyard. Talismandra gave its life in exchange for the Revendread Slayer(6/2400/0) [Zone 1]. "Almost there..." Bionis normal summoned the one-winged undead angel Vendread Anima(1/0/0) [Zone 5]. "First I need to revive Vendread Core! Which I can do by banishing another Vendread from my graveyard!" The mutation core absorbed the body of Vendread Battlelord and slithered its way unto the field as a clump(1/0/500) [Zone 2] of tentacles and eyeballs.

"And now that I have two zombies, I can link summon Avendread Savior!" Another dark hero took over the flesh of the Core and Anima: a mutant warrior(1600/LINK 2) {Downleft/Downright} [Extra Zone 2] with a red scarf and wings of clawed bone. "Avendread adds one Vendread card back to my hand: Revendread Origin! Which I will then use to ritual summon Revendread Executor!" Bionis tributed the Impcantation Candoll on the field and banished the Vendread Chimera (5 levels) in the graveyard to ritual summon the ultimate form of the mutant slayer: the undead claw-winged Executioner(8/3000/0) [Zone 3]. "And when Vendread Chimera is used as a sacrifice this way, all your monsters lose 500 attackpoints!"

"Link monsters too? You have learned a lot, Bionis. I remember when you were only just starting to play the game." Sky sighed as his Skyfangs (Folgo: 1900 atk, Recon: 1000 atk, Rafale: 2300 atk, Bravo: 1400 atk) were depowered. "Don't say things like that now." Bionis grunted. He made things even worse for his opponent with the effect of Vendread Anima in the graveyard. Banishing the Anima let him special summon a banished Vendread, Battelord [Zone 4], back to the field. "But it is true. I wish I could have watched your tournament. But I was still recovering. And then.. they came. They told me everything. That is why I cannot give up now! I am doing this for you!" Skylander flipped his continuous trap card: Training Fur Hire, Fur All Your Training Needs. As soon as a Skyfang monster died, he would get to summon a new lowerleveled one from his deck. Any one would do to set off a multitude of devastating powers.

"They didn't tell you enough, Sky!" Bionis marched on regardless. Sending Avendread Savior to attack Bravo the Hero Fur Hire. "Savior's effect decreases your monsters attack by the level of a Vendread monster I can discard from the deck!" The Avendread link monster sent another Revendread Executor, the one card with the most levels to burn. Eight times 200 attackpoints were subtracted from the unfortunate fire lizard(0/200). "And then I activate my skill card: Night of the Living Doomed! Your monster cannot be destroyed as a result of battle this turn, Sky!" Just as the Savior's claws sank into the body of Bravo, the lizard turned into a different kind of undead. "What in the.."

Skylander's LP: 6400

_Night of the Living Doomed, Skill Card  
__This turn, monsters your opponent control cannot be destroyed by battle or card effects._

"You even.. changed your skill." Skylander coughed. "And now I got you!" The weakening curse from the Savior would last the rest of the turn. Vendread Battlelord, Revendread Executor and Revendread Slayer visited the undying pirate Bravo, respectively delivering 2700 points, 3000 points and 2400 points of battle damage to his master instead. "Aye. This is your win alright. Maybe I should have accepted the CID script program myself, but I am glad the duel went this way..." The master himself took minor damage to his avatar, rendering him incapable of further dueling.

Skylander's LP: 0

"So what does this mean? Are we free to go now?" Scura asked. "I wish it were that easy..." Skylander only lost his control of the CIDs because of his defeat, not that he ever fully had it. Every hazmat duelist and fake judge sprung back to life and glared ominously at the heroes. "I am sad that it had to end this way. I hope you can still make it out somehow. But I cannot stay anymore." And the loss also caused his avatar to immediately disappear. "SKY!" Bionis yelled. "Exeter pulled him out!" Neo gasped. In the end the company had no more use for him.

"Great. More fighting. Bring it!" Donna did not care how strong these units were, she would take them all on if she could. "No, these bastards wont get to have their fun." Bionis clenched his fist as well. There was another reason for him personally challenging Skylander: to buy the others time. "Bring them in, X!" And with the others, he meant a legion of players that warped into the sanctuary to fill almost every square tile.

"What? Where did you come from?" This sudden influx of duelists came as a happy surprise for Millennium and the heroes, but it still defied belief. "That would be because of me! Haha!" And the one to lead the charge was none other than Giganoto X the Smasher. He slammed down right on top of one CID, keeping it pinned down with an arm lock. "X!" His arrival made Donna giddy with delight. "Yo Donna! I tried to jump back in as soon as I got your message. But Some guy approached me first and told me he was a friend of yours. This guy here." He punched Asterisk playfully in the arm. "He told me he needed to the release key that you gave way he could pass it on to everyone on the network and.. well you get the picture! Hoho!" He kicked another CID aside, happily brawling his way through the mob to pick a challenger.

"Asterisk, you did this?" Donna had almost forgotten that Agent had snuck off earlier. "Well, Scarlet did this. I merely had V replicate the access key the good doctor made. V also left a backdoor into the avatar array. And it was also because of you, Neo. Since the great ban, your stream was one of the few sources of information left for the world. Those who know you saw your duel with Lorelei and so they mobilized." He gave the cyborg duelist a firm nod of respect. "Wow. No wonder my followers were so quiet. Way to go gang!" Neo started to recognize a lot of playernames now. He never thought he would see them in real life. Or in digital life, rather. A lot of famous dueltainers were in the crowd, and some of Khan's forum friends as well. "Tch, took them long enough. Why didn't we hear from them sooner? Did they really think the network was too dangerous?" Scura said with a rasp, remembering how her own parents warned her against going back. "That is a mystery. Exeter had the people convinced for so long, and I no longer believe they did it with words alone." The agent rested his head to contemplate.

"Less talk, more fighting! What do we do now?" Even if the number of humans now exceeded the number of Exeter subordinates, Donna did not see it lasting long. "There is a plan. But you might not like it. Right now my friend... is talking with Millennium."

"What? Vigion... V is over there with the cult?" Scura freaked out. "Not just him I am afraid. Himiko and Scarlet have also joined them at this point. Why he cannot say, but I can imagine a few reasons in the dear doctor's case. Scarlet might have under-estimated the zealous nature of Millennium. Nevertheless this is the way things are now. From what I have been told, Millennium already possessed two items instead of one. And Crescent has found the next Legacy Item." Everything Vigionair saw, he could also see. Though he imagined that was only because Ezra and Melyria allowed Vigionair to see things. "Crescent? Why would she?" Donna did not understand any of this. "I do not know, and I cannot make a judgment there. But they have three Items now, they have the power to shape STHEREA. Yet we also cannot let the company continue as it stands. We seem to be the only ones willing to stand up to them as well, which limits our options. Especially since we still have to work around our time limits and they dont. Either we collaborate, or we let them and Exeter fight each other."

"Well, after what just happened to Sky. I think I know who I want to see fall first." Bionis said with a grimace.

...

"Anyone home? Boss?" Dharma shouted as she walked through Charles' apartment. "I am gonna get your pudding if you dont show up soon!" The place was not big enough to hide an entire person, which mean there could only be one conclusion. He was not here. "Damn." Void had not come back from the nightmare that Ezra tossed him in: that Ezra and Crescent had tossed him in. And she did not know when, or if, he would return. "You know I shouldn't have expected it, I didn't even. That's my life motto, life can be random so dont try to predict it and roll with the punches.." She nevertheless kept talking as if he could hear her. "So why does this feel different? This just kinda sucks.." As Blanche he failed him, as Dharma he failed him. She knew it was not her fault, it was not sadness that she felt.. just a nagging voice that sounded a lot like his. "Yeah yeah, I am wasting my time here I know. Neighbors are gonna get mad at me again and.. Huh?"

A buzzing phone interrupted her train of thought. "Yeah?" She answered the call, which came from a number she did not recognize. "What? Who is this? Heleil? What are you talking about?" One of the champions, one of the dueling champions called her up in real life! "Oh yeah that does sound serious. But why did you call me?... Oh. Oh yeah." She gave the room another look-over, as if Void could drop down from the ceiling at any moment. "Uh, I can get there pretty fast. But I dont know if.. A lot is going on right now.. Ugh, fine." She hung up the call. This was not the kind of call one could brush off. "Welp. Sorry, Void. I have something to do. I hope.. I know you will be back here soon enough. So until then...Hang tight."

...

_"I will not stay here!" For the past few hours, shouting futily at the walls of his prison had been his only option. Charles felt like he might as well have been trapped in here for days or weeks. The only clocks in the room were unreliable, ticking the seconds away at increasingly sporadic rates. And this dream had more problems than just time going crazy. More and more the place he called home gave away its false nature away. The harder he slammed against the windows, the stronger they became. The angrier he got, the darker the clouds outside his window grew. "You arent fooling anyone!" They put him here, as a punishment. He remembered it now. "Crescent! Can you hear me!? You have to let me out! I know I lied to you, but.." And maybe he did deserve this. If he could deceive others, why could they not deceive him? After all, everyone in the whole world lied to each other. He could not be an exception. At least here he could be... himself?_

_"No. I am not Charles. I am still Void." If he was still inside STHEREA, then he should still have had some control over this place. So why did his actions just make this place fight back harder? "Is it... me that is resisting? Am I in my own mind now?" His subconscious nightmares, Ezra used those words right before he banished Alpha. Crescent and him did not choose this illusion, they only planted the seeds for it. Of course, what else would he come up with? A lush tropical paradise, an arid desert or the top of the highest mountain? Charles had never seen such things in his life. He could barely envision the world beyond his city. And so his imagination led him here. But it also had to lead him out in some way. He did not have to accept this fate. "I am.. Void." And he would start with himself. He closed his eyes and imagined himself as he always did. Once his eyes were opened: Charles had ceased to be. His normal clothes were replaced with his avatar ensemble. His hair and eyes changed colors as well. "Step one."_

_He would change the world next. Void walked up to the door. "I know there is something beyond you. I have seen it." He ignored the locks and the numberpad. He would simply push against it, and force it to budge. "Hmph." And if that did not work, which it didn't, he could come up with a more creative solution. "Linkslayer!" He clenched his hand and drew a card from his wrist, the place where his dueldisk normally would be. From nothing he created something, a cyberse lynx. The card visualized and brandished its claws. "Attack!" Two swipes, and the door fell to pieces. "Now that is a duelist's solution." His mind, his rules._

_His enemies' rules as well. "What the?" A beam pierced the darkness beyond the opened door, leading to the violent explosive destruction of Linkslayer. _

"Why are you trying to run? Don't you like it here?!" A woman shouted back at him. "Mrs Primrose?" It looked like his landlady, yet her voice reminded him more of his own mother. He could immediately tell, this blonde braid-haired woman was not either person. She looked like a hyper-exaggerated version of the landlady Primrose: with big beaming eyes, an inhumanly wide smile and a radiance that brightened the entire floor. "You are going to stay here forever, Charles. And you will love it." In her hand she held a dueldisk. She would be the next threshold. "A duelist's solution creates a duelist's problem I see." Void sighed. "Fine, if I have to duel my own demons. Let's get to it!"

(To Be Continued in Line 093: Attachments from Fake Friends)

**New Cards used by Bionis Khan**  
Impcantation Talismandra  
Impcantation Candoll  
Vendread Core  
Vendread Chimera

-  
Pre-Preparation of Rites

-  
Vendread Reorigin

**New Cards used by Skylander  
**Filo, Messenger Fur Hire  
Dyna, Hero Fur Hire  
Rafale, Champion Fur Hire


	93. Attachments from Fake Friends

**Line 093: Attachments from Fake Friends**

Primrose's LP: 8000 Void's LP: 8000 -TURN 01-

"I know what you want, Charles!" The duel in dreams began and the lady Primrose activated a field spell that had never existed before as far as Void knew. "Dream Mirror of Joy?" The spell transformed into a pane of reflective glass with a golden sun-symbol frame; a mirror. And the field covered the entire world outside his room, reflecting it back at him. "You want to be happy, you want to live a live of comfort without worrying about anything ever again. And I can give it to you!" Void saw himself in the mirror, but not as himself. The reflection looked like Charles again, sitting on his bed, relaxed and comfortable. That version seemed to not have a care in the world. And why would he? The world shown inside that mirror looked brighter, more colorful and serene. He could even see a rainbow in the background window.

"There are so many scary things out there, why would you leave?" Primrose then summoned a monster that contrasted sharply with the Mirror of Joy: a devilish dark girl(1/500/0) [Zone 1] with purple hair, a bloodred cloak draped around her shoulders, and a golden scythe in her hands. "Ikelos, the Dream Mirror Mara..." Void did not recognize this card either. And in this world, he would have to read the effect text with his own eyes. This was a duel without machines, a duel made from dreams. "Don't worry Charles. Ikelos is just a little nightmare. And right now we are having a happy joyfilled dream!" The Mara girl could activate her effect as long as Dream Mirror of Joy remained active, the mirror that showed off a different incarnation of Ikelos on its reflective surface. Ikelos sacrificed herself to the mirror, trading places by summoning her counterpart from the deck. A glowing greencaped fairy(1/0/500) [Zone 1] with bright eyes and greenhaired braids that were even longer than those of Primrose emerged from the dream glass. "Ikelos the Dream Mirror Sprite! When I summon her through a Dream Mirror's effect. I can add a Dream Mirror card to my hand!" Primrose claimed a trap card: Dream Mirror Fantasy, and placed it face down along with another trap card. "Isn't this nice? Dont you wish this would never end?"

"Nothing here is real, Primrose. You cannot even fool me for a second." Void noted that the Dream Mirror of Joy itself acted as a defensive card: protecting weaker monsters as long as stronger ones existed. Aspects of her strategy were clearly not yet revealed. "Oh? Then do you want to be terrified instead? You want to go back to that dangerous place so much? Well go ahead. But you will have to go through our own darkness first!" One such aspect illuminated itself through the shadows that rose during the end of her turn. The Dream Mirror shattered. "!?" And it re-assembled itself inside a new black frame with darker symbols. "During each turn's end, I can switch my Dream Mirror too! Joy banishes itself to activate the Dream Mirror of Terror!" Primrose laughed.

-TURN 02-

Void saw another Charles inside the reflected realm. A Charles that looked miserable, wallowing on the floor with his hands covering his face. Gone was the blue sky, the night had taken over. Hellish purple lights were all that illuminated this... nightmare. "If that is the case.. I will end the cycle myself! I special summon Linkslayer, since I control no monsters!" Void did not have a lot of spell/trap destruction at his disposal, but the deck he imagined for himself would always have his trusted slaying cyberlynx(6/2200/0). Now in its proper dueling form, it could destroy the Dream Mirror of Terror. "?" Except as soon as he special summoned it, he saw the mirror world go one scene further. The mirror Linkslayer turned against the mirror Charles and slashed him down. "Ugh!" Void felt the exact same pain, though his body did not show any marks. "Poor Charles. Dont you see that all your struggles will just lead to more pain for Charles? Each time you special summon a monster, Terror will inflict 300 points of damage!"

Void's LP: 7700

"That appears to be the case. But I am not the man who shies away from pain anymore!" Void would not let that stop him. "Oh yes, you are a hero now. One who plays both sides." Primrose laughed again, as she suddenly sacrificed the Dream Mirror Sprite. "Now that the Mirror has changed from Joy to Terror, Ikelos can also special summon her darker side again from my deck!" The fairy disappeared into the dark glass and switched places with another Mara Ikelos(1/500/0) [Zone 3] in defense mode. "And when the Mara appears through a Dream Mirror's effect, I can special summon one Dream Mirror monster from my hand! Let's start with the evil side! Morpheus, the Dream Mirror Black Knight!" A warrior(8/2800/1000) [Zone 4] of purest darkness stepped out of the nightmare realm, black of skin and armor. Demonic wings grew out of its back and crimson cloth draped down from his waist. "When the Black Morpheus is special summoned by a Dream Mirror's power, he will send one monster to an eternal sleep!" The Black knight targeted Linkslayer, slashing through the cyberse with his serrated bloodsword.

"Tch." Void lost the Slayer before it could 'slay'' her spell, forcing him to continue playing her game. "I just want to do what is right. And I cannot do that from here!" He normal summoned the cyberspace wyvern Draconnet(3/1400/1200) [Zone 1], whose effect special summoned the normal-type cyberse Protron(1/200/2000) [Zone 2] from the main deck. Even this tiny round cyberling with wireless cords and antennae slammed hard into Void inside the dark mirror, causing another lifepoint loss.

Void's LP: 7400

"I will do it as many times as I have to, Primrose!" Void yelled as he used the normal-type Protron as a link material for the always reliable Link Spider(1000/LINK 1) {Down} [Extra Zone 2]. "Rgh. Link Spider special summons a normal cyberse from my hand, to a zone he has marked!" Void accepted the next lifepoint hit for his spider and also the one that would come as soon as said Spider brought down the next stage of the Trons: Digitron(2/1500/0).

Void's LP: 6800

"And I link summon Cyberse Witch!" Link Spider and Digitron vanished from the field as well, combining their material worth into the redhaired witch(800/LINK 2) {Downleft/Down} [Extra Zone 2] with her silver armor. She came out to face the black knight of dreams, though she too saw her reflection fire a spell against her own master. "Kgh!" The pain started to take its toll, but Void was not done yet. "When a monster is special summoned to a zone marked by the Cyberse Witch, I can add a Cyberse Ritual and its ritual spell from the deck to my hand! So I will special summon Degrade Buster by banishinh two cyberse from the graveyard!" The digital graveyard experienced severe overheating, as the flames consumed Link Spider and Protron. The fire settled into the Degrader(7/2500/2500) [Zone 3] who resembled a strong cyberwarrior in red and white drill-covered armor. "Gah!" Due to the Dream Mirror of Terror, its explosive entrance caused Void to feel an intense heat as well.

Void's LP: 6200

"Is all this worth it, Charles? You will only get more once you return to the real world. Why should their problems be yours?" Primrose looked at him with doubt, talking once again in a way that reminded him of his mother. After all, these shots only took away a mere 300 lifepoints. "Because..." Void could not come up with a good answer. "They have to be!" He only knew what he did not want. "Cynet Ritual is added to my hand now, and Cyberse Magician as well!" He made his choices, getting a level 7 ritual monster from the deck. "And I also activate Degrade Buster's power! Once a turn he can banish the strongest monster from the field until the next turn!" The Grenader lobbed a fireball straight at the Dream King knight, making him disappear into another fiery realm.

Void's LP: 6200

"You cannot make your fears disappear so easily, Charles." Primrose sighed. "Stop calling me that! Whatever you are, you do not get to use that name!" Agitated, Void braced himself for the next round of effect damage as he played his ritual spell. "Cynet Ritual! sacrifices Degrade Buster, so that I can special summon Cyberse Magician!" The torment started immediately, though not as painfully as before. "Argh! But any damage I take is now halved, as long as I control Cyberse Magician!" His ritual cyberse(7/2500/200) [Zone 5] took the form of an upgraded Cyberse Wizard, still greenhaired and hooded but now with a longer coat and more armor attachments.

Void's LP: 6050

"Almost there..." Since he had used Cyberse Witch's first effect this turn, Void could also activate her second. "Cyberse Witch special summons Digitron from my graveyard! And then I will link summon Decode Talker!" Once the Digitron entity[Zone 3] came back in attack position, the Witch had served her part. She transformed into a pair of linking materials and combined herself with Draconnet to create a triple-link circuit. Decode Talker(2300/LINK 3) {Up/Downleft/Downright} linked up with both Digitron and Cyberse Magician, to give himself(3300 atk) 500 attackpoints for each linked monster. "Nhgh.." By now the damage from the Terror Mirror forced Void to rest with one kneeled leg. Even though Cyberse Magician halved each blow, it still left a bigger impact each time. "Now I will pay you back, Primrose."

Void's LP: 5850

"Digitron, destroy Ikelos!" He would tear her dream apart one aspect at a time. The living cyberhead rammed the Mara dream demon with all his might, scattering her darkness like ash in the wind. "Decode, Cyberse Magician! Direct attack!" The other two raised their swords and staff, and launched a coordinated team attack against Primrose herself. He could not quite finish her off, but he seemingly did destroy a portion of her body. "I set one card and end my turn!" He said, wheezing. Why did this duel take so much out of him? Why did she still look fine, despite losing much more? Primrose was in fact calmly restoring her body with that same blissful smile of hers. "Are you sure you even like dueling, Charles?" And as the turn came to an end, the Dream Mirror would shift again.

Primrose's LP: 2300 -TURN 03-

The Black Knight Morpheus [Zone 3] escaped Degrade Buster's banishment. And at the same time the Dream Mirror of Terror banished itself, and activated the second Dream Mirror of Joy from the deck. "Wouldn't you be much happier in a world like this, by yourself?" The mirror image of Charles also changed back to a carefree painless self, causing all agony to leave the real Void's body as well. "I don't.. want a fantasy world." Void insisted. "Then why did you sink into STHEREA to begin with? You wanted to escape the harsh reality of your own sad life! This room is not your room, this is a fantasy too. Isn't that much better than both worlds that came before this?" Primrose smiled cheerfully and flipped her trap card: Dream Mirror Fantasy. "I shall dispel your nightmares myself! Starting with the dark one! Dream Mirror Fantasy banishes one of your monsters, and returns my Dream Mirrors to the deck!" The trap only targeted two banished field spells: sending the first Dream Mirrors of Terror and Joy back into the deck. The second card, Cyberse Magician, would be banished outright.

"Is this what Ezra wants then? To give everyone who refuses his paradise, a paradise of their own? Does he want to trap everyone in their own subconscious?" Void activated a card without thinking about it. "That is even worse!" A trap card that only existed in his own mind, called Firewall Booster. It defended the Cyberse Magician from the trap's effect, and made him(3000/2000) stronger at the same time. "Ezra? Who is that? Do you think he has something to do with all of this? Charles? You are the one to doing this, not him and not me."

_Firewall Booster, Normal Trap  
__Target 1 Cyberse Monster you control; equip it with this card. It gains 500 ATK. Also it is unaffected by trap cards._

"What? Is Ezra not... or Crescent. What are you talking..." Void only now realized that he had created a trap card with his own imagination, a trap that acted a lot like Ezra's golden skill card. "What are you? Who sent you?" Void had no idea what this meant about himself or about her, she sounded far too intelligent to be a mere delusion. "You sent me, Charles." She teased her painfully small answer and returned to her cards. "But perhaps you are not a man of terror or joy. You are comfortable in between, in the bland grey." She activated her spell, Monster Reborn, to special summon Ikelos the Dream Mara [Zone 2] back to the field. And Ikelos tributed herself to special summon a second Dream Mirror Sprite Ikelos(1/0/500) [Zone 4]. With it, she could claim any Dream Mirror card she wanted. "So why don't I give you that comfort? I activate the spell card: Dream Mirror Apathy!" A permanent spell, a new smaller mirror that popped up behind Void. It reflected him and his monsters, without their colors. "Now I have nothing to fear from them anymore. And neither do you."

_Dream Mirror Apathy, Continuous Spell  
__* If you control a "Dream Mirror" field spell card: if your monster battles an opponent's monster, destroy that opponent's monster at the start of the damage step.  
__* If you control "Dream Mirror" monster card: if a monster you control is destroyed as a result of an opponent's attack or card effect, inflict 1000 damage to your opponent. _

"Since I have to attack your Cyberse Magician first, the Black Knight will be its ender!" The nightmare king entered the battle and visually targeted not the real ritual monster, but its grey mirror image. This attack bypassed Cyberse Magician's superior power and killed him instantly. "But when Cyberse Magician dies because of an effect, I can add a Cyberse monster from my deck to my hand!" Void dug deep into the deck and claimed a monster called the Grid Sweeper. "Just another brick for your house of cards, Charles! I will unravel all of it! Activate Morpheus' power! The black knight has slain the dark knight, so the light will take his place!" Since the current activate Mirror belonged to Joy, Morpheus could banish himself to special summon his own lighter mirror self: Morpheus the Dream Mirror White Knight(8/2800/2000) [Zone 1]. "The White knight destroys Digitron!" This heavenly blond knight in silver armor wielded a cleaner sword, and flew with the wings of an angel. It only took a simple actual strike from the blade to kill the Digital normal monster.

Void's LP: 4550

"But Decode was your first link, wasn't it? To fully dismantle your barrier, I should remove him most of all." She tapped her foot to signal a new trap card's activation. "Metaverse! I activate another field spell from my deck: another Dream Mirror of Terror!" It happened sooner than it should have, Primrose destroyed the joyous mirror spell to make room for her dark mirror of terrors. And the Light Morpheus could activate his power when this field spell reigned. "I banish the White Knight, and special summon the Black Knight Morpheus yet again!" Light turned to darkness, and the second nightmare king(8/2800/2000) [Zone 3] could use his powers just as liberally as the first. "Morpheus destroys Decode Talker, and attacks you.. Charles!" The black knight drew his teethed sword and made a clean slash through the last monster in its way. At the same time his attack dug it deep into the shoulder of Void, his own shoulder. "Rgaahahgh!" He never felt like this as Void. It was as if she did hurt him in the real world.

Void's LP:1750

"Just give it up, Charles. You are only fighting yourself here. The more you shout and cry, the more your mind and body will resist." Her turn came to a slow end. The dream woman also kept the Dream Mirror of Terror as the dominant field, as she did not have to switch it out each endphase. "Why do you care about others? They will only hurt you? Just do what you want for yourself, as you have always done." She kept talking regardless, her voice growing deeper and deeper. It started to remind him of other people from his past, men like the one who robbed him in broad daylight. That memory hurt him more than anything else 'it' could dish out. "...It was never about me." Her words made him realize how little difference he had made. He tried to change the system on the outside and the inside, but only because he let other people tell him what to do. He was never anything more than a cog in Millenniums and also Exeter's machine. "That is right. But it can be from now on. All you have to do is.."

-TURN 04-

"Give up? Live on my own? In a house of cards? When you say it like that..." A smile appeared on Voids face. "I see all the more reason to break free!" Immediately he activated a spell from his graveyard. "When I control no monsters, I can banish Cynet Ritual from my graveyard and create two Cynet tokens!" More pain would come, the light of the ritual spell spawned two single-celled cyberse tokens(4/0/0) [Zones 1 & 5] that swam in the air. Naturally they caused Void to lose 300 lifepoints, but the Dream Mirror of Terror only reacted to each special summon instance and not to both tokens separately. "You are not giving up?" Primrose gasped.

Void's LP: 1450

"No. Because if I did, I would be turning my back from reality. I am not gonna solve my problems by pretending they don't exist! I normal summon Garbage Collector from m hand! And also, when there is a field spell active, I can special summon Grid Sweeper!" The unhappy trashcan droid(2/100/1900) [Zone 2] dropped in along with a triangular roomba cleaning droid(4/100/2000). [Zone 4]. "You always kept your room nice and clean. You were always a tidy guest.. Charles. But there are problems you cannot fix, Charles!" Primrose yelled while Grid sweeper's special summon made the field spell inflicted yet another Terror hit to Void's reflection.

Void's LP: 1150

"..Maybe, maybe not But I can start by cleaning up the problem in my own head: the mirror in front of me! Garbage Collector returns one monster to my hand, to special summon a cyberse with the same level from my deck!" The collector grabbed the Sweeper, absorbed it and spat out a fuzzier looking cyberse. "This is RAM Clouder! It sacrifices a cyberse to special summon one from the graveyard!" Void let the white cybersheep(4/1800/1000) [Zone 3] use one of the Cynet Tokens as a tribute, and gave its former zone to an old familiar friend: Linkslayer(5/2000/0) [Zone 1]. "Linkslayer, destroy the Dream Mirror of Terror!" Summoning both RAM Clouder and Linkslayer cost him another 300 lifepoints. But at least Void could destroy that fearful spell once and for all now.

Void's LP: 550

"Aww, too bad." But the enemy responded with her trap of greater terror. "I can banish Dream Mirror Fantasy from my deck to negate the destruction of my Dream Mirror card!" A golden haze covered the black mirror, and made the Linkslayer's claws vanish as they passed through. "You took all that damage for nothing, Void. Dont you feel foolish now?! Why do you want to go back? For them? They do not need you, we both know it! Or do you think you need them? You are just replacing one addiction with another!"

"You call friendship an addiction? Even if that was true, even if more people means more chances of getting hurt; it is worth it! I have felt far better after I joined them! And I refuse to go back! If you really are inside my head, you should already know this!" And she should also already know about the effect of the card he just discarded to activate Linkslayer's effect. "I link summon Link Disciple!" Void put himself as close to defeat as possible by performing a link summon. The second Cynet Token turned into a level 4 material for the white servant Link Disciple(500/LINK 1) {Down} [Extra Zone 2]. "And then I activate Grid Sweeper from my graveyard! It banishes itself, and a link monster on my field, to destroy one spell or trap card!" The Disciple joined with the Sweeper in a wildly dangerous attack. They spun across the floor and slammed straight into the Dream Mirror. They suffered wounds that put them beyond death, while the field spell destroyed itself by collapsing into glass shards. "The nightmare is over, Primrose!"

Void's LP: 250

"No it is not! You still cannot escape without hurting yourself!" Primrose still controlled her spell of Apathy and her Dream monsters. Destroying either would kill Void in the process. "I think you already know that is not true as well!" Void could at least link summon with reckless abandon now. He used the Garbage Collector as a material for his Talkback Lancer(1200/LINK 1) {Down} [Extra Zone 2] and the remaining Cynet token to link summon Link Devotee(500/LINK 1) {Up} [Zone 4]. "Talkback Lancer sacrifices one monster, to revive a Code Talker! And Devotee's effect activates when it is tributed while it is co-linked!" The lancer absorbed the energy from the devoted link drone, which had the added benefit of splitting Link Devotee up into two Link tokens(1/0/0) [Zones 2 & 5]. And of course, the original Decode Talker [Zone 4] returned to the field as well to form a link with Talkback Lancer.

"Link summon! Binary Sorceress! And Binary Blader!" Then came the double circuits. Two non-token monsters like Linkslayer and Decode Talker could transform into the Binary rollerskater witch(1600/LINK 2) {Left/Right} [Zone 4]. And it turned out she had a more physical counterpart that could be made from two normal monsters. The two Link tokens transformed into Binary Blader the purple/yellow dual swordsman(1800/LINK 2) {Left/Right} [Zone 3] with a long red ponytail coming from its helmeted face. "And since I control more than one cyberse, I can also special summon Cyberse White Hat from my hand! I will use him as a link material along with RAM Clouder!" Finally two effect monsters were required to link summon cone of power balancing: Underclock Taker(1000/LINK 2) {Left/Down} [Zone 5]. It formed a co-link from itself(2000 atk) to Binary Sorceress(2400 atk) and Binary Blader(2600 atk). "You gave your Decode up for this?" Primrose seemed horrified.

"For several reasons. First, Underclock Taker reduces your monsters attackpoints by that of a monster he points to!" The Taker 'took', using Binary Sorceress' powerbase as the variable for how attackpoints Black Morpheus(1200/2000) would lose. "Secondly, when a monster co-linked with the Binary Sorceress battles, I gain lifepoints equal to the damage they inflict!" Void opened the battle with an attack from against the Black Knight Morpheus. "Three! Binary Sorceress can add half of her attackpoints to another linked monster, since she has formed two co-links!" Halfway during the attack, the binary mage gave half of Underclock Taker's power to the binary warrior(2300 atk). "Three, a co-linked Binary Blader can make two attacks by not killing its targets!" The swordsman impaled Morpheus with two blades. It could not kill anything as a result of these attacks, but damage still got inflicted. Which meant Void would also gain an equal amount of life in return.

Void's LP: 2450 Primrose's LP: 100

"Then you have made up your mind, Void." Primrose could not stop Binary Sorceress from depleting her remaining lifepoints. And this information seemed to settle Charles' mind. "I have. I am leaving." The skies cleared, every window and door opened. The screens of his computer all turned to static. "Then you wont.. need me anymore." She seemed to have settled as well, as she slowly began to fade like mist. "Wait? Where are you going? Who are you?" Too soon, Void still wanted answers. "Just a figment of your worst nightmares. You think so little of yourself, your you cannot even create a proper reflection." The now facesless entity walked backwards out the door. "But that is changing now. And it is too late to go back." Part by part she became one with the air. "Too late, too late for what!?" He followed her, stretched his hand out, stepped into the world outside..

Primrose's LP: 0

_"!?" Into a world of white noise. And before he could even start to figure out where he had ended up, he heard a familiar voice. "Well well. This is unexpected." From an unknown source. "No. It.." He heard Him. He heard Mister Static's voice. "I don't know how you got here.. But I think you've earned a special prize..." And then he slipped into the emptiness, losing all sense of the dream._

(To Be Continued in Line 094: Pointed Towards Itself)

**New Cards used by Void  
**Degrade Buster  
Protron  
Cyberse Magician  
Grid Sweeper

-  
Binary Blader

-  
_Firewall Booster_

**Cards used by 'Primrose'  
**Ikelos the Dream Mirror Mara  
Ikelos the Dream Mirror Sprite  
Morpheus the Dream Mirror Black Knight  
Morpheus the Dream Mirror White Knight

-  
Dream Mirror of Joy  
Dream Mirror of Tragedy  
Monster Reborn  
_Dream Mirror Apathy_

-  
Dream Mirror Fantasy  
Metaverse


	94. Pointed Towards Itself

**Line 094: Pointed Toward Its Truth**

"Oh good, all my stuff is still here." The condition of her dungeon laboratory sent Doctor Scarlet into a calmer state of mind. She and Prospero managed to return effortlessly, which meant she could begin work on her countermeasures. "It is worse, than I, thought." And Prospero could finally speak his mind. "Oh I wouldn't worry. I know exactly how to handle these new CIDs. In fact Agent Asterisk gave me the idea, but I would never tell him that." Scarlet hummed to herself as she started opening some of her pod coffins. "It is not that, which gives me, concern. It is Ezra. He has not changed enough. He has shown, too much weakness. They are, exploiting him." The thunder lord grunted statically. "Which 'They'would you be referring too? The heroes?" She asked him. "Everyone else. Millennium as well. They look, up to him, and ask too much, of him. They just want, a new world. But they, do not see, that it cannot exist. Not, while they still cling to the old. Perhaps it is time to force.. an evolution."

...

"We're here." Crescent, Himiko, Vigionair and Millennium: they returned to where it all started. Where it started for _her,_ to the palace of the lords. In this place Crescent decided to join Millennium due to her own disillusionment, and that felt so long ago.

"But there is... How the.. Did those bastards delete everything already?" Cherry stammered. Only a shred of it remained now, an empty square surrounded by an infinite forest of the same repeated tree. Nobody could see the palace standing anymore. "They must have. For fear of reprisal. But they are only hiding. Mister Hansen has to be somewhere online to even use the power of the chalice. And he would have to use an installation such as this to get access." Ezra did not believe that the company could sever ties completely, they could never and would never give that up. The palace was only one access-way after all. "Then should we try one of the other spots? Like the fake city or their memory database?" Ulysses suggested. "No, they would have hidden those too. This is where our memory of Exeter is the strongest. They foolishly think they can _own_ whatever they create in this world."

"You are right. Once something is painted here, it cannot be erased. Just painted over." Crescent spoke up again, and stepped forward to the palace-less spot. "They drew their tower here, just a piece of it. It was not meant to be a complete simulation, just a door between worlds. But.. maybe we can fill it back in. I saw the inside." She had also already seen Exeter perfectly simulate an entire city, so she knew a simple building could also be remade.

"Yes, the network would run through their entire organization. They used it against us, but we can use it against them as well. From Lance to Shield to Armor. With all of that it can be done." Melyria looked behind her. Millennium still had several ex-admins in their family now, people who used to go through these portals to get into STHEREA. "Judges, share your knowledge with us." The woman could reach into their minds, to prepare a better image of that which they were about to create. "Uhm. Sure." With remarkable obedience, the former judges walked up to her and surrendered their past thoughts. It flowed into her, lightning up her hands. "Ezra, Crescent. Hold me."

Ezra latched on to her left hand. "Will this work?" Crescent grabbed the other. "You should know this by now. We can do anything we want. Together." Ezra raised his lance and stabbed it into the ground, forcing their energy into the sealed off network. "First the connection will awake!" A column of energy veins and arteries assembled itself. Making one believe they were watching a living being come into existence. "Then the dream!" The lance itself twisted the visuals, first putting back the elemental palace. Then smashing it open to put its innards on display. "The dream turned to reality!" Everything illusionary became physical, and every floor stacked itself up piece by piece. "And the memory to make it all true!" Every consciousness that ever linked with another consciousness inside this very building filled the air with all the details where it could. In the end they had not only rebuilt each palace the Admins knew of. She collected every single floor into a massive office tower: an amalgam of digitally represented information mixed in with their actual headquarters.

"I cannot believe you pulled that off." Vigionair said with staggering awe. "I always could. I just needed guidance." Crescent took steps towards the newly made office building and made the many walls and doors slide open with a flick of her hand. Whatever security measures this hub normally carried meant nothing to her now.

Though there were a few security measures in place which she could not immediately push away. "Just what do you think you are doing?" The five champions, led by Vitruvic himself.

"You again, eh?" Ulysses smirked. "Who do you think you are fooling? We already took down the rest of your club. Hell for all we know, you are not real either." Heleil, Acrates, Dyzanthium and Sigment did not say a word. Especially the latter's involvement here seemed highly questionable. And of course they had already seen clones of the other people. "But the fact that the big lummox is here, probably means his boss is in here too!" Cherry rubbed her knuckles with excitement. "You will never find out. This is as far as you go. Because he paid me a handsome sum to protect this location in his absence. Allthough I had no idea.." The first champions eyes turned towards Crescent. "That you could find a way inside like this!" He attempted to challenge the girl first, much to her surprise.

"Not today, Vitruvic! Not. Today!" But Melyria Cister picked that moment to grow to a bigger size and intercepted the challenge. "Hmph. You will do as well." The champion scoffed. "There were a set of targets that Exeter labeled as high risk. You are one of them, the wielder of an item." He also gave a few commands to his robotic partners, and sent them after Crescent, Ulysses, Ezra and Vigionair. "Great. Just great." The encrypter knew he should not have risked his neck like this.

"feel like I am getting majorly insulted here." Cherry rasped, having been snubbed by the five opponents. "This is how it is meant to be, Cherry Anise. These champions can only delay us. While we fight, you will lead our army into their hallowed halls and find their leader before he descends upon us." Ezra raised his lance as he faced the fake fusion champion. "We do not fear what has no fear, first champion. Bring your empty vessels, we shall shatter them all!"

...

_Void opened his eyes again. Wishing to see a more familiar environment, he instead looked upon nothing but a distorted void. Visual warping tore colors of all kinds in horizontal and vertical directions: like a glitched screensaver. The noise of static filled the emptiness and everything he touched felt like a cold vapor. He could stand all the same though. "Static?" And he remembered the last face he saw before he passed out. And doing so caused the world around him to make sense just a little bit more. The circular walls of the arena beyond came into view, albeit still distorted and crackling. "Static!" He knew where he was now, but he did know the state he was in. "... Mister Static?"_

_"Yes?" And so the host himself graced Void with his presence. He cast a very human silhouette against the insane backdrop: Void could make out a suit and tie. On the other hand his face and hands were still blurred to be indistinguishable. "So I did see you... What is this place? And how do I get out of it?" Void made his wishes simple._

_"You just got here and already you want to leave? You wandered into a secret part of the new world that you could never have even imagined on your own, Charles Adami. Or do I still call you Void? It is confusing..." The static man seemed to be more interested in toying around, even now. "Static!" And Void had grown beyond tired of his act. "Alright, alright. Calm down. I can make this pretty easy to understand with one sentence: what are you thinking about right now?" Static paused for dramatic effect, leaving his hands hanging in the air. "What am I thinking?" Perhaps the idea was to get his mind up and running, to force a few thoughts. Because as soon as he did, the same thoughts flashed before Void's eyes and turned into solid images. Madam Blanche, Crescent, Scura for a little while their figured danced through the aether and trailed off into the distance. "What just happened?"_

_"Hopes.. and fears: yours. How cute of you to think of your friends first. You really needed them didn't you? Heheh, oh Void. You are in the realm that dreams are made off. A realm of pure thought and consciousness. That is where I live." Static made a formal bow again. "This? This place? Such a thing exists?" Void could not simply believe this. "Indeed, and closer than you can imagine. I am sure Ezra prattled on about it as well. How this world is more than a virtual reality. He was right of course. STHEREA does not just tap into your mind to feed you a game, sector by sector. No, all of that is just set dressing. What STHEREA really does is take from your mind and use that to create a limitless plane. Exeter has only given you an island in the ocean. Because how much can one mind come up with? Now multiply that by a thousand, a million. Half the world has been linked with the network in one way or another. That is a lot of power to draw from."_

_"But how? How can STHEREA connect to this.. world? How did I even get here?" Void still had trouble wrapping his head around this. "I imagine your friend with the lance had something to do with that. Or was it the one with the armor?" Static showed a smile on his glitched face. "The armor? You.. hey!" Void flinched as he realized he had subconsciously created the image of Melyria Cister in her armored state. Static could see directly into his mind with no effort at all. "I couldn't resist a peek, heheh. But I knew something was wrong with your story. The power to detach the mind and the power to deceive it sounded to different. Lo and behold, they came from two separate sources. I imagine the lance was what pulled you into the depths of your subconscious. He trapped you in a nightmare of your own making. But Ezra does not know that I can sense disturbances like that; negative peaks of emotion in the network. When you broke free, you somehow managed to end up in here. I suppose your subconscious refused to leave the network, so it clung to my world instead."_

_"You can sense... Just what are you?" Void had heard too much now to see mister Static as just a human, even if he did have a legacy item besides the Crown. "How rude. You should ask me WHO I am. I am as alive as you and the rest of mankind. Maybe even more. But I am not answering that. Not until you fetch me more of those lovely items. At least you tried, I cant say the same about everyone... speaking of which." Static waved his hand back and forth, creating an opening in the visual tears around them to make the arena seem more like its usual self._

_"What? Sundown?" Only now did Void see that they were not alone. The gunslinger had been standing in the area by himself and in rage. "What is wrong?" Now Void could see things from the other side. "Oh I know what he is saying. He has been very moody ever since me that that girl." Static said. "That girl? Miss Echo? You mean.." And Void recalled the last time he saw Sundown, when Echo accused him of being different in some way. "Yes, her. Tch. I told your friends not to let her out." Static even seemed to visibly recoil as the mental image of the blue-haired girl popped up as a subconscious vision. "You told them? Why? How could anyone possibly scare you?" Void would definitely like to know that. "Let's just say she is incompatible with me. But that's another answer for happier times. Let's see what this guy wants from me, shall we? Dont try to cry, Void. He wont hear or see you."_ The static man stepped forward, getting the attention of the angered duelist.

"You!"

"What seems to be the problem, Mephistar?" Static lowered his head to listen to the gunslinger's complaints. "You did this to me. I know you did! It all started with... I cannot log out anymore! Why!? Why are you keeping me here!?" He yelled, spitting every sentence with venom. "So you have finally realized. It is surprising the way your mind works. All this time I thought you would have had some clue. But then I suppose you would have broken down long ago." As usual the host of the arena did not bother with even the pretense of sympathy. The situation only amused him. "Cut out the %&^%! and answer me! In plain english!" While Sundown fell deeper into his fury. "I haven't done anything. I am not keeping you here, Mephistar. You are doing it to yourself." And when Static finally did reply, it only served to add more confusion. "Me? What are you talking about!? Why would I.."

"Let me spell it out for you, Sundown. You can not leave. Because you only exist... here."

"WHAT?" The gunslinger reeled. He could not even think of a response. So Static continued. "It is true, Sundown. Have you never wondered why you were always hanging around here in the arena? Moreso than even Midsummer? Have you never wondered why you were always up during every timezone? I imagine you fill in the gaps with false memories to maintain a stable continuity. But in reality you have never left STHEREA. Not even once, not since you came here to this arena all that time ago. Because you are not a human, Sundown Mephistar. Not right now at least. You are just like the ADIs, an artificial intelligence."

_"That is not possible!" Void cried out. He knew Sundown could not hear him, but Static would. "Shush now, Void. This is his moment not yours." The host chastised him. "But he cant be an ADI! Sundown existed before he came to the arena! He has records of dueling other ADIs! He has a profile!" The cyberse duelist insisted. Even if he only had indirect facts to support his claim. "And yet nobody had ever seen him before. They only saw those records after the fact. Or do you have proof otherwise?" Static simply returned fire with his own facts: facts Void could not deny. "You see, the network works in more ways than just the digital. You must have noticed this already, how easy it is for records to be be made and unmade. Every member of Millennium no longer has an official identity, because the network subconsciously erased it all. Just like how Exeter is consciously manipulating memories of their userbase." Facts that Void had not even heard of before. "What? Our memories?" He recalled the place Ezra visited before, the memory database. "That's what that was for?!"_

"How." Sundown broke his stunned silence. "Oh? Finally escaped your loops? You want to know _how_ this is possible? Or_ how long_ I have known? Normally I would just send you off with a few pointers, since telling you the whole story does nothing for me. But, since the dam is now full of holes, I might as well let you drown. I knew about your true nature from the moment you set foot inside my home. You see I had intended to invite someone else.. I am sure you know who."

_"Hieronymus." Void muttered. The heroes already were made aware by the other admins._

"Hieronymus indeed." Static repeated the name for Sundown's sake. "You see, I had set up several ways to get the people I wanted. Simple mails or mysterious portals, I felt creative." Void remembered having used the latter method. "But I needed someone completely loyal to me, even though they did not realize it. I needed a strict mind... like that of an admin. I chose him in particular because he was the only judge who even noticed the mess the Crown was making. All the others were too busy with their fundraiser, too busy worshiping Exeter. But he noticed what the Crown was doing. And what I was doing. So, with excellent timing I might add, I invited him just as he was in the middle of dueling several ADIs. As soon as he defeated the first, he got attacked by another. By you." Static pointed his finger at the gunslinger.

"What? But I don't remember any of that!" Sundown of course protested. "And how could you? You were not the same then. You were just a random ADI controlled by the Crown and given the bare minimum of autonomy. But you still did it. You attacked Hieronymus as soon as he stepped into the portal. You dueled him in the concourse, defeated him, and blew off his face... And then, you woke up."

"Woke up?" Neither Void not Sundown understood the purpose of that wording. "Because of the Crown. I understand the Items far better than Anders ever did. Especially now. This Crown does more than control artificial intelligence. It can stir emotions inside them, emotions from others. The network is all connected, consciousness linked within consciousness. 'Anders' only wanted to force his own thoughts on others. But the Crown itself can share human thoughts in many ways. So when you attacked Hieronymus judge, in my own realm, the miracle happened. A part of Hieronymus separated from the body due to the shock of his demise. Let's call it his soul, if you believe in such. His soul had nowhere to go, because of how remote my arena is from the rest of STHEREA. So it went into the nearest available body, yours. I was beyond thrilled of course, to have such a unique guest joining my game. One that could never leave me. One that could never join Millennium."

"No. That is not true! I am Sundown! I dont remember being any damn judge!" Sundown cursed as he reached for his own head. He felt like a demon had entered his body and set him on fire. "I gathered that. Your ADI half is still the dominant one, but still influenced by the mannerisms of Hieronymus. But _I_ gave you the name Sundown. I created you, based your entire profile on a combination of common players, protected you from most scans. I needed you to keep acting as my 'spy'. Static mused with endless delight. "No. NonoNO! This does not make any sense! I am human! I know I am! I remember things, things an ADI would have no way of knowing! I have a dueldisk! I have.."

"Then what is your name? Your _real_ name?"

"My.. real name? Why would I tell you!?" Sundown instinctively ignored the question. "Fair enough. Then tell me about your most precious memory. Who is the man you have hated for so long? Who is the one who took something from your family? And what did he take? Can you answer that?" Static leaned in further; enough to look the man straight in the eyes. "I.. he took them. He.." Sundown could not answer. He struggled to picture the scene. "It is hard to see, isn't it? Your memories are either just fragments of Hieronymus' experiences, or words fed to you to provide you with a backstory. I can't say that I care much about the lore, but each card and each ADI has a tale to tell. And I know where yours starts. I know where the man is that you seek." The static man touched Sundown's dueldisk, who instantly pulled it back. But not soon enough to stop Static from implanting data into the device. "I have given you his location. What you do with it is up to you.. But if you go, you will find all the answers you need. And more."

"..." Sundown looked down at his dueldisk. It did not even feel like his own anymore. And he felt this sudden urge to head towards this unknown destination. "This is all just a sick joke for you, isn't it? Another one of your games! I will prove you wrong! There is nothing there! Nothing!" So he left, he quickjumped away to settle the matter once and for all.

"Was.. any of that true?" Void inquired at the end. "It would be funny if I made it all up. But no. It is true. Aren't you happy now? You finally know who destroyed Hieronymus and how. I was hoping you people would play the guessing game yourself, but I guess you had more important quests to follow." Static shrugged. "I did.. think, this was the case." Void said softly to himself. "But I did not think it would be him." He shook his head. Having the answer did not make this any better. "Oh my. Did you actually believe you were the unique one? Hahaha! Oh Void. There is nothing so special about you! Though I must admit, you do keep surprising me with how you manage to stumble into everything by accident. I guess I was right to pick you for my game after all."

"Well I am not playing anymore then."

_"Oh? Did I hear that right? You're not having fun anymore?" Static affected a mocking tone of sympathy. "I am serious. Ezra, Hansen, what makes you better than them? Why should I give you even one of their items?" The only one Void could even trust right now was the bearer of the shield, and she was the one who got him here in the first place. "Ah, yes Hansen. You must be worried about what he is up to. What your friends are up too. I am curious myself, since they planned their little plan without me." As he talked at length, visions of the heroes filled the emptiness. "Oh does little old Void want to rejoin his adventuring party? Or are you just trying to annoy me to death with your mundane desires?"_

_"I know what you are doing, Static. It wont work. You still owe me an answer. Or do I have to duel you to get it out of you?" He would not entertain any of it anymore, not with this much at stake. "Duel me? Heh. Void, I would let you go for free. But that is not what you want. As soon as you step out of here, Ezra's curse will take hold and banish you from the network for good. That is still luckier than some.."_

_"Luckier?" Void narrowed his eyes, slowly coming to a realization. "You're stuck here too. You cannot leave this place." Void already saw Mister Static as something inhuman: an entity that only existed inside the network. "Please. I have my ways around my limits. And I have you to thank for it. But I cannot hold you here..You have to make the steps yourself..." The mystery man moved his arm in front of his face, causing his entire body to vanish as if it had been wiped away. "While we're all still dreaming!" His echoing voice lingered, and then Void was all alone again. "Ugh!" After all of that, he still had to face an impossible choice: stay in here or never return to STHEREA. There had to be a third option..._

_..._

"What is... What is happening?!" The effects of having an entire building recreated inside virtual space did not go undetected in the real world. The tower did not rumble visibly, it rumbled electronically. Random lights shorted out from power surges, phones started buzzing and people were panicking. "Sir! The network is under attack! We cannot control it!" One random employee rushed into the office, to find the man in charge of Exeter's technical operations. "Sir? Mister Hansen? Where is he?" But he did not find him there, he only saw the STHEREA barrier taking up the space around his chair. Mister Hansen had evidently plugged himself into STHEREA. "He cannot attend any business at this time. I will forward any messages to him." In his stead, Walter would act. A hologram of the butler ADI received the distressed office worker. "No no no. You have to get him back! He has to know this! Our entire system has been breached! We are exposed!" Even this man did not know what that meant for the company.

"It is Millennium then. They are inside right now. I shall inform the master. In the mean we should probably begin an evacuation procedure." Walter could only give a collected response to the frazzled man. "Y-yes! Of course!" The employee bowed respectfully and ran off to follow the instructions. Walter in turn looked at the place where Hansen stood.. and grinned.

(To Be Continued in Line 095: Locus of Control)


	95. Locus of Control

**Line 095: Locus of Control**

Vitruvic's LP: 8000 Melyria's LP: 8000 -TURN 01-

In the grand hall of the recreated Exeter HQ, the first of champions dueled the first member of Millennium Melyria Cister, while Cherry and several loyal millennium duelists looked on. Vitruvic drew his cards, immediately summoning his first spellcaster: the greenrobed and blackhaired Magical Exemplar(4/1700/1400) [Zone 1]. "I activate the Magical Citadel of Endymion!" Gathering spellcounters came easy for the magic duelist. Examplar (2 counters) gained two of them each time a spell card resolved. And the citadel of magic would gather its own from now on: one for each spell. "Magic card, Spell Power Grasp!" The first of which, once again, resolved with a spellcounter creation effect by itself. Spell Power Grasp placed a second counter on the Citadel (2 counters), two indirect counters on Exemplar (4 counters) and drew a second Spell Power Grasp card from the deck. But that one could not be activated this turn. "And now, my skill! Champion's Magic! I can activate any one spell within the database! So I activate Graceful Charity!"

"What the! You can't use that spell anymore!" One Millennium duelist cried foul. The Graceful Charity card had not seen the legal circuit since the first banlist. "I can, because I am me." Vitruvic's skill card seemed to bypass that restriction entirely, being able to activate any spell even if he did not control it. Graceful Charity drew three cards and discarded two: Spell Power Grasp and the tuner Umbreacum Couple. "You are trying to use your one turn kill again, aren't you?" Melyria had seen that tuner before, when Sigment dueled him. "I bet that is all he knows to do. Are you sure you are not just a mindless copy?" Cherry Anise had made a bet about that very conundrum with Ulysses, though he was stuck fighting his own champion right now. "I beg your pardon? I am the real Vitruvic. Nobody can copy me!"

"Cherry, my friends, as much as I appreciate this support. You should probably join the others in their tower travels, yes." Melyria said, as she could continue this fight by herself. "Fair enough. I already know how this gonna end anyway. Heheh." The trickstar duelist beckoned the others to follow her and dove into the shadows around her and ventured beyond.

"She will not find what she seeks, and neither will you." Vitruvic activated his next spell: Spell Power Mastery. "I add an Endymion card to my hand, the Servant of Endymion!" That was only the first part of his masterful magic card. The second part placed a spellcounter on the Magical Citadel (6 counters) for each Spell Power card used so far. Meanwhile the Examplar (8 counters) kept amassing her own pool of spellcounters naturally. She (10 counters) gained two more, after Vitruvic placed the Servant of Endymion {Scale 2} inside a pendulum zone. "I summon the Servant!" And that Servant could special summon herself by using three of her own spellcounters. The Citadel (7 to 4 counters) lent the pendulum caster some of its own, to initialize this effect. But not before Melyria activated an effect of her own.

"Just like the rest. You think you are entitled to everything because of your accomplishments. But your lofty titles have no meaning here, Vitruvic." She activated Maxx C from her hand, the mass-drawing cockroach. "Each time you special summon a monster this turn, I will draw a card!"

"I have worked to get where I am, worked in a world where work matters!" Vitruvic cared little for whatever she could draw this way and continued his magical onslaught. The visor-folded Servant(3/900/1500) [Zone 5] (1 counter) special summoned herself from the pendulum zone, and also special summoned a pendulum spellcaster from his deck. "Mythical Beast King Jackal! In defense mode!" The blue flames of magic took on the form of a majestic and royal jackal(6/2400/1400) [Zone 2] (1 counter). Warlock Armor covered its back, and extra beast heads grew out its flaming mane like snakes. The summon of the King Jackal and Servant counted as one combined event, so Melyria drew just one card. "Now, I summon Umbreacum Couple!" Melyria gained her second draw, as Vitruvic called out the completing piece of his lethal synchro puzzle. He did so by activating Magical Exemplar's effect: removing a number of counters from the priestess (10 to 7 counters) to revive a monster with the same number of level stars. The flower-holding spritecouple(3/500/1500) [Zone 4] joined hands with the Servant of Endymion.

"So everyone else is beneath you. Too tiny for you. But the tiny will rise up, Vitruvic. Because your world, where work matters, is also a world where corruption has infected everything." The pixie woman smiled wickedly, as she made use of the cards in her hand. "I activate Contact C!" The hand that stretched out to summon Umreacum Couple felt a shiver crawl up its wrist. "!?" Vitruvic saw a pair of glowing eyes and a shadowy blob appear near his hand. "Never under-estimate an insect. Contact C special summoned itself to your field, because you summoned a monster too. And now, if you want to use your synchro or link summons, you must use Contact C as a material." Melyria knew fully well that Tempest Magician, the actual instrument of destruction, could not be synchro summoned with a highlevel bug like this.

"Hmph. Pointless." Except, Vitruvic easily flicked the cockroach away. "A creature such as this needs an effect to summon itself. And Mythical Jackal can negate that!" The king of jackals howled and consumed two spellcounters from the field (Servant: 1 to 0 counters, Exemplar: 7 to 6 counters). Subsequently, it negated a monster's effect: destroying Contact C before it hit the field. "Or perhaps you felt this could stop the influx of magic? Think again!" Vitruvic revealed the last card in his hand: another pendulum for the pendulum zone. "Mythical Beast Master Cerberus! When there are no cards in my other pendulum zone, it can be destroyed to add a level 7 or lower Mythical Beast from the deck to my hand! I choose Mythical Beast Bashilisk!" The hound {Scale 4} of the blue flame lasted long enough to awaken more spellcounters for the Magical Exemplar (8 counters) and Citadel (5 counters). The Beast Master Jackal (3 counters) also gained two spellcounters for each resolved spell. "As I expected, the time has come to end this!"

"Synchro summon, Tempest Magician! In defense mode!" The hand that would deal death took on her familiar form: using the tuner Umbreacum Couple and the Servant of Endymion as synchro materials. Six stars created the sorcerous reaper Tempest Magician(6/2200/1400) [Extra Zone 1] (1 counter), who embedded a single magic gem into her scythe with her own powers. Those same powers would bring Vitruvic his first turn victory. "Seventeen counters! Tempest Magician will inflict 500 times as much damage!" More spell power got absorbed into the womans scythe: all the counters from the Citadel, Magical Exemplar and Mythical Jackal.

Yet the wasp duelist kept her calm, drawing another card thanks to the effect of Maxx C. "We will not bow down to a routine written by puppets. I activate my skill card: Parasite C!" Tempest swung her weapon, but Melyria blocked its tip with her own finger. "What is this?" The Parasite, a many-eyed mutated cockroach grub, spat out a new insect to the field: the one-eyed Battlewasp Sting the Poison(2/400/800) [Zone 1]. The effect of the Battlewasp immediately added a new Battlewasp to Melyria's hand: Battlewasp Twinbow the Attacker. And the parasite itself then injected every monster on the field to drain their vital energy and pass it on to both duelists at once. "This is your weakness; the weakness of a champion. Sigment already proved as much when he also successfully blocked your first turn kill, yeah. You are too stuck in the old ways, too afraid of change!"

Melyria's LP: 12000 Vitruvic's LP: 10000

_Parasite "C", Skill Card  
__When your opponent controls more monsters than you do, you can special summon 1 level 3 or lower insect from your hand, deck or graveyard.  
__And if you do, both players gain 1000 LP for each monster card on the field._

"Change. Change is a right reserved for winners." Vitruvic scoffed at her suggestion. Melyria still took the swing of the scythe blade afterwards, losing 8500 of her boosted life. "Spoken by a man whose skill lets him use cards that were banned ages ago, hmm. Old habits die hard."

Melyria's LP: 3500

All of Vitruvic's spell counters had been spent for a failed attack. But he could scrounge up more. "Mythical Beast Bashilisk!" The champion wielded his new pendulum, the magical lizard {Scale 4}, which could also destroy itself while there were no cards in the other pendulum zone. "I return Servant of Endymion from the extra deck to my main deck, and draw one card!" The pendulum mage, having been added to his extra deck before when it turned into a synchro material, became the cost for Bashilisk's drawing effect. A draw that gave Vitruvic a trap card to place face down. Exemplar (2 counters), Master Jackal (2 counters) and the Citadel would slowly but surely rebuild their collection.

-TURN 02-

"As a friend of mine likes to say: then I guess I will just have to win." Melyria let out a short chortle before revealing her own insects: the first being a pile of cockroaches: Gokipole(3/1000/2000). "Sting the Poison activates its effect! It sacrifices an insect to negate the effect of an opponents monster! No matter how great it may be!" The tiny bugs started their giant uprising, with Gokipole's essence transforming into a shot of pure venom. "Such affairs are doomed to failure!" But Vitruvic summarily squashed the effect under his boot, by removing two spellcounters from the field (Exemplar: 2 to 0 counters) with Master Jackal's effect. "You gain nothing and lose everything!" The Stinger Battlewasp died, while Gokipole's sacrifice got wasted. Halfway wasted. "Ah but one thing always leads to another. When Gokipole is sent to my graveyard, I can add a level 4 or lower insect to my hand." The insect duelist widened her grin and took the smallest Battlewasp out of her deck: Pin the Bullseye.

"It does, Cister duelist." Vitruvic in turn revealed his continuous trap. "Mythical Bestiamorph!" Each time a monster's effect resolves, I can add a spellcounter to this card!" The effect of Gokipole began the long road towards the final power of the Bestiamorph symbol (1 counter) that now glowed against the ceiling.

"But you cannot stop this yes, champion." Melyria shrugged and special summoned her next bug: a prehistoric pink butterfly(5/1200/900) [Zone 1] with eye patterns on each of its six wings. "The Primitive Butterfly! If I control no monsters, I can special summon this monster from my hand! Inversely.. when I control an insect, I can also special summon Battlewasp Pin the Bullseye." The tiny needle-noded bee(1/200/300) [Zone 2] fluttered towards the field, pointing straight towards the magical duelist. "Once a turn, Pin inflicts 200 points of damage for each Pin the Bullseye on the field!" The tiniest wasp in her army fired a small blast from its nose, giving Vitruvic a small prick. "Feh. You will never win at that rate." Pin's damage, along with its special summon, counted as more effects resolved near Mythical Bestiamorph (3 counters)

Vitruvic's LP: 9800

"No I suppose I wouldn't, no." Melyria cared little. She had more insects to play, more ignition summon effects to resolve. "When I have a Battlewasp under my control, I can special summon Twinbow the Attacker! Hm!" The dual stinger hornet(3/1000/500) [Zone 3] joined her buzzing army, giving Bestiamorph {4 counters) more magic power "All great things are put together from smaller parts." In a way the two duelists were alike: one just collected bugs and the other collected shiny marbles... "I use Pin and Twinbow to Link summon, Greatfly!" Small insects could also turn into link materials of course. The Wind-attribute Battlewasps evolved into a swollen bulbous fly(1400/LINK 2) {Downleft/Downright} [Extra Zone 2] with the bladed arm. Now All WIND monsters like the Greatfly(1900 atk) and Primitive Butterfly(1700/1300) gained 500 attackpoints and 400 defensepoints.

"And finally, to complete all out revolution, yeah! I activate Summoning Swarm! Vitruvic, for each monster you control.. I can special summon one Battlewasp from the graveyard!" Melyria could call out three Battlewasps at once: the poisonous Sting(900/1200) [Zone 3], the pinning Bullseye(700/700) [Zone 4] and the attacking Twinbow(1500/900)[Zone 5]. "Sting's effect adds Battlewasp Dart the Hunter to my hand this turn!" Said the duelist, who also gave her opponent another spellcounter for his continuous trap {5 spellcounters). "There we are, hm. The thing you have been waiting for all this time, champion. A synchro summon! I use Sting the tuner and Twinbow as the nontuner! And synchro summon Asuza the Ghost Bow!" Asuza would be her first synchronic creation: her more humanoid-formed wasp archer and synchro tuner Asuza(5/2600/2000) [Zone 5]. She certainly would not be the last.

"But that does not mean my other cards are less important to me. Every one matters! Not just the ones at the top! Primitive Butterfly as well: her effect can raise the levels of all insects on the field by 1!" Stardust fell from the ancient butterfly's wings: stars for her own majesty(7/1700/1300) and for the Battlewasps Pin(2/700/700) and Asuza(6/2600/2000). "Synchro summon! Come my Conquering Bow: Battlewasp Hama!" Asuza as the tuner took off with Pin the nontuner: six levels plus two. And so Hama the male battlewasp archer(8/3200/2400) [Zone 3] could take form and ready his bow. "A field to fight on is also required." Melyria said before activating the field spell: Giant Ballpark.

"I believe this will do, hm." She now controlled as many insects as she possibly could. While Vitruvic controlled his trap (6 counters), his Citadel (3 counters) and his spellcasters: Jackal (6 counters) and Exemplar(4 counters): all having built up their spellcounters from the last two spells used by Melyria. "Let's test the strength of the many! Hama attacks Magical Exemplar!" The greatest insect took aim at the weakest mage. A single arrow through the chest took Magical Exemplar down. Yet the arrow's damage did not pass through its master. "I activate Giant Ballpark's effect! I can reduce battle damage from an insect's fight to zero, by sending an insect from the deck to my graveyard!" The use of such seemed questionable, as Melyria only used this spell effect to discard a simple lowlevel bug: Krawler Axon. "What was that?"

But before Vitruvic could question her choice of cards, Hama already prepared his second arrow. "The Conquering Bow can attack twice in one turn, since I used a synchro monster as one of his materials! Also, since my battlewasp destroyed your monster in battle, Asuza the Ghost Bow returns to my field in defense mode!" Like a proper ghost, the female archer wasp(5/2600/1600) [Zone 2] pulled herself out of the bug-filled ground and stood by Hama as he choose his second target. "Yes. You realize, Vitruvic, that you already anticipated your own failure, when you summoned your monster in defense mode? Why fear damage when you can kill me in one turn? Ha!" She laughed and silently ordered the attack. Hama's second shot pierced the Mythical Beast Master Jackal, reducing it to wisps of blue fire. "Now Battlewasp the Dart activates from my hand! Your monster lost to my Battlewasp, and Dart inflicts damage equal to that monsters attackpower!" Casually the woman flicked the card from her hand, turning it into a vespine dart. "Guah!" The wasp lodged itself in Vitruvic's shoulder.

Vitruvic's LP: 7400

"I will tell you why, champion. Because you already know your world is not going to last, no! It is a doomed world, controlled by blind men who have hollowed out nature and humanity with their greed! It is time to clean the slate, yes!" Her third attacker, Greatfly, decapitated the defending Tempest Magician with its sickled talon. And she would leave it at that, skipping Primitive Butterfly's attack. Because at the end of a battlephase which saw no battle damage, Hama the Conquering Bow could use its next effect. "Hama inflicts 300 points of damage for each Battlewasp in the graveyard! And Asuza inflicts damage equal to the original attackpower of a Battlewasp that already caused effect damage!" The two archers combined their forces: with Hama causing Sting, Pin, Twinbow and Dart to inflict four strikes with a total of 1200 damage. Asuza's own effect attack blasted 2800 points away from the champions dwindling reserves. "I am not even using my full power yet, by the way, yeah."

Vitruvic's LP: 3400

"Neither am I, girl." The champion grunted. He felt his heart beat faster than ever before, but he had not lost yet. The Citadel (13 counters) absorbed all the spellcounters from the destroyed magicians, while Mythical Bestiamorph (10 counters) had no shortage of them either now.

"Hm. You speak like all humans that cannot see beyond the present. You never consider any generation besides your own." Melyria placed two trap cards face down and prepared to end her turn. Though she would make one more move. "I link summon Seraphim Papillon! Using at least two insects!" Greatfly, counting for two, mixed its essence with that of the Primitive Butterfly. The linking grid transformed the ancient and mutated insects into one celestial being: a glowing butterfly(2100/LINK 3) {Up/Downleft/Downright} with six shimmering blue wings. The Seraphim(2500 atk) gained a counters for each of its link materials, and 200 attackpoints for each of its counters. "I will give you a glimpse of your tomorrow... I set two cards and end my turn. Then..."

-TURN 03-

Melyria came close to unveiling her true power, when something distracted her. "Oh? Interesting interesting. They came after all." She sensed new life just outside the darkness. "Who came?" Vitruvic cursed. "The new generation. They finally know who to fight for. This makes me happy.." She refocused her wide-eyed stare on the first champion. "I activate Serpahim Papillons second effect. It can use one counter to special summon an insect from my graveyard. And I choose.. Krawler Axon."

...

"Huh. Don't that beat all.." Donna tilted her head sideways to make sense of this sight: a skyscraper in the middle of a forest. These were the coordinates they got from Vigionair. "And a good evening to you too." The undead princess Himiko waited for them there. "Aha! You _were_ with them! Did you join do the weird lance ritual thing too?" Bionis immediately pointed his finger at the zombie princess. "This is no time to hurl accusations, Bionis Khan. You should be thankful we waited for you at all." She hissed back. "We?" Asterisk quickly made note of the noise in the distance, and he saw his own friend Vigionair dueling the champion Acrates. "V?"

"Just taking care of some business, Asterisk!" The encrypter declared as he sent his Cipher Dragon and mindcontrolled Utopia to finish the golden knight off. "Just my luck that I run into the XYZ-specialist. The others ran into heavier resistance." He pointed at several black domes spread across the field: one sitting inside the building. "Are those?"

"Yes. It turns out our friend Vitruvic was waiting for them. He and a couple of champion copies took on Ezra, Crescent and his henchmen. So he separated them all in these pitchblack prisons so he could not communicate with anyone else. The other millennium duelists went ahead to look for Hansen and the Chalice, and the Battlewasp woman challenged the champion herself." Vigionair continued to explain as he dusted off his suit. He found this open environment far too dirty, despite its literal lack of dirt. "Now, is anyone else coming? Or this is what we have to work with?

"Veyron said she had to take care of some business. His brother I bet. Blanche is offline and Sundown.. we havent even seen that dude since yesterday." Neo shook his head. Of the pandemonium heroes: only he, Asterisk, Zettai, Scura, Donna and Bionis could make it. Giganoto came with them as well. Neo's fans and the other dueltainers stayed behind to deal any random CID or Admin. "And wait, did you say Crescent is dueling the champions too?" Neo said with tremor in his voice. "Indeed." Himiko replied. "Because she found another item. Crescent is almost as powerful as Ezra now. It is a sort of terrifying. And yet one cannot look away. Nor should you. You should stream everything we are about to see inside there, this virtual recreation of Hansens imperial tower. So that the world may share the secrets of Exeter, the Legacy items, my own family as well. I am tired of not knowing how it all comes together." She turned around with a resolute look, ready to set foot inside.

"I do not like this. We should not be helping them get control of the Chalice." Zettai muttered as they started their approach. "Is it any worse than Exeter having it?" Giganoto asked, scratching his chin. "X! Have you forgotten that Millennium framed you in the first place?" Donna snapped at him to make him remember. "No! But what can we do about that? We have a time limit, and they don't. Plus they cannot be suspended. We can." X noted. Hours had passed since his return to STHEREA just so that people like Neo and Zettai could refresh their timespans.

"There is an easy answer." Himiko teased as she no longer had a time limit. "No! I refuse to partake in that madness." Zettai snarled, knowing that she was referring to the World legacy's power. "Suit yourself. I don't consider myself one of them, but the freedom they offered is still.. magnificent. I suppose this is a case of whoever finds it first, gets to have the Chalice. But whatever the rest of you decide, you should do it swiftly before"

_"There you are.."_

Before the CTO found out. "Hansen!" Himiko and the others looked up to the sky. He sounded near, yet distant. _"Oh You're the Daughter of Shintaro are you not? You should not even be here."_ Because he spoke directly through the network. _"Don't expect me to go easy on you..or your friends."_ And his army materialized all around the skyscraper. "_Take what secrets you can find. You will never get to me in time.."_ They stood no chance of fighting such odds. "So this is then? You are going to let your soldiers do your work for you? You are just as bad as the Crown!" Zettai would try regardless, and made that loud and clear. _"I am nothing like that fool! I am the one in control!"_ The CTO shouted back, refusing what he heard. "Only in here! You cannot keep us silent! Even if you force us out, we will fight you til the last! What Exeter has done is evil! And the world knows it!"

"Yet the world slumbers." Out of the dispelled darkness, Ezra emerged. "You! And Crescent?!" The weather girl was there as well. "Oh good. You won your duels as well. I still hold the record though." Vigionair smirked. The bodies of the fake Sigment and Dyzanthium rested at their feet. "Crescent. What are you gonna do?" Neo stammered as he marveled at the prismatic shield in her hands. "Make sure you can get through." Crescent then demonstrated the power of said shield by firing a beam of light at the ground, causing a massive shard of rainbow-colored crystals to rise up and scatter a portion of the army. At the same time the crystal grew over every part of Exeter HQ to keep them at bay.

_"You two. I shall enjoy being rid of you!"_ Hansen in turn changed his focus, sending the CIDs to smash head first into the prism-wall. They burst into liquid and melted the rocks. "Hansen, come out and face us yourself! Answer for your crimes!" Ezra created several illusions of random monsters to confuse the CIDs and Admindrones. _"Why would I? What crimes are you even talking about?"_ Wherever Hansen was watching from, he did not seem to be fooled by the mirages. But he could not focus on the heroes while he had to deal with Ezra and Crescent. "Your betrayal of the creator! He made this world and you silenced him!" An angered Ezra yelled again. _"The Creator? You sound like you think he is a god. But he was just a man and a fool! And now he is nothing!" T_he CTO laughed louder and louder. "You lie! He is with us, fighting through us! Today you will pay, Hansen!"

"You should go. This is your chance." Crescent made more barriers of her own, but their measures could only hold them of for so long. "I do not take orders from Millennium. I will make my stand here as well." Zettai activated her dueldisk and took to the skies to attack from above. "Well suit yourself! But not all of us can fly!" Bionis howled as he and the other heroes dispersed as well, running into the building.

"We should probably split up now, to cover more ground." Asterisk declared as they finally got away from the noise. "Ugh, I knew you would say that." Scura scowled. "But I agree, but I think we should be looking for more than the CTO." Himiko spoke up, having come along with them. "Like what?" Donna wondered. "'Like' Exeter's database.. and all of its secrets." The princess replied.

(To Be Continued in Line 096: Hive Minds Think Alike)

**New Cards used by Vitruvic  
**Magical Exemplar  
Mythical Beast Jackal King

-  
Mythical Bestiamorph

**New Cards used by Melyria Cister  
**_PARASITE "C"_

-  
Maxx "C"

Contact "C"  
Primitive Butterfly  
Battlewasp - Dart the Hunter  
Krawler Axon

-  
Seraphim Papillon

-  
Summoning Swarm  
Giant Ballpark


	96. All Hive Minds Think Alike

**Line 096: All Hive Minds Think Alike**

The floors of Exeter HQ seemed more noisy than usual. "Hello?" Therese Hansen wondered if anyone was going to inform her of the situation, but they still kept her sequestered in this office. "This is ridiculous." She did not plan to just sit here and wait. Nobody stopped her from getting up and walking to the door. "Ugh." The door itself stopped her from getting further though, it had been sealed shut with a lockpad for which she did not have the passcode. "Hansen. I know you have something to do with this!" And her brother did not give any response to her cries either. It seemed like she was straight out of luck.

"You rang?" Until friendlier people chimed in through the intercom. "What? Is that... you Donna?" She recognized the voice of her tagtournament opponent. "Yes indeed!" Both of them. Giganoto sounded off as well. "Keep quiet X. We don't want anyone to know we are here." Donna admonished her partner.

"Yes, about that. How are you here? Are you in the building?" Therese wondered out loud. "Not quite. We're on your brother's office on the virtual side, tapping into his coms. Figured checking it out was worth a shot." Giganoto explained. "Then I noticed your situation and that we could help you..." Donna chuckled as the door in front of Therese mysteriously opened. "This is.. most unusual. How exactly are you doing this?" She asked again as she peered into the halls. She did not want to venture outside while there were people running about. "Long story. But we're making a big move, Millennium and us. I don't like it that much either, but we gotta do what we gotta do. And if you are wondering who gave us the tools to hack your door and such. Well his name starts with a V.."

...

Elsewhere, in an old dusty storage room: information waited. "Ah, finally some peace and quiet. I had almost forgotten what that could be like." Vigionair cracked his virtual knuckles, not caring that his hands could barely replicate the proper feeling. While the battles did rage on, his talents would be of far greater use elsewhere. "This is the place then?" Yoro-Himiko inquired "It appears so. These are all the files we could find." Asterisk marveled at the sight of it: perfectly digitized folders and binders containing pages and pages of information. As soon as he opened up one, screens popped out to display the contents. The 'derealization' of the company building merged physical data with online data perfectly. "It would take a single man years to go through all of this.."

"What I want first and foremost is information about my family. Why do the Shintaros have such a large stake in this company? What did they want?" Eternal life, stolen memories, fake environments: Himiko could think of a thousand horrifying uses. Yet she still hoped that her own father and mother had no connection to it. "Well it's a good thing I never leave home without my algorithms! I'll just use my special search engine on it and find the data in no time!" Vigionair let his programs run wild, flickering across the archives like fireflies. He gave them keywords to munch on: Shintaro, World Legacy, Chalice, Memory, Static, Creator. Some hits were more successful than others. "Classified eh? Cheh, not for long!" Whatever restrictions he ran into would soon be broken by his other digital tools. And while the database still held little info about the World Chalice itself. It did specify Shintaro in relation with 'project Flute'.

"Interesting name." Asterisk mused. "Flute.." The word resonated with Himiko as well, though she did not know why. It would do as a new search string either way. "What the.." Vigionair got a hit immediately. "This is.." And what he saw filled him with disgust. "The storage and adjustment of memory engrams of every network user, through the STHEREA headset and through ambient magnetic waves. That is project flute?" The text was right there, with examples of memories of duelists and nonduelists alike. "What? What does that mean?" Himiko said with a shudder. "That.. they have been influencing people's minds since the beginning.. Exeter is rewriting what people remember!"

...

Vitruvic's LP: 1400 Melyria's LP: 3750

"Krawler? Is this the face you offer to me, the face of your full power? You should have stuck to those insects that can at least sting a little." Vitruvic regarded Melyria's monster: the spinal cord insect Krawler Axon(2/500/1800) with casual contempt. This insect would only activate if it got flipped face-up or removed by a card effect, two circumstances Vitruvic did not plan to bring about. The bigger threats to him were here Battlewasp archers Hama(2800/2000), Azusa(2200/1600) and the Seraphim Papillon (2300/LINK 3). He only controlled spells and traps with spellcounters now: Mystical Bestiamorph {10 counters) and the Magical Citadel of Endymion {13 counters). "Just because something is new, does not mean it is an improvement. I have seen trends come and go, and yours is just another in my way. My turn continues! I normal summon the Magic Absorber!" To face her bugs, Vitruvic called out another magician(4/1800/1300) [Zone 5] in long sleeved black robes. This one wore long grey hair and kept a black-scaled scythe in his hands.

"Uhm, that card is clearly called 'Magical Something'. What is that too embarrassing too say?" A black-robed duelist stepped through the shadows, one who found it hilarious that the champion would have such a minor hang-up. "So there were more." Vitruvic did not recognize her, but he guessed he was looking at one of the heroes of Pandemonium. And her name was Scura. "I go by the proper names, the names my country came up with." He cared not for her jests. If the first had his way, he would have fired whoever translated some of these cardnames.

"Oh that is right, you hail from across the sea, hmm. The land where dueling originated. How far you have come indeed. Just like you, Chiaroscura. I am pleased to see you return." Melyria gave her a kinder greeting. "Yeah don't get used to it. I'm still not gonna join. I was actually just looking for Ulysses' bubble, guess I picked the wrong one." Scura wanted to see if the old conductor had lost his duel yet or not. But she guessed she could just as well stick around for this one. Everyone else already had already left her so they could check the lower floors. "So, not doing so hot eh champ?"

"Mock me while you can! But it is my turn to strike! The Magic Absorber gains a spellcounter each time a spell resolves! And it gains a level for each of its counters," The magic duelist made that clear when he revealed the card he drew this turn. "Magic card! Beast Magic Attack! I can remove 4 spellcounters from anywhere on the field, to special summon a Mythical Beast from my extra deck with two of its own spellcounters! Return to me, Master Cerberus!" As the 'Something' wizard(5/1800/1300) (1 counter) started absorbing ambient magic, the Mystical Bestiamorph spell relinquished four from its own stock (10 to 6 counters). The magic crystals shattered into a flow of blue flames: flames for the upgraded form of the Mythical Cerberus(8/2800/2800) (2 counters) [Zone 1]. Immediately Master Cerberus banished the strongest monster on the field: Hama the Conquerer. And all of the Conquerer's attackpoints were absorbed into the body of the Master(5600/2800). "Great, that mutt is even worse than the Jackal." Scura definitely preferred bugs over beasts here.

"My trap activates as well! While it has 6 counters or more, I can sacrifice the Bestiamorph!" The champion shattered his continuous trap and its remaining spellcounters. "To add any spell card from the deck to my hand! I choose the Pot of Extravagance! And I activate it, to draw two cards!" An extravagant spell asked for an extravagant cost. Six cards were banished face-down from Vitruvic's extra deck, to draw one card for each three banished cards. he would have no way of knowing which extra deck monster he banished. But the cards he drew made him look into the past rather than the future anyway. "So it ends the way it should have... I activate Mythical Beast Medusa!" A magical blue jellyfish-like spellcaster{Scale 4} assumed its corporeal form as a spell in the pendulum zone. Snakes made from blue fire extended from its main body. The last two resolved spells added even more counters to Vitruvic's cards: two times two for the Cerberus Master (6 counters) and two times one for Magical Something (3 counters) (7/1800/1500) and Magical Citadel {16 counters)

"Magic Absorber's effect activates by removing its 3 counters, and it sets a quickplay spell again." With just one quickplay spell in the graveyard, Vitruvic did not have any alternative but to take Beast Magic Attack and set it back face down. Then again, he did not think he would need it. "Melyria, which future do you see now? Mythical Beast Medusa can destroy itself, to special summon one monster that will have to hold one spellcounter! A monster from the graveyard, Melyria Cister! I choose Tempest Magician! Medusa's burning magic pierced the floor, causing an explosion to break open the fiery depths of the grave. Death itself returned to the living: death in the shape of the reaper Tempest Magician(6/2200/1200) [Zone 3] (1 counter). "Wait, he already tried that?!" Scura cried out. Tempest Magician activated her effect once she absorbed her own spellcounter, the 16 spellcounters from Endymions Citadel and 6 from Master Cerberus. All of Melyria's lifepoints would be lost.

Or not. "I activate World Legacy Mind Meld!" Melyria unveiled the first trap.

"The World Legacy?" Vitruvic's synchro magician performed a feat she should not have been able to. Instead of cutting through the opponent, she cut through Krawler Axon and sent it back to Melyria's hand. "Yeah. I connected with your monsters mind, champion Vitruvic. My World Legacy trap overwrites a monsters effect with an effect that returns one of my monsters to my hand." The cost stayed the same, only the result was different. "Heh, Krawler Axon is removed from my field by your effect now. And that allows it to split up into two new separate Krawlers! I set Krawler Spine and Krawler Dendrite from my deck!" Melyria channeled a pulse from one hand to the other, lighting up the cards in her deck. Two came out and were special summoned to the field [Zones 2 & 3] in face-down defense position. "That is our power, yeah. For each cord you cut, two more will spring up!"

"There is still a limit to how much you can divide yourself!" Vitruvic activated his final spell card: Endymions Lab. The continuous spell supported the Endymion Citadel (1 counter) by gathering its own spellcounters for each resolved spell card. And at the same time it gave new spellcounters to Magical Something (5/1800/1300) (1 counter) and Master Cerberus (2 counters). Not enough for Tempest Magician to cause serious damage, but little by little it would add up. "Master Cerberus, attack Seraphim Papillon!" And a little could start with a lot. The Master hound spewed three blasts of blue flames, setting all six wings of the angel butterfly ablaze.

"I can negate the damage though, Vitruvic. Giant Ballpark's effect sends an insect to my graveyard!" Melyria quickly tossed another insect card in the path of the attack, an insect in a black rider suit that struck a dramatic pose. "And, since I sent a normal monster. I can special summon that normal monster from my hand, deck or graveyard! "C" Ranger Shine Black!" Two more insect rangers(4/2000/0) [Zone 5] saluted the champion as one returned from the grave and another summoned itself [Zone 4] from the deck. She would have summoned more, if she had the space for it.

"One more wont make a difference. Magic Absorber, Tempest Magician! Attack!" Two scythes lashed out to cut down the defending Azusa the Ghost Bow and one of the face-down Krawler on the left side of the field. This one(2/300/2100) had a more rotund body and four sharp legs, but the same mechanical appearance and single robotic eye. "Aha, you picked Krawler Spine. When this card flips, I can destroy one of your monsters." The spinal insect extended its red nerves across the field. "Master Cerberus cannot be destroyed while there are 4 counters on the field!" Vitruvic uttered in protest. "You always assume I will go after your strongest card first. But it is the weak links that break a duelist." Krawler Spine impaled the Tempest Magician with its destructive tendrils instead. Ensuring that Melyria would take no more risks from her power. "One cannot defeat strength by avoiding it! I once tried that approach, and I failed as well. You will fail too." Vitruvic snarled.

"Are you talking about the company? Is that why you gave in to Exeter? You felt they were simply too big too get around? ou lack imagination pal. If I were in your shoes.. why I would just build a track straight through them" Said a familiar voice as he walked into the shadow bubble. "Oh no. Scura groaned as she saw him again: Ulysses. "Not everything has to be a train metaphor for *%$* sake."

"Hello spitfire! Glad to see you're still enthused about fighting the good fight." Ulysses laughed back at her. "So you defeated another champion. These ones were shoddy remakes." Vitruvic shook his head. "But you call this fighting a good fight? When you have a known criminal on your side, Melyria Cister?" The champion ended his turn at that point. "Whoa what? Criminal?" Scura blinked and stepped away from Ulysses. "Hey now. That was in the past. I had a family to feed. A family of just me, but still. Not like I murdered someone or anything." Ulysses responded defensively. "But you _were_ a common thief. Until Millennium took you in. We looked into your records. You thought you had erased most when you joined Millennium. But a paper trail remained. Your slate cannot be cleaned so easily."

-TURN 04-

"What he has done has no bearing on this moment here, no bearing at all." Melyria hissed as she drew her next card. "He managed to free himself from the great evil. From the sin of greed. Because there can be no greed or sin in STHEREA. Unlike you, champion. Yes. I know why you 'gave in to Exeter. You saw value in currency. A value that has caused men to do terrible things. To spread inquality between the poor and the rich!"

"No more. We wont have any more need of it!" She flipped Krawler Dendrite: a more stocky mecha-insect(2/1300/600) with two heavy forelegs, one eye on its headless abdomen and another sticking out of its neck. "When Krawler Dendrite is flipped, I can send one monster card from the deck to my graveyard! I choose another Gokipole!" As already demonstrated last turn; a grave-bound Gokipole would add a level 4 or lower insect to Melyria's hand. "I take Battlewasp Arbalest the Rapidfire! And summon it!" The final warrior of the wasp army entered the duel. The crossbow stinger hornet(4/1800/800) [Zone 1], playing its part by special summoning one of its fallen comrades: Battlewasp Dart the Hunter(1/100/100) [Zone 2]. "Dart can change one Battlewasp on the field into a tuner, and it chooses Arbalest!" The literally dart-shaped bee stung the Rapidfire wasp, giving its four stars a special harmonious quality. "But that is what it means to be a duelist. To create something new by making things equal. The opposite of what your bosses are trying to do!"

"How many times do I have to tell you that your words are lost on me?" Vitruvic sneered. "Until it sticks, champion... I will link summon Insect Shinobi Hagakuremino! It is a link monster that demands two unique monsters!" Krawler Dendrite and Battlewasp Dart became the lucky candidates for a new double-linking circuit. Rather than wasps or butterflies, the resulting insect(1000/LINK 2) {Upleft/Down} [Extra Zone 2] took more after a preying mantis merged with a human ninja warrior.

"And then I synchro summon Battlewasp Ballista the Armageddon! The ultimate Battlewasp!" Arbalest with its new tuner status, synchronized with the two Shine Black C Rangers. Three times four stars collided in a dazzling explosion of pyrotechnics, all to prop up the warmachine of the Battlewasps. Ballista the giant crimson wasp(12/3000/800) [Zone 4] hovered far above the spellcasters with its armored wings, golden eyes and multitude of stingers. "This is the power of unity! The Amageddon can banish all insects from the graveyard to lower your monsters attackpoints by 500 for each!" Sixteen insects in total would rise from the grave to bombard the fields below: 5 Battlewasps, 2 Krawlers, 2 Gokipoles, Seraphim Papillon, Greatfly, Primitive Butterfly, 2 C Rangers, Maxx C and Contact C. Not even the Master of Mythical Beasts would be able to old on to a single attackpoint after this.

"But all of that power comes through one source. All I need to do is shut it off! I activate Beast Magic Attack and special summon King Jackal!" Vitruvic flipped his quickplay spell: removing four spellcounters (Endymions Citadel & Magical Something: 1 to 0 counters, Cerberus: 2 to 0 counters) from the field to special summon the Mythical Beast Jackal King(6/2400/1400) (2 counters) [Zone 4] from the deck with two of its own spellcounters. The resolved Beast Magic spell also returned a spellcounter to each card that could hold one (Endymions Citadel & Endymions Lab & Magical Something: 1 counter, Cerberus: 2 counters). "And I negate the effect of a monster, by removing 2 spellcounters!" The Jackal swallowed its own two counters, and proceeded to leap towards Ballista. With a mighty swing, it tore the giant Battlewasp up, piece by piece. "Now you have nothing!"

"Nothing? Do you call this nothing? Since you destroyed my synchro summoned Battlewasp Ballista: I can special summon three banished insects! Second! Insect Shinobi Hagakuremino special summons one lowlevel insect from my hand or graveyard when the monster it pointed too has died! Though that monster will be banished if it leaves the field!" The Krawler Axon in Melyria's hand found its way back to the field, as it [zone 4] took refuge in the Shinobi's shadow. At the same time: Ballista's dying body burst open and released Krawler Spine [Zone 3], Krawler Dendrite [Zone 2] and Battlewasp Sting the Poison(2/400/800) [Zone 1]. "And to cap of your momentous mistake, champion! I activate the trap card: Witch's Strike! I destroy all cards on your field and in your hand, because you negated my effect!" The wasp duelists's grin turned even more malicious. Like a witch she gathered black magic in her hands and let it go free like unholy lightning.

"Witch Strike? Ugh! How appropriate! But Master Cerberus cannot be destroyed while there are more than 4 spellcounters on the field! And the Citadel of Endymion can prevent its own destruction as well!" The black thunder incinerated Endymions Lab, Mythical Jackal and the Magic Absorber, causing their spellcounters to transfer towards the Magical Citadel {1 to 4 counters). Said Citadel {4 to 3 counters) then shattered one of the spellcounters in its spires, to deflect the Witch's Strike along with the still almighty Cerberus.

"Yes, but your monster is not immune to targeting effects." Melyria smirked as she activated the effects of the Poison Battlewasp. First it added another Battlewasp to her hand which she could then special summon, Pin the Bullseye(1/200/300) [Zone 5]. Subsequently Poison the String sacrificed the Bullseye wasp to activate its second effect. "And your attackpower, which is borrowed like so many other things, will be lost when Sting negates its effects!" The poison stinger hit its mark, and gave Cerberus a full dose. Without its effects, the Master(2800/2800) dropped back down to its base attackpower. "That is still more power than your monsters though." Scura pointed out. "Power like that is temporary. Built on the backs of greater minds."

"And your power is not? You live in a dreamworld, Melyria Cister. Everything you see, touch and hear was lent to you by Exeter. They made your toys and they can take them away again."

"False. Everything I see, was given to us by the creator." Melyria countered, and started to transform right before his eyes. "Hansen never told you about him, I imagine. But you would not carry on his legacy anyway. I will." Her nervous system glowed on the inside of her body, and her two extra arms pushed out and stretched to the left and right. "I take two monsters of the earth to Link summon Krawler Synaphysis! And I take two insect monsters to link summon Krawler Neurogos!" EARTH was the attribute of each Krawler, and Insect their type. The nerves of Krawler Axon linked up wth those of Krawler Dendrite. On the other end, Krawler Spine connected with Battlewasp Sting. In the end two larger more powerful insects were unveiled to the world: Synaphysis the winged mechabug(1800/LINK 2) {left/right} [Zone 4] scuttling on its golden/purple legs and Neurogos the spine worm(1900/LINK 2) {Left/right} [Zone 3] with four legs extending from its single eye body. "Now that it is co-linked, Neurogos will extend 300 attackpoints and a second attack to any linked Krawler. Synaphysis extends the same attackboost and doubles the damage a linked Krawler inflicts to an opponents monster!" The synaptic Krawler(2100 atk) and the neural Krawler(2200 atk) connected through a thin network of nerves, becoming permanently intertwined.

"And this is where the story ends for you, champion. I activate Revival Swarm! One Battlewasp is revived, the ultimate Battlewasp!" Melyria's new arms placed the final spell on the field, resurrecting Battlewasp Ballista [Zone 2]with beejeweling magic. "Again?" The Armageddon could use its power each time it got special summoned, and there were were four new insects to banish from the graveyard: two Krawlers and two Battlewasps. "The revolution does not end just because one strike failed! We will try again and again, because we are eternal!" Four bombs fell down upon Master Cerberus. The blasts left him(800/800) as weak as an actual bug. "Battle! Synaphysis attacks Cerberus, inflicting double damage!" Neurogos, still linked with Synaphysis, sent a jolt of extra energy into its Krawling companion. The bug's bladed legs glimmered twice as brightly when they sank deep into the blue flames of the Master. "Do you have any last words, champion?"

Vitruvic's LP: 800

"Hmph. So this is where you present me a choice, is it not?" The champion realized he could not win this duel. "Then I choose to not follow. This world means little to me. I already have what I wanted from my own." He did not make a big fuss about it either. "Have you fallen so far that you do not even care about your own image? The prestige of the invincible duelist? You are a greater disappointment than I imagined." Melyria shook her head and readied the next direct attack. "Say whatever you will, I know a doomed venture when I see one. Your revolution will fail. The world does not bend to the whims of children." He welcomed the damage with open arms, losing the rest of his lifepoints to the long tail of Krawler Neurogos. "Ad we do not bend to the desires of fools! Farewell, champion!" In the same breath, Melyria flew behind Vitruvic and planted her fourth arm in his neck. "Rgh!"

Vitruvic's LP: 0

"Ding dong the champion is dead." Ulysses chuckled to himself. Vitruvic's avatar deleted itself, and the shadow barrier popped like a bubble. "Tch. I was hoping for him to grovel a bit more before he kicked the virtual bucket. He didn't even cry or whine like that other guy did." Scura mumbled casually, only then to realize that she was talking about one of their former allies. "Ehr..like that judge guy I mean. Yeah." Nobody seemed to catch it at least. "He placed no value in his own title in the end, for he knew how hollow it was. A champion that earns his victories through scripts and bribes is no champion at all." Melyria looked at the things he left behind, a few thousand gems and a stack of cards. She stomped them all to digital dust under her boot. "He was just a weapon whose only purpose was to delay me. To delay those who could sense Hansens power source.." There would be no more delays now.

"Where are you?" Melyria closed her eyes and transformed into her armored state. "Geez that's chilling." Scura did not expect to see the womans spine glow like that. "Below? Above? No." The state lasted her a few minutes before she shifted back to a normal appearance. "What is it? Where is he?" Ulysses asked her. "I cannot locate him exactly, his power is spread throughout STHEREA. We are running out of time. He seems to be in a part of the building that is cut off from everything else. We cannot reach him, not without Crescent. Or..."

(To Be Continued in Line 097: Dead or Not Alive)

**New Cards used by Vitruvic  
**Magical Something  
Mythical Beast Medusa

-  
Beast Magic Attack  
Pot of Extravagance  
Endymion's Lab

**New Cards used by Melyria Cister  
**Krawler Spine  
Krawler Dendrite

-  
Insect Shinobi Hagakuremino  
Battlewasp Ballista the Armageddon  
Krawler Synaphysis  
Krawler Neurogos

-  
World Legacy Mind Meld


	97. Dead Or Not Alive

**Line 097: Dead or Not Alive**

It did not make sense. None of it did. They were lying, all lying. He was Sundown Mephistar, he was not Hieronymus. He... his real name was... It did not matter, nobody needed to know. He did not have to think about it. He could forget it. They did this to him, they fried his brain and kept him a prisoner here. But he would show them, he would prove that Static had been wrong all along. There would not be anything here at these coordinates, nothing that could be tied to him.

But why did he send him here then? Here in this desert with almost no identifiable markers. He only knew of one interesting location in the entire sector: a small quaint village in the middle of an oasis. Not a lot to do there, even fewer duelists visited it. Sundown could not remember if he had gone there himself. Though he did feel more at peace as soon as he arrived. "Just as I..." There were no games to play here. Every little house looked empty and the wind blew through the quiet streets. Exeter had kept the ongoing activities down to a minimum, shutting down most of the non essential sidequests and ADIs. And yet it felt like he definitely knew this village. Like he had seen someone else go here with him. A lot of someones. This place called to him, why?

Something got left behind for him. In the distance he saw a different kind of structure; the source of his anxiety. It looked like an Incan pyramid, with stairs that led up to an altar. And in the middle of the altar was a fiery pit for sacrifices. "That's..." He had to go there. His instinct drove him closer and closer, step after step. And at the top he saw a priestly man in painted robes, wielding a feathered staff and wearing a feathered helm. A large red sun hung around his neck as an amulet. The Oracle of the Sun: this ADI had stayed active. "So you have arrived, Kidbrave..Sundown." And this ADI greeted the gunslinger twice.

"Kidbrave? What are you talking about?" No other ADI ever called him this name before. "This is where it ends. All your comrades have already fallen, duelist." Any other time, it could have been written of as a minor glitch. Especially since the duel monster snapped back into his standard outputs. "You should not have come alone." It treated the duelist as an opponent and demanded a challenge. "You really want to do this? Tch, of course. You have no choice." And Sundown would never run from a challenge. Though he could not tell if this was what Static wanted him to find. "But what comrades are you talking about?"

Oracle's LP: 8000 Sundown's LP: 8000 -TURN 01-

"The musketeers of the red desert of course. They tried to make a pact with a demon just to dethrone a true god. But they failed, and were sacrificed for the great lord along with their village! Now you can join them!" The sun oracle happily exposited, as per its routine, and immediately set the stage. "Earthbound Geoglyph!" A field spell that carved the image of a great spider into the earth with walls of impenetrable light. "What.." For a moment, a shudder came over Sundown. But it passed just as inexplicably as it came.

At the same time, the ADI summoned his first servant. "The sun shall rise! Dawnwalker Ascator!" A male caped yet bare-chested shaman(5/2300/1500) [Zone 1] rose along with the rising sun, the symbol of its golden staff. Dawnwalker could be special summoned by discarding one card, and would then also special summon the tuner monster: Fire Ant Ascator(3/700/1300) [Zone 2] from the deck. "Eight stars are enough to create the light of the world! To remove the darkness: Synchro summon! Sun Dragon Inti!" Both Ascators synchronized in a flash of solar brilliance. Fire ant and Dawnwalker transcended their physical selves and became the celestial face of the sun, with four red dragon heads sprouting from its solar body(8/3000/2800) [Extra Zone 1]. "When a synchro monster appears inside the Geoglyph, I may claim one earthbound magic or trap!" The arrival of the sundragon made the field spell's light shimmer brighter and brighter. With that card's effect, the enemy added an Earthbound Revival spell card to his hand.

"When there is Inti.." Sundown already knew what the priests' next move would be. "But the hour is late, you must set Inti! I invoke Advance Draw's magic!" Oracle revealed his spell, Advance Draw, to sacrifice his highlevel monster and draw two new cards. "Now the moon emerges! Duskwalker Supay!" The Dawnwalker had a female counterpart with the same special summoning condition. So her master discarded his Earthbound Revival card, to special summon the shaman woman(5/2200/1900) [Zone 5] wearing dark, a blue cape and a glowing flower in her long hair. In turn, with her staff of the moon, she could special summon the tuner and demon mask Supay(1/300/100) [Zone 4] from the deck. "Six stars to recreate the night's mirror! And the whispers of the demons shall be heard! Synchro summon! Moon Dragon Quilla!" Supay the demon and Supay the priestess created the second source of the world's light: the everlasting moonbody(6/2500/2000) [Extra Zone 2] with its four icy-blue dragonheads. "And so the cycle has been found. It shall never break as long as I stand watch!" The ADI placed a trap card face down and ended his turn.

-TURN 02-

"I would not count on that, oracle!" Sundown shouted without thinking about it. _"What.. was that?"_ Only afterwards did he wonder what inspired such a reaction. He wanted to win this duel, he never wanted to lose to just an artificial opponent. But why did he hate him so? "Tch, I summon Magical Musketeer Caspar!" He put those thoughts aside. His blonde gunslinger(3/1200/2000) [Zone 2] with the long flowing red cape would set him on the right road. "While my Musketeers are alive, I can activate Magical Muskets from my hand! I choose Magical Musket - Crooked Crown!" Caspar suddenly reached for his head as a wave of pain entered his mind. Like a crown of blood, a demonic power entered the field through him. "The Crown allows me to special summon a Musketeer from my hand to the field! And when I control more monsters than you do, I can activate my skill: Unfair Standoff, to banish one of your monsters!" The demon himself left the hand of Sundown: Zakiel the dark angel mastermind(8/2500/2500) [Zone 3].

"Nothing will be banished, duelist! Before you use your skill, I shall build my Imperial Iron Wall!" A wall of iron took Sundown by surprise. The continuous trap that rose before him would prevent the banishment of any monster. "Damn you!" He angrily blurted out. His intentions had been to banish Quilla before it could resurrect Inti. Sundown knew very well that destroying one dragon would cause the other to be special summoned from the graveyard again. "But when I activate a spell in Caspar's column, I can add one Magical Musket card from my deck to my hand!" Sundown explained as he took the Magical Musket spell - Desperado, from his deck. He would get another chance as soon as he blasted that damned trap to pieces.

"Foolish one. You need to have allies to even get that shot! Behold my skill, Fall Out! My monsters are destroyed, and yours are as well!"

_Fall Out, Skill Card  
__Destroy 1 monster card you control, then destroy all monster cards your opponent controls with ATK less than or equal to that monster you destroyed._

"What the Hell did you say?" Sundown spat as the moon suddenly exploded, and came crashing down as a shower of moonrock meteors. Zakiel and Caspar both died in the wave of lunar destruction. Of course, the destruction did not affect everyone the same way. The death of the moon dragon activated the rebirth of the sun dragon. Inti [Zone 1] re-appeared on the field in attack position, illuminating the geoglyph imprisoned fields yet again. And due to that field spell, the earthbound oracle could draw a new Earthbound Immortal trap from his deck: The Ultimate Earthbound Immortal. "Ugh." Sundown could not use any of his Muskets without a Musketeer on the field. And he could not summon any more this turn. "Even that skill works against me. It's as if... No!" These were cheap tricks and nothing more! "You will not win! None of you will! I am better than you all!" He placed two trap cards down and let the turn end.

And that was when they showed up.  
"I knew it! The cowboy is here!" The girl in the wheelchair and the masked clown of a duelist. "What? Midsummer? What did you show up for? And why did you bring her?" That girl started it all. He hated her. "We came to pay our respects to another wonder of the world, Sundown Mephistar. Because that is what you are, arent you? You would not be here, if your visit did not have a greater purpose." The jester mused. "I don't know what you're talking about! I don't even know why I am here! That Static sent me on a wild goose chase!" He could curse his situation, since the oracle did not plan to hold off until they were done talking.

-TURN 03-

"Did you bring more friends? They are too late! The great sacrifice cannot be delayed!" The oracle drew his next card and flashed a maddening light in his eyes. "As I have one synchro monster on the field and one in the graveyard! I can call out the Earthbound Greater Linewalker!" A dark and great muscular man(8/2900/2900) [Zone 2] with long blue hair made his roaring entrance, carrying the mark of the earthbound on his chest and golden skin on his left fist. "And when I do, I can add one of the seven immortals to my hand! Aslla Piscu, Ccarayhua, Ccapac Apu, Chacu Challhua, Cusillu!, Uru or Wiraqocha Rasca! Which one shall it be?" The ADI had already settled on one of seven: and the Linewalker's chest burned a bright red. "I choose Uru! The great spider! And thanks to the blessing of the Geoglyph, one synchro can count as two sacrifices! Oh great spider, consume the sun to satisfy your lust!" The soul of Inti disappeared before the eyes of the duelists, consumed as energy for a new god. A gigantic black spider(10/3000/3000) [Zone 3] with red markings all over its body.

"The spider!?" And this monstrosity triggered something inside Sundown; a memory. "Why.." A memory he could not explain, as he had never seen it before. Yet everything inside of him insisted upon the experience and trauma: the vision of a town consumed by the red flames of a great beast like this. The cries of friends and family lost. "But that is not.." He could not have lived it. That image was just taken from a story, a tale to prop up these cards. "I am only here to lose..." He realized what would happen next. The Greater Linewalker had another effect that reduced his lifepoints to 3000 when an Earthbound Immortal got summoned. And with a wide open field, the Earthbound Immortal did not have to use its effect to get a direct attack in. It could freely stomp across the Geoglyph to run Sundown down. He just could not win this duel on his own, it felt as if everything had been set up for an inevitable and tragic fall.

"But you still have a card left, Sundown." Midsummer pointed out. "What?" Two cards were placed face-down in the spell/trap zone, but Sundown only remembered setting one. "Where did.." At this point, he had no choice but to use one of them. "When did I?" And so he did, he activated the Book of Moon.

"You.. have made the moon turn against me!?" The oracle gasped as the lunar quickplay spell targeted the Linewalker and flipped it to a face-down defense position. "You faithless dog!" That made him unable to use the lifepoint lowering effect. But Uru could still attack directly. And it did so with a widespread burst of webs.. "Ngh.." The impact sent him back to the edge of the altar. But he held his ground and managed to not fall into the sacrifice pit. "Why do I have this spell? I dont.." And Sundown cared less about his actual survival and more about the way in which it happened. "Cards like that should go with a flip-based deck. A deck like Scura or... Hieronymus."

Sundown's LP: 5000

"Hieronymus?" Miss Echo tilted her head. "Yes, the one who was supposed to be one of us. Until another took his role away from him. Now a spell like that suggests little, it is a common tome of trickery. However, I am besides myself with curiosity regardless. Sundown Mephistar, do you know more now than we do?" The jester turned his thoughts against the gunslinger. And he felt increasingly more cornered. "Why do you care? Would you believe Static? That bastard said _I_ did it, said that I was not alive! But he is lying! Just like you are! You, just who are you!? Where do you get off judging me?" He growled, while his opponent merely proceeded with the second main phase. As an ADI it did not have a lot of input to add to the discussion.

"I thought you knew. I am sorry." But she did. "Knew what?" And he would hear everything no matter what. "That you are special like me. You are you and I am me, miss Echo. I was a human too once, but the creator saved me." The girl started her explanation, but she did not get very far. "How does that have anything to do with me?!" The musketeer duelist had no patience left to give. "Because I can tell when someone is different. Mister Midsummer is still part of another world. But I am not and you aren't either. I am really sorry, but it's true! But you aren't like that guy either!" Echo pointed at the Oracle, who ignored her.

"Indeed. This place is where you meant to be. Static must have known this as well. The tragic tale of the village sacrificed for the rise of the dark god Uru: that is just another miniature quest in a world filled with them. Adventures for the adventure-minded. This is why you are having so much trouble, you are not allowed to win on your own here. You always need the help of another." Midsummer would know, he had done every quest in the game just to see every story unfold. "Static changed you, didn't he? Your face.. is different now; you are no longer Kidbrave."

-TURN 04-

"Then what am I now? Just.. a machine who can think now? How do I know this isn't all a game again?" Sundown felt like his reality had unraveled entirely. His every move, was that just a line of code? His memories, were they just texts mixed in with his experiences and the experiences of Hieronymus. Even an act as simple as summoning a card: a Magical Musketeer Calamity(4/1500/1300) [Zone 1], did not feel like his own idea anymore. "I will tell you what you are, Kidbrave. You are my final sacrifice!" His opponent was the only part of his true history, just an adversary for him to overcome. And he would gladly destroy the avatar of Sundown's true self. "I activate the Ultimate Earthbound, and I destroy your monster!" His continuous trap could kill one card each turn as long as he controlled a normal summoned Earthbound Immortal.

"No." And Sundown could negate the trap's activation with his countertrap: Red Reboot. It [Zone 1] activated from his hand at the cost of half his lifepoints and flipped Ultimate Earthbound back down.

Sundown's LP: 2500

"That was.. Hydra's card. That is most interesting." Midsummer chuckled to himself. "That trap?.. wait." And at first Sundown felt like he had lost another part of his sanity. But then he remembered. "That bastard.. used this card against me. So I chose to get a copy of my own." He had this trap because of his grudge against the invisible duelist. He made that decision! Not some computer! "Yeah! You did! Because you are alive, mister Sundown! You do not have to be anyone but yourself!" Echo cheered him on as he finally came to this epiphany.

"You are not who you used to be." Even the Oracle managed to utter a new line, though his reaction did not grow much deeper than that. It simply adjusted to the trap and placed another trap card from the deck face-down. Red Reboot allowed him this, but it also prevented him from using any traps for the rest of the turn. Sundown had no such restrictions. "I am who I am... I activate Calamity's effect!" Having activated the Reboot trap in the same column as Calamity, she could activate her effect to revive one other Magical Musketeer, the dual wielding Caspar [Zone 5]. "This time it wont miss!" Then he flipped his missile launcher trap [Zone 5] and gave it to the reborn musketeer. Caspar let the Desperado missiles fly and blew up the defending Earthbound Greater Linewalker. "You say as much when you deliberately do not target my god?" The oracle laughed. "I am saving a special bullet for him, Oracle!" Sundown smirked as the effect of Caspar resolved and claimed a new Magical Musket from the deck: Cross Domination the quickplay spell.

"And now I will use Caspar as a link material for Max the Musketeer!" The young sharpshooter blasted off into the link circuit, and came back out as the feather-hatted marksman Max(1000/LINK 1) {Down} [Extra Zone 1] "And Max can summon one Magical Musketeer from my deck, for each spell or trap you control! And you have four!" So he would summon four, to oppose the Oracle, the Iron Wall, the geoglyph, the Ultimate trap and the other set trap. Max fired four bullets into the air and signaled for the reinforcements: the Magical Musketeers Wild(4/1700/900) [Zone 2], Doc(3/1400/1200) [Zone 3], Starfire(4/1300/1700) [Zone 4] and Kidbrave(4/1600/200) [Zone 5]. The gang was all here. "Your family. You think this will bring them back, Kidbrave?" The Oracle scoffed, as it had been programmed to do. "Shut up! They arent my family! They are not my comrades! I know the lies now! I just don't..." The gunslinger reached for his hat and tossed it away, letting his dusty grey hair flow with the wind. "I am not going to be a part of this game, Oracle!"

"I activate Magical Musket Cross Domination!" The first shot got fired with the quickplay spell [Zone 2] held by the brawny gunman Wild. In his hands he could wield the twin guns to shoot the pressure points of the giant spider. The hits robbed Uru(10/0/3000) of his power and his attackpoints. Normally the earthbound could not be targeted for an attack and prevented direct attacks. Now it was spider season for all five musketeers. "I win, Oracle. Because I am better than you! I am Sundown!" He gave the kill shot to Kidbrave, his supposed old identity. One blast from his revolver left a tiny hole in between the many eyes of Uru. Yet that one attack caused the titan god to moan inhumanly and collapse all around the altar into a downpour of red ashes.

Oracle's LP: 6400

"Now, Max, Starfire, Doc, Wild, Calamity! Attack him directly!" The remaining musketeers brandishes their unique weapons and surrounded the servant of the earthbound. "This wont be the end! The god is.." And summarily they executed him. "Save your lines for someone who still cares." Sundown said with a guttural cough.

Oracle's LP: 0

"Excellently done, Mephistar. You truly have taken control of your own story." Midsummer congratulated the gunslinger with a respectful clap. "You don't care. You just came here to mock me." Having finally won this battle did not give Sundown any kind of closure. Without his anger and nothing else found to replace it, he just felt hollow. "How poorly you judge me. I have the utmost interest in extraordinary beings such as yourself. And chronicles like yours are a value in their own right." Midsummer realized his dramatic tone came across the wrong way, but he meant every word. "Value? What value? It's all made up! I did not lose anyone!" That left Sundown confused more than frustrated. "A tragedy does not lose its merits just for being part of a fantasy. Your pain is no less than my own." And so the jester let a little slip. "Pain? What are you talking about? What is in this for you anyway?"

"For me. Just knowing that miracles can happen is enough. I have lost a part of me as well, and I wish to see it returned." Midsummer looked at the girl in the wheelchair with his masked smile. "Hm? You mean.. like me? I guess, the creator can help you too. But I dont know where he is anymore." Echo sighed. She could do little by herself.

"The Creator? Another mysterious figure to leer at?" Sundown sighed right along with her. He did not see how any of this helped him. And he could not sit still either, he needed something to do. "I know someone who can help you though! That doctor lady, she seems to know a lot about this stuff!" Echo perked up as she remembered Scarlet's offer. "The lady of the red fever? Hmph. Why not." At this point Sundown would try anything, if he could show everyone what he could really be.

...

"Whoa! Whoa! Calm down, we're on the same side!" Bionis and Neo panicked as they happened to stumble upon Cherry and a dozen Millennium duelists as they both traversed the floors of Exeter HQ. "Are we? I haven't been one of you heroes for a long time, Khan." Cherry kept her guard up in spite of his shouting. "Of course we are! We're both looking for the same guy!" Bionis grumbled. "Hansen eh. And did you get him yet?" The Trickstar girl surmised that the two must have been as unsuccessful as they were. "Maybe we would have, if Neo over there didn't keep checking his dueldisk!"

"Hey I had to make sure my followers were alright. A lot of them got suspended because they wanted to help me! Meanwhile your forum buddies mostly ran away at the first sign of trouble." Neo griped. "Tch, cowards. Ugh, it feels like we've been looking for the CTO for hours!" Bionis had lost track of time already. "1 hour and 35 minutes to be exact." Neo at least had his mods to compensate for that. "Not helping, Neo!" Bionis shouted. "Ha. What a couple of goons you are." Cherry giggled. "But you can stop now. The word is that Hansen has been found, and that the right person is taking care of it."

"What!? Who!?"

...

Far away, yet close by lied a virtual garden: a recreation of a lush tropical biodome made all for one man to get way from the pressures of Exeter. In here Hansen had placed the Chalice, the strange shrine with its glowing core. It stood taller than the CTO himself, too tall too carry with him. But its energy could be sent everywhere, he could transfer it to the forces at his disposal and every single drone could obey his commands. Nobody would get to him here, Hansen made sure to delete every entrance. Even if they did get a feel of him, not even that girl with her shield could break through. The Chalice's very nature prevented that. They did not have the time anyway. The CIDs kept coming closer and closer to eradicating their true hideout, their paradise. Everything would go back to the way it was..

"Mister Hansen." But first he would have to fight for that future..

"What? Who said that?" Someone else was in here with him now, but Hansen did not see anyone. "It's you! The invisible one!" Because he could not. "The name is Hydra. At least for you." Because Hydra's proxy could not be seen. "Hydra. You.. how did you get in here?" The CTO looked around the garden anyway, just to find any possible breaches in his security grid. "You relied too much on your new power, you looked more towards the other Item users and less towards more conventional forms of hacking. It was too easy to break in here, since I do not have actually walk in. And as for how I found you. Melyria Cister could not sense you, but she could sense a void where her powers sensed nothing. A void created by your Chalice. And now that we are here, you know what happens next." He had already issued the challenge to Hansen, activating the mans dueldisk. "I will duel you, for the right of the Chalice."

"Gheh! You should have payed more attention, Hydra. Then you would know.. just who you are dealing with." Hansen responded with a grin, and prepared his own deck.

(To Be Continued in Line 098: A Method Hidden by Default)

**New Cards used by Sundown Mephistar  
**Magical Musketeer - Caspar

-  
Book of Moon

-  
Magical Musket - Crooked Crown  
Red Reboot

**Cards used by The Oracle of the Sun  
**_FALL OUT_

-  
Ascator, Dawnwalker  
Fire Ant Ascator  
Supay, Duskwalker  
Supay  
Earthbound Greater Linewalker  
Earthbound Immortal Uru

-  
Sun Dragon Inti  
Moon Dragon Quilla

-  
Earthbound Geoglyph  
Advance Draw  
Earthbound Immortal Revival

-  
Imperial Iron Wall  
The Ultimate Earthbound Immortal


	98. A Method Hidden by Default

**Line 098: A Method Hidden by Default**

The fight between the wielder of the World Chalice and the invisible duelist would take place in the shadow of the giant chalice itself. "This is going to cost you, kid. You know what I am capable of!" Hansen had plenty of reason to brag as he could make quick work of any duelist with his divine Exodia-skill card. "What the.." Except, much to his dismay, the CTO discovered that It did not appear in his dueldisk at all.

"Is there is an issue? I suppose your precious chalice does not condone an unfair fight." Hydra expected as much anyway. "Tch. The chalice has no say in this matter. it is inanimate!" The CTO kicked the giant object and walked away from it. "No matter. I already have what I need from it. A deck that only an itemwielder can compete with!" He prepared his cards and a different skill, one that normal duelists could also use. "I have seen the Knightmares and the Crusadia. I do not fear whatever you have in store for me." Hydra drew his invisible cards as well.

Hydra's LP: 8000 Hansen's LP: 8000 -TURN 01-

Hydra claimed the opening turn by leaving a few visual cues. "I activate three spells. Supply Squad, Quick Launch..." First came a continuous spell. Then a quickplay spell followed, special summoning a Rokket monster in defense mode. Hydra selected the Autorokket Dragon(3/1600/1000) [Zone 2]. "And Squib Draw." Finally the third spell undid the work of the second. Squib Draw destroyed a Rokket Dragon to draw two new cards. "You think I cannot follow that? You're gonna draw three cards now. That is such a simple combination!" Hansen shrugged as the destruction of a monster, of Autorokket Dragon, also triggered the drawing effect of Supply Squad. "Quite right. That was just the setup." Hydra replenished his hand and opened up with two of his new cards. "This shall dictate the flow. I activate Boot Sector Launch." The revolving sector field spell rose from the floor, finally surrounding the CTO with images of Hydra's making: walls of metal and a giant red cylinder.

"See anything you like yet? No? Then I shall continue." The field spell special summoned two Rokket Dragons from the hand at once. These two, Shellrokket Dragon(2/1400/2500) [Zone 3] and Metalrokket Dragon(4/2000/1700) [Zone 4], also gained 300 attack and defense points from the Boot Sector. "Link summon! Reloader Dragon!" Nevertheless Hydra used up them all for a bigger gun: the barrelheaded Booster Dragon(1900/LINK 2) {Downleft/Downright} [Extra Zone 1]. "Then I normal summon Hibernation Dragon." His next dragon, the four-winged computerchip(3/600/1500) [Zone 4] gave its powers a shot: adding one level 4 or lower dragon from the graveyard back to Hydra's hand. "I take Shellrokket Dragon! But I will banish it!" Hydra followed it up with his spell: Allure of Darkness. It drew two cards and banished the dark monster from his hand afterwards. "And then, I link summon Flash Charge Dragon!"

Hibernation Dragon and the two Rokkets entered a brightly flashing link circuit, and released a mechanical purple dragon with wheels in its claws. Flash Charge(2300/LINK 3) {Upleft/Up/Upright} [Extra Zone 1] aimed at all three marked zones with cannons from its head, shoulders and tail. "I cannot link summon to a zone marked by Flash Charge, but you can.. at a cost." Hydra left the explanation on that enigmatic note, as he summoned his last monster for the turn. "When I link summon, I can special summon Beltlinkwall Dragon from my hand in defense mode!" A rather large metallic chinese-dragon(6/0/2100) [Zone 2] coiled out of the void, circling around the muzzle flash dragon. Its long body looked like a golden ammo belt and in its hands it held two special orbs. "Beltlinkwall gains two counters upon summon..." Hydra said as he ended his turn. At this stage, the destroyed Autorokket Dragon triggered its grave effect and special summoned a new Rokket to defend Hydra: Magnarokket Dragon(4/2100/1200) [Zone 5]

-TURN 02-

"... And it gains one more during each standby phase!" The third claw of the belt dragon gained another glowing blue sphere as the next turn started. "So I cannot link summon anything with less markers than its counters?!" And Hansen realized what Hydra had done. He put him in a corner. "That is correct. If you want to link summon, it has to be Link 3 or higher. So far every Legacy deck has been tied to link summons, so I prepared my best counterweapons." Hydra audibly smirked.

"Tch, You think that is gonna stop me, you punk? You know nothing about my deck." Hansen chuckled loudly as he met Hydra's field spell with a spell of his own. "I activate World Legacy Discovery! Now all my World Chalice monsters gain 300 attack and defense points!" His side of the field turned dark blue, as if the night sky had swallowed the actual world chalice came back into view as well, now looking like a ruin in a distant background. "And I summon Lee the World Chalice Fairy!" A pale ghostly fairy(2/300/1300) [Zone 5] fluttered out of Hansens hands, staring at the opposing dragons with a happy smile and empty blue eyes. "World Chalice monsters?" Her appearance reminded Hydra of Melyria, of all people. But he was sure that was just a coincidence.

"Yes, and she is the first! When Lee is summoned, I can add one World Chalice monster card to my hand." The CTO claimed his reward, a World Chalice Guardragon, from the deck. "But one material wont be enough now, thanks to you. So.. I activate Emergency Fitting Room! I pay 800 lifepoints and special summon any normal monsters in my next four excavated cards!" Hansen did not just use the cards the Chalice gave him. His enchanting spell supported all kinds of normal monsters. And that seemed to be the gimmick of the World Chalice monsters, as two of the four cards revealed could be special summoned. "Get over here, Crowned by World Chalice! And Beckoned by World Chalice!" A young magical girl(2/300/2300) [Zone 4] with long purple hair and a garish dress of many sleeves and tassels appeared on one side. The other was a darker-toned male lancer(4/2100/300) [Zone 3] dressed in cloaks and scarves.

Hansen's LP: 7200

"Interesting. This series is like an adventuring group." It made Hydra wonder if they were based on someone, or something. "However, I should inform you. When a monster is summoned to Flash Charge's zone, that monster can be destroyed and you will lose 500 lifepoints." The muzzler fired its rightmost cannon at Beckoned by World Chalice, blasting the lancer to smithereens. Such destruction could not be avoided when one needed to put three monsters on the field at once.

Hansen's LP: 6700

"Feh. That didn't change a thing, hero. When my World Chalice monster dies, World Discovery can summon a World Chalice monster from my graveyard!" A beam of light left the chalice in the distance. The Beckoned warrior [Zone 3] traveled inside that light to come back to the field. "And your dragon can only fire once each turn! So that means.. now I get to open the third link!" Lee joined hands with the Crowned Chalice mage and Beckoned Chalice warrior, flying them upwards as link materials for a great link portal. "!?" Black and white light mixed together. "Three different monsters will do, for a link summon of the Black Luster Soldier of Chaos!" The floor trembled as the blue-haired twilight warrior(3000 /LINK 3) {Downright/Up/Downleft} landed with both feet. His majestic gold-lined black armor glistened in the light of chaos energy. "I think my link beats yours, dragon duelist! The Soldier attacks.."

"Not so fast, Hansen!" Hydra's voice overpowered the CTO's. "Since you link summoned, I can special summon Phantazmay from my hand." From the unseen hand came the phantom-flame sword wielding Fantastical Dragon(7/2400/1800) [Zone 3], defending its master. "Phantazmay then draws one card for each marker on your link monster, plus one! But afterwards I return as many cards to my hand, minus one." In summation, Hydra kept one of four drawn cards "As if I care what you hold. They're not special like mine" Hansen trudged on into the battlephase. "The Soldier of Chaos attacks Flash Charge Dragon! And when it destroys a monster as a result of battle, I can banish one other monster you control!" In the middle of its swing, the knight of black luster created a second blade for its other hand. This illusion blade cut through the Linkbeltwall Dragon, removing it from the game permanently. The true sword cut deep into the Flash cannon dragon, causing a massive explosion that left metal embedded in every wall.

Hydra's LP: 7300

"Very well, you fought back a little. But that card did not belong to your archetype, did it?" Hydra drew another card thanks to the effect of Supply Squad and the death of his link dragon. "It seems to me like you have little faith in your new deck."

"Your impudence forced me into this. I at least had the foresight to improve upon this deck." The CTO placed one trap card and ended his turn. "Did you, or did your computer choose for you? I know about your artificial intelligence research, among other projects." Like Shuriken, Hansen could have been using an AI assistant to help him make every move. "Who cares how I play the game? If it weren't for the item's own annoying rules, I would not even be challenging you directly! And I am not even doing that! You talk big, but you're just a scared kid hiding from the real world! If you really wanted to fight me, you would show me your face!"

-TURN 03-

"You want to know who I am? You've already seen me before, Hansen. Perhaps I should give you a hint." 'The Baron' did not have a direct path into this garden space. But he could show a little of himself through his cards. "But first, since I control no link monsters yet, I can also banish Hibernation Dragon from my graveyard to resummon one dark dragon link monster!" Despite its destruction, Flash Charge Dragon's body had been safely stored inside Hydra's memory buffers. Once the Hibernation ended, the Muzzle Flasher [Zone 5] returned to the field. "Phantazmay and Flash Charge will become materials for Saryua, the Skull Dread!" A still halfway chained monster descended, Skull Dread(2800/LINK 4) {Up/Downleft/Down/Downright} [Extra Zone 1] who broke free from the hellish linking circuit. Plates and spikes of bones covered its green scaled hide, and rows and rows of teeth filled the jaws of its demonic face. "A Link 4 weaker than my Link 3? Pathetic."

"Having the most attackpower does not mean everything, mister Hansen. Then again, I can easily match your power... and make use of it. Since you control a link monster, I can special summon Gateway Dragon from my hand." Hydra's next dragon(4/1600/1400) [Zone 1] took on the form of a bronze wyvern with three upper claws and two lower wings. "And Gateway Dragon can special summon one dragon from my hand: I choose Sniffer Dragon!" A hexagonal golden panel opened up behind Gateway Dragon, splitting three ways to reveal a portal. The crimson Sniffer Dragon(2/800/800) [Zone 2] passed through it and activated its effect to add a second Sniffer Dragon to Hydra's hand. "Then I shall link summon Twin Triangle Dragon, whose effect takes 500 of my lifepoints to summon one highlevel dragon from my graveyard!" The first Sniffer Dragon melded with Gateway Dragon, going from six angles to just three. The triangle-carrying wingless dragon(1500/LINK 2) {Down/Left} [Zone 2] used its ability on the Fantastical Dragon Phantazmay(7/2700/2100) [Zone 3].

"Hold on... Saryuja adds 300 attackpoints to each monster summoned to his marker?" Evert noticed the changing attackpoints, and looked up the reason for this on his dueldisk. "Indeed. Now pay close attention. This is the hint." Phantazmay unexpectedly disappeared, falling back into another dimension. "When I want to summon this monster, I need to banish a dragon. And that monster's name is.." In its place, a bigger dragon(8/3100/2700) [Zone 3] with red eyes and a body of pitchblack metal arose. "What is... Red-Eyes?" Even a completely hopeless duelist would recognize this kind of dragon. "Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon, to be exact. This card allows me to revive one dragon each turn." Hydra chuckled as he special summoned Flash Charge Dragon(2600 atk) [Zone 4] back to the field. "So you mean... You are.. you were the partner of that terrorist! Alpha! You are Schwarzwald!"

"I am surprised you remembered our names. But then I suppose you would not forget him so soon. Unfortunately he is not here with us now. So I will do his work in his stead." Hydra performed one more link summon: with Twin Triangle Dragon and Magnarokket Dragon as the link materials. Triple Burst Dragon(2700/LINK 3) {Up/Left/Down} [Zone 2] showed its grinning mechanical mug to the CTO as it co-linked with the Skull Dread. "You see, I would be very interested to know the full story. All we have so far is pieces: your fake cities, project flute, the explosion at the factory, the disappearance of Alpha's friend, and the true creator of STHEREA. You have your fingers in a lot of pots, mister Hansen." Hydra opened the battle phase with an attack from the empowered Red-Eyes Metal Dragon. A single shining flame burned the Chaos Soldier from inside his own armor. "I know a devil when I see one."

Hansen's LP: 6600

"Project flute? How much do you already.." For a moment the CTO lost his composure. He felt as if the rifle scope eye of Triple Burst Dragon stared right at him, and recorded his every action. "You.. You still don't know anything. And you never will! I activate my skill: Delete and Reset!" He lashed out with a massive burst of electricity. "Since you destroyed my monster, I can destroy one of yours in return! And I can also special summon Crowned with World Chalice back to my field!" The lightning struck the dragon armada, killing Flash Charge Dragon. The resulting explosion broke up into hellish flames and iron chains. And from the lethal flames, the lonely priestess girl(2/300/2400) [Zone 1] emerged.

_Delete and Reset, Skill Card  
__Activate only during the Battle phase when a monster you control is destroyed:  
__Destroy 1 monster your opponent controls, then special summon a Normal monster from your graveyard._

"You must have lived a long life of thinking that the rules should not apply to you. That you make the rules. And your world does work that way. But STHEREA was never your world." Hydra drew his next card from the Supply Squad, with the help of the Flash Dragon's destruction. "Those cards do not even belong to you." Hydra ordered the next round of attacks. Skull Dread's infernal breath rended the poor Crowned Chalice priestess to ashes with its fire. "They belong to me as much as everything else does!" Hansen responded by activating the effect of his field spell. World Legacy Discovery special summoned Lee the World Chalice Fairy(2/400/2300) from the graveyard in defense mode. "You are the unwanted elements! I should never have opened the network to the public! I wont make that mistake again!" The effect of Lee added another World Chalice monster to Hansen's hand: a second World Chalice Guardragon. "Again?" Hydra in turn made the final strike. Triple Burst Dragon, who could inflict piercing damage, blasted a hole straight through Lee's body.

Hansen's LP: 6200

"Hansen.. At first I thought Project Flute was your biggest crime, that STHEREA existed to collect and influence the memories of everyone using Exeter's worldwide network. It was no wonder Alpha could not get anyone to believe him, you made everyone favor your company over one man. But I see now that this was just a band-aid for a more serious affliction. What else did you do, Hansen? Miss Echo, why do you know her? Who is the creator that she talks about? What was STHEREA really intended to be?" Hydra lost his chance to finish his opponent off, but that did not mean he would stop asking questions. He placed a trap card down and waited for answers which were unlikely to come easily.

-TURN 04-

"If only you knew. You think you can stop what is coming? The Creator. Ha! The only good thing he ever did was leave this Chalice for us to find! With it I can even reverse all the destruction you caused." Hansen activated his Dark Factory of Mass Production spell to add two normal monsters from the graveyard to his hand: He selected the Beckoned warrior and Crowned spellcaster of course. "Reverse? Is that the power of the chalice?" Hydra did not expect to get information about the item already. "Yes, that is what it can do. The Chalice was the first. Every item that surprised us afterwards is also less powerful. But we could not harness this items abilities well. We tried it with the Crown. The CIDs and the improved avatars were based on its code. But it just was not good enough. Not as good as using the Chalice itself. But I did not want to risk using it. Not until you pushed me too far. You lowlives.." Hansen played his trap card as well: Common Charity. He banished one normal monster from his hand, Beckoned by the World Chalice, to draw two new cards.

"Now let me also show you just what this deck is capable of! If I discard a World Chalice monster, Lee can be added back to my hand!" Hansen declared as he activated Lee's second effect and traded the World Chalice Guardragon card for the Fairy card. "Then I activate an Unexpected Dai! And I special summon Chosen by the World Chalice from my deck!" As long as he controlled no monsters, Hansens unexpected spell could special summon one normal monster: a spiky blonde psychic hero(3/1900/300) [Zone 1] wearing futuristic golden armor on his chest. The CTO also normal summoned the Fairy Lee (2/400/2300) [Zone 2] and used her first effect to add another 'Crowned by the World Chalice' card to his hand. "Watch, I Link summon the World Chalice Blademaster, Auram!" The Chosen of fire and the Fairy of light became one through the linking grid: two World Chalice monsters as link materials. The endresult was the evolution of the Chosen one: a knight(2300/LINK 2) {Downeft/Downright} now wearing full armor with glowing energy running through its edges. And in its hand it wielded a great blade instead of a small dagger.

"So his name was Auram. Was this story stolen from another as well?" Hydra wondered out loud. "What does the story matter? Why don't you worry about the effects instead?" The CTO said before using one such effect from the graveyard. "I can banish World Chalice Guardragon from the grave, to special summon a normal monster back to the field!" The loyal dragon accepted permanent banishment, in order to resurrect the Chosen by World Chalice and link him [Zone 3] with Auram. And through the Chosen warrior, the dragon would gain new life. "I link summon Imduk, the World Chalice Dragon!" Any non-token normal monster like the psychic hero would be enough as a link material for Imduk, the stronger and bigger guardragon(800/LINK 1) {Up} with green and white feathers and powerful black horns on its face. "Imduk's effect allows me to normal summon one more World Chalice monster this turn! I choose Crowned by World Chalice!" With a wry smile, Hansen brought out the second water-elemental World Chalice priestess(2/300/2400) [Zone 1].

"I will share you another secret, Baron. What you are about to see is the very first link monster ever created! I Link summon the World Chalice Priestess, Ib!" The Crowned girl and the dragon Imduk: two monsters with different elements, turned into link materials as well. The endresult was a seemingly more grown up version of the blue-haired priestess(1800/LINK 2) {Left/Right} [Extra Zone 2], now wearing leggings and a bigger blue dress with a orb-embedded shoulder mantle. "Ib? The first link monster? So the idea of link summoning came from the Chalice?" Hydra would never have expected this. "But why? What is the reason?"

"Does there always have to be one? Ha! It's all just random, all just glitches! Unlike these effects! When Imduk is removed from the field, I can special summon one World Chalice monster from my hand!" The last member of the Chalice band left Hansen's hand: Beckoned by World Chalice(4/2100/300) [Zone 5]. "Auram can also tribute one Chalice member he points at to special summon another from the graveyard!" The Blademaster made the Beckoned warrior kneel before him, sacrificing his life to give it back to Imduk the Dragon [Zone 5]. "And I can activate this spell: World Legacy's Heart! It takes two Legacy monsters from my graveyard and returns them to me." Hansen made both the Chosen and the Crowned come back to his hand. Two monsters he could summon soon enough.

"And now, I link summon Ningirsu the World Chalice!" At the end even the Beckoned lancer would reveal his final form(2800/LINK 3) {Left/Up/Right} [Zone 4] and true name, created by using two link monsters (Imduk and Auram) as link materials. Ningirsu now wore the same armor that Auram had displayed, and a long yellow scarf still stylishly flapped in the virtual wind. "Auram can also special summon one World Chalice monster from the hand if it ever leaves the field!" Auram and Imduk placed the Chosen [Zone 5] and Crowned [Zone 2] back on the field. "And Ningirsu allows me to draw one card for each monster he points at! That is two! And he can send one card on each side of the field to the graveyard!" Hansen drew his pair of cards and placed one of them face down. Ningirsu stabbed that set card with his trident and impaled Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon with the other end of his weapon.

"Hmm." Hydra's strongest dragon left the field, and that would only be the start of the onslaught. "I do not know if I would call it 'random'. There have been too many coincidences. Too many ideas.. that were not yours. The creator, the man who invented STHEREA. Did you dispose of him? Did his ideals clash with the desires of your superiors and your investors? Was he a threat to your future? You might as well tell me. Either I lose and the truth fades with me, or I win and I will get the truth by force."

"Hmph! You want to know that damn much? Fine! It's not a story of heroes and villains. It is just a story of a man. A clever man mind you; who came up with the instrument to link the human mind with the global network. A man who gave life to STHEREA. But this man lacked the funding to make his dream reality, so we came to Exeter. That was a decade ago. And yes, I helped him. I was one of his financial sponsors. It took years to get the project operational and together _we_ discovered a wide set of applications for this technology. The power to store memories perfectly and build virtual landscapes with them for people to live in. Is that not a dream that most of us have had? But the fool never agreed with them. He only wanted to use it to make his fantasies come to life. To give it to the children. Exeter let him have that wish. And they let me have mine. While he toiled in the mines, I worked my way up the ladder of the company."

"So when did you.."

"Sever my tie completely? He did that himself, Baron. He went too far. He started experimenting with artificial and virtual life. Using it on the sick and elderly: on people who were beyond help. We had to shut him down. But he refused to accept it, refused to let us take his masterpiece. So he blew it all up himself, and disappeared in the explosion. So you see, it was never our fault." Hansen smugly stated. "Explosion? That was the incident Alpha talked about? Is that why you had all those people taken to one of your hospitals? To keep them quiet?" Hydra still heard plenty of other things that he could blame the CTO for. "How can I be sure you aren't lying to me right now? As far as I can tell, you are running your own monstrous experiments. And this man only wanted to help people who were going to die otherwise. In the end you just erased him from history and claimed his work as your own!"

"Call it what you want. But the winners write history. Especially us, Baron Schwarzwald. I don't know why you heroes are so damned immune to Project Flute. But I bet once I win, you wont remember any of what I said!"

(To Be Continued in Line 099: Second-Hand Paranoia)

**New Cards used by Hydra/Baron Schwarzwald  
**Beltlinkwall Dragon  
Gateway Dragon  
Rokket Recharger

-  
Flash Charge Dragon  
Saryuja the Skull Dread

**New Cards used by Evert Hansen  
**_DELETE AND RESET_

-  
Lee the World Chalice Fairy  
Crowned by the World Chalice  
Beckoned by the World Chalice  
Chosen by the World Chalice  
Guardragon of World Chalice

-  
Black Luster Soldier - Soldier of Chaos  
Auram, the World Chalice Blademaster  
Imduk, the World Chalice Dragon  
Ib, the World Chalice Priestess  
Ningirsu, the World Chalice Warrior

-  
World Legacy Discovery  
Enchanting Fitting Room  
Dark Factory of Mass Production  
Unexpected Dai  
World Legacy Heart

-  
Common Charity


	99. Second-Hand Paranoia

**Line 099: Second-Hand Paranoia**

Hydra's LP: 6800 Hansen's LP: 6200

"I cannot wait for this duel to be over." Hansen did not intend to go quietly. He continued his turn by using 'Crowned by the World Chalice' as a link material for another Imduk the World Chalice Dragon(1300/LINK 2) {Up} [Zone 2], and by ordering that monster to attack Saryuja the Skull Dread(2800/LINK 4) {Up/Downleft/Down/Downright} [Extra Zone 1]. "?" A clear power difference existed between these two cards. "Your dragon may be strong, Baron. But Imduk can automatically destroy any monster he points towards!" The green dragon became transparent and phased through the black helldrake like a ghost. Before any damage calculation could take place, Saryuja was destroyed. "That just leaves one, doesn't it?" Hansen turned on Hydra's Triple Burst Dragon(2700/LINK 3) {Up/Left/Down} [Zone 2], attacking it with Ningirsu the World Chalice Warrior(2800/LINK 3) {Left/Up/Right} [Zone 4].

"And that one will remains, Hansen." Just as the warrior's trident came down, a trap came up. "I activate Parallel Port Armor. My link monster can no longer be destroyed as a result of battle!" The armor trap equipped itself to the Triple Burster, and absorbed the impact of the attack. "What? Argh. What does it take to get rid of you?"

Hydra's LP: 6700

"More than you are willing to give." Hydra replied. "Bah! I owe you nothing. I already gave you this world, I can take it back!" Hansen moved on to the second main phase, and placed a trap card face down. "I link summon another World Chalice Priestess!" Imduk and the warrior Chosen By the World Chalice(3/1900/300) opened up a familiar link circuit. The fire warrior and wind dragon were reborn as the Priestess Ib(2100/LINK 2) {Left/Right} [Zone 2]... A second Ib that linked up with the Ib(2100/LINK 2) {Left/Right} [Zone 3] already on the field. "Do you see this? This lock is unbreakable! Ib cannot be destroyed or targeted by card effects while she is co-linked! These cards will wear you down sooner or later. I will make sure of that!" All the CTO had to do was wait things out. Hydra did not have all the time in the world after all.

-TURN 05-

"You have a lot of confidence in these cards that you stole. But you have no bond with them. You just see them as tools." Hydra sighed as he added a new card to his hand. "Cards? Bonds? Utter nonsense! These things are just data, they are not alive!" Hansen scoffed. "You would not understand. Some duelists try to move from deck to deck. I tried the same. But in the end I found my first set to be my most heartwarming. Even so, we are not talking about stealing cards are we? We are talking about remnants of a lost life. A life you took! That is far worse, mister Hansen!"

Hydra quickly activated the effect of the Boot Sector; special summoning Rokket Dragons from his graveyard until he controlled as many monsters as Hansen did. To match the three link monsters, the field spell resurrected a powerboosted Metalrokket Dragon(4/2000/1700) [Zone 1] and Magnarokket Dragon(4/2100/1500) [Zone 2] "Triple Burst's effect activates! If I tribute it during a turn in which it was not special summoned, I can summon one dragon from my hand, and one link 2 dragon monster from the graveyard!" The link 3 scope dragon vanished in a flash, splitting into its worth in materials as it were. Sniffer Dragon(2/800/400) [Zone 3] from the hand and the Twin Triangle Dragon(1200) {Down/Left} [Zone 4] further filled in Hydra's line-up, leaving just one spot. "Sniffer Dragon adds another Sniffer Dragon to my hand!" It would be the last one in his deck. And Hydra normal summoned this third Sniffer Dragon(2/800/400) [Zone] to finalize his five-headed setup.

And three would become one. "No more games, no more Baron Schwarzwald. I will end this as me.. and I link summon Borreload Dragon!" Twin Triangle took itself off of the field, and added its two links to a half-completed circuit. The Sniffer Dragons filled out the other two links and opened the extra deck for the demonic gun dragon lord: Borreload Dragon(3000/LINK 4) {Left/Downleft/Right/Downright} [Extra Zone 1]. "I also activate Borrel Regenerator! This spell brings one Rokket monster back to the field and equips itself to that monster." He used the spell to call out Shellrokket Dragon (2/1400/2300) [Zone 5] in defense mode. "You think your fancy bullets will work against Ib?" The CTO asked with a disdainful grunt.

"It is true, Hansen, that most conventional destruction forms are useless against your twin Priestesses. But.. you seem to have a problem with under-estimating others! Removal comes from many angles! Like this one! I activate Parallel Port Armor! From my graveyard!" The armor trap lost its host when Triple Burst Dragon sacrificed itself, meaning it got destroyed too. But that put it in the right spot for its second effect. "It banishes two link monsters from my graveyard, and allows one on my field to attack twice this turn!" The energy from Skull Dread Saryuja and Flash Charge Dragon got siphoned into Borreload Dragon, the worst possible outcome for Hansen.. "Borreload can take control of any monster he battles with!"

"It can what? And you are calling me the thief?" Hansen gasped out loud as the armored dragon used its two attacks against the leftmost Ib and Ningirsu. Even if they could not be destroyed, Borreload could still influence them with its untargeted effect. Both the Priestess [Zone 3] and Warrior [Zone 5] reappeared on Hydra's side of the field, still in attack position and still boosted by the World Legacy Discovery field spell. "I am only taking what was not yours to begin with!" Hydra followed it up with his dragons second quick effect. The cylinder of the Borrel dragon began to spin. "Borreload targets Shellrokket Dragon, and gives him 500 more attackpoints! And when Shellrokket Dragon is targeted by a link monster's effect, I can destroy it to destroy your monster and any monsters next to it!" The lord dragon caused the bigshelled bullet dragon to selfdestruct, and absorbed it into its body. It came back out through a cannon inside Borreload's mouth, and kept going until it blasted the remaining and unlinked Priestess Ib in half.

"So there it is!" Hansen hollered. "You only want the chalice for yourself. You don't even deserve it! I helped put this company on the map! It would never have flourished without this!" Hansen could at least special summon a World Chalice monster from his hand, with the dying Ib's effect. He special summoned a World Chalice Guardragon(1/400/400) [Zone 5] in defense mode. "But you did not come up with it, you only enslaved it. And not just for us duelists... When a monster equipped with Borrel Regenerator is destroyed, I can draw one card!" The equip's spell effect, in addition with Supply Squad, allowed Hydra to draw two cards after the destruction of Shellrokket Dragon. Naturally, Hydra sent everything else after the CTO. Metalrokket Dragon fired a big blast to incinerate the defending World Chalice Guardragon.

"He was a fool! He did not understand what he had created. He just wanted to use it for games. To this day I have no idea why. But I saw the broader applications!" Hansen still fought back by activating the effect of World Legacy Discovery. As a World Chalice monster had been destroyed, he could special summon another from the graveyard in defense mode. Thus, Lee the World Chalice Fairy(2/300/2300) [Zone 5] reappeared to defend Hansen, and to add a new World Chalice Guardragon to his hand with her effect. "Yes, for people like Himiko's family. For all your rich friends." Hydra's attacks continued. The controlled Ningirsu impaled the defending Fairy with its trident. Lee could only laugh hysterically as she died because of her own ally. "I wonder how much they paid you. What is the price of immortality? Of a perfect record?" Finally, Ib the Priestess and Magnarokket Dragon attacked the CTO himself, finally bringing damage to his doorstep with aquatic magic blasts and blazing hot shots.

Hansen's LP: 2000

"They came to me. They need me, not the other way around. Do you have any idea of what beehive you are trying to kick over? This network is vast, connected to a billion households and a billion souls. There are few places without a link, and those without do not matter! If I tried, I could find you.. the real you, in a matter of hours!" Hansen cursed at the empty chamber, at the faces of his opponent's monsters. "Intimidating me wont help you, mister Hansen." Hydra moved to the second main phase and placed two trap cards face down. Next, he activated the effect of Ningirsu against his former master. "I destroy your field spell!" Two cards were sent to the graveyard simultaneously: World Legacy Discovery and one of the two set cards (Fuse Line). "I might understand this world better than you. After all, you have to show your face in it. And I do not. I imagine you would want our roles to be reversed." Hydra mused before opening a link 4 circuit. "I use Ib, Magnarokket Dragon and Metalrokket Dragon as materials for Borrelguard Dragon!"

The three bonded and linked to form a new kind of red iron Borrel Dragon(3000/LINK 4) {Up/Down/Right/Downright} [Zone 3]: one with wings that spewed jetflames and limbs covered in bolted guard armor. "Borrelguard Dragon can destroy one of my cards, to special summon another monster that was destroyed this turn, with its effects on the field negated!" Since monsters brainwashed by Borreload would die during the endphase, Hydra would kill Ningirsu before it came to that. He sacrificed the World Chalice lancer to resummon Magnarokket Dragon [Zone 4] in attack mode. And as the turn ended, the Shellrokket Dragon in the graveyard activated its effect to special summon a second Magnarokket Dragon [Zone 5] from the deck. Two bullets: two guns. "Your move, mister Hansen."

-TURN 06-

"Tch! I will find a way out of this!" Hansen shouted as he activated Lee's effect from the graveyard again: discarding his third World Chalice Guardragon and trading it in for the fairy card. "I activate Pot of Avarice! I return five different monsters to my deck, and draw two cards!" With a greedy smile Hansen shuffled his five World Chalice monsters (Chosen, Beckoned, Imduk, Ib and one Guardragon). "Heh, good. Now I can use this: Monster Reborn!" Leading to even more reliable spells to draw upon. The rebirth spell targeted the Ningirsu in the graveyard and made him(2500 atk) [Zone 3] come back to life.

"Find a way out, you say?" Hydra of course responded immediately. Borreload Dragon targeted Magnarokket Dragon, and set off the inevitable chain of effects and destructions. "Rgh!" Magnum Rokket became a speeding bullet that destroyed itself to send Ningirsu right back into the graveyard. "Tch." Hansen could at least, still special summon Lee the World Chalice Fairy [Zone 1] from his hand, since Ningirsu had left the field. And with her effect he added Beckoned by the World Chalice to his hand. But that did not mean it would save him in the long run. "I should mention that Borrelguard has the same power." Hydra drew a new card from his deck through Supply Squad, and could still fire off his Metal bullet if he wanted too. "Blast you! Why is this so difficult? This damned deck can't do anything!" More and more the CTO's anger grew. Whatever he link summoned now would just get blasted apart too.

"Evert!" To make matters even more tense, the CTO heard the voice of the only person who would call him by his first name. "Therese?!" His sister. "How are you on this channel? How do you know where I am?" The audio came from his own dueldisk. "I know everything, Evert. I am inside your office now, because the heroes set me free. You have already lost control of the situation. So please, stop this madness before you do something that cannot be undone." The woman pleaded with her brother, who only saw her words as more pressure. "This madness started before me and has gone too far! I cannot turn back now!" He snarled, and tried to shut her off. "What are you afraid of, Hansen?! What changed?" Therese knew him better than anyone, she knew he had not always been the vile man he was now. "I am not afraid! Everyone should be afraid of me! Therese! I am.. I have to do this! I will do this!" Finally he managed to disconnect from the call.

"I would have listened to her, mister Hansen." Hydra chuckled.

"You.. How did she know? You told her, didn't you? But how? Are you.. are you recording everything I say?!" The penny finally dropped. "I always record my duels, mister Hansen." The very nature of the proxy/avatar bond made it easy and necessary. "You bastard! You have it so easy! You do not know what it's been like! What I had to do! I have earned this! I have earned all of it! So why.. don't you give me what I deserve!" The CTO released his anger on the World Chalice behind him, everything that happened here started with this damned item.

And the chalice reacted. "!?" A white glow emanated from the CTO's deck. "Is it.. giving me another new card?" The grin of Evert Hansen grew very wide as he realized his anger had paid off. The Chalice sent a pulse of light into the extra deck, a monster for him to summon. "Now it ends! I activate Emergency Teleport to special summon Chosen by the World Chalice!" As Emergency Teleport could special summon any level 3 psychic, the fire hero(3/1600/0) [Zone 5] could join Lee on the field. And with Hydra having no idea what these two were intended for, he could only hold back his shot as Hansen unleashed it all. "My new card alows me to treat one normal World Chalice monster as a tuner! So I synchro summon Ib! The World Chalice Justiciar!" As a tuner, Chosen by the World Chalice synchronized with the Fairy Lee. And so Ib attained another form(5/1800/2100) [Extra Zone 2], wearing thicker-robed clothes that looked more like her maindeck form, but now she had angelic wings with which she could fly.

"The Chalice can make synchros as well?" This was the first time Hydra saw the legacy decks branch out into other forms of extra deck summoning.

"Heh, are you going to destroy it? Hydra? Go right ahead. You are already too late!" Ib's new powers allowed him to add a World Legacy card from his deck to his hand. He chose the World Legacy World Chalice, the card incarnation of the actual chalice behind him. "When Ib the Justiciar is removed from the field, I can summon one World Chalice monster from my deck or graveyard! So I sacrifice her, to tribute summon the World Chalice!" In the end the chalice gave Hansen a way to physically summon that which gave him his powers: The World Chalice(5/0/0) [Zone 5]. And at the same time, the sacrificed synchro Ib special summoned the Link Warrior Ningirsu from the graveyardone more time. "Ugh." Hydra was forced to use Borrelguard sooner than he expected. The armored dragon targeted the second Magnarokket to destroy the magnum dragon and shoot down Ningirsu once more.

"Heh. It's all useless!" The effect of the dying Ningirsu could be used as many times as Hansen felt it necessary. And this time it special summoned Beckoned by the World Chalice(4/1900/0) from his hand. "I also special summon Crowned by the World Chalice!" Hansen declared before banishing World Chalice Guardragon from the graveyard and bringing back the water priestess Crowned(2/0/2100) [Zone 3]. "And I use Beckoned and Crowned as link materials, to link summon Auram!" Two World Chalice monsters meant two materials for the Blademaster(2000/LINK 2) {Left/Down}. [Extra Zone 2]. "And Auram will bring back Ningirsu!" Third time was the charm. Auram's effect switched the World Legacy Chalice on the field with the seemingly undying World Chalice Warrior [Zone 3]. "When World Legacy World Chalice leaves the field its effect activates! I can special summon two other World Chalice monsters from my deck!" The cup ran over, spilling water on the floor and bringing life to another Crowned spellcaster(2/0/2100) [Zone 1] and Beckoned lance warrior(4/1900/0) [Zone 2]. "I must say, this game can be fun when it goes the way I want it too!"

Hansens next move surprised no-one. Ningirsu sent one card on each side of the field to the graveyard with his extended trident. Hansen let another set card get destroyed, while Hydra's Borrelguard Dragon got skewered by the other end. "Now, all you have is your mighty Borreload. Not so mighty after all!" Hansen smirked and turned the Crowned by the World Chalice-card into a link material for Imduk the World Chalice Dragon(800/LINK 1) {Up} [Zone 2]. "!" The dragon appeared on the left of Ningirsu, which made its own marker point right at the Borrel Lord. "Yes. This is the end for it!" Almost roaring now, the CTO entered his battle phase and let Imduk clash with Hydra's revolver dragon. The smaller dragon destroyed the larger one cleanly, before any damage could be calculated. "Now lets see where you are, invisible Baron! Ningirsu! Auram! Beckoned! Attack him head on!" The Blademaster(2300 atk) gained 300 attackpoints for each World Legacy monster in the graveyard, which would add an additional punch to the next few attacks.

"When you attacked me directly, I can special summon Chobham Armor Dragon from my hand!" So Hydra cut it in half. "This monster cannot be destroyed during the turn he is summoned, and all damage I take is halved." A landbased mechanical tank dragon(1/0/0) [Zone 2] popped up in attack position and took the first blow from Ningirsu's weapon. Though it landed hard, the attack only managed to break off the outer layer of composite armor, revealing a thinner tankdragon underneath. But neither the Beckoned one, nor Auram could destroy it, or make Hydra take as much battle damage as Hansen intended. "Why wont you just go away!?"

Hydra's LP: 3350

"Is that what you asked Him? Was it easier for him to just disappear, Hansen?"

"Shut up! You weren't there! It was not my fault! None of this is!" As Hansen moved to the second main phase, he made another World Chalice Ningirsu (2500/LINK 2) {Left/Up/Right} [Zone 4] with Imduk and Auram as the link materials. And as the second Ningirsu now pointed at both the first Ningirsu and the Beckoned one, his master could draw two new cards from his deck. "That man caused all this chaos! He created these damned things too! The only clever idea he ever had was leaving me this chalice to clean up his mess!" He placed both two cards face down, ending both his tirade and his turn at that moment.

-TURN 07-

"Didn't you want this position? Isn't this your responsibility? Do not try to escape the blame now, mister Hansen. Your past mistakes will always catch up with you in the end! Even if you make people forget about them!" At the changing of the turn, the two Magnarokket Dragons in the graveyard activated their effects and special summoned two new Autorokket Dragons(2/1900/1300) [Zones 1 & 3] from the deck. "Link summon. Vorticular Drumgon! The materials are three dark dragons!" Two Autorokkets and one Chobham Armor Dragon were loaded up into the magazines of the magazine-headed Drumgon(1000/LINK 3) {Left/Down/Right} [Extra Zone 1], and its effect allowed Hydra to draw one card.

"I will not be judged by you!" The CTO however saw a chance to block the effect and get rid of a large amount of monster materials at the same time. "I activate a counter trap: World Legacy's Sorrow! Since my monsters are co-linked, I can destroy your monster and stop his effect!" Ningirsu held hands with Ib in order to release a wave of blue energy upon the magazine dragon. "Then I activate Red Reboot!" Hydra had no patience for this kind of trickery. "Red Reboot?!" Hansen 'saw' Hydra trap from his hand, by paying half his lifepoints.

Hydra's LP: 1675

"Your trap is now negated, and you can set another trap this turn! But no traps can be activated for the rest of the turn!" Hydra pushed his reboot button, and sealed off not only World Legacy Sorrow, but also the other card Hansen had prepared face-down. "So I can draw my card! And.. when Chobham Armor Dragon is used as material for a dark dragon link monster! We both can add one monster from the graveyard to our hand!" Hydra used this effect to reclaim RedEyes Darkness Metal Dragon, while Hansen reluctantly reclaimed the Fairy Lee. "Boot Sector Launch activates too!" Hydra could special summon two Rokkets from the graveyard: two Magnarokket Dragons [Zone 1 & 3] with his field spell, so that he now controlled three dragons. And one of them he immediately banished to special summon the Dark metallic Red-Eyes(8/2800/2400) [Zone 3] from his hand. "Red-Eyes, revive Borreload Dragon!" The dragon of darkness once again brought new life into another dragon: the same old Borrel Lord [Zone 4].

"It is too much. This too much!" Hansen sputtered. "I was not even done yet, Hansen!" The Vorticular Drumgon paired with Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon, and opened the final fourway link circuit. "To finish this, I will show you MY first link monster! Topologic Bomber Dragon!" The great infinite-coiled cyberse dragon(3000/LINK 4) {Up/Downleft/Down/Downright} found its way to the field to wreak havoc and sow destruction. Between it and Borreload, Hansen had no chances of survival. Topologic alone could simply kill Hansen by attacking Ningirsu or the Beckoned one. "Hansen, I.."

"If you defeat me, I will shut it all down."

"What?" Hydra faltered. "You heard me correctly. If I lose this duel, I will log off and will switch it all off. STHEREA, the network, the game, everything!" It was a threat. "You are bluffing. You cannot bring down the entire network on your own." A threat Hydra did not believe in. "But I am not on my own! I had this prepared for some time, Hydra! I sent four men to four of our dedicated servers! If I send in the call, or if they do not hear from me every hours. They will push the button to put it offline. STHEREA may be able to survive if just one or two went down. But three or four shutdowns will start a collapse which cannot be stopped! Nobody I care about is left here. Do you have any idea what will happen to you and your friends when this happens? Because I don't!" The CTO said with a deranged smile.

"You would do this just to win?! An action like that will do Exeter more harm than good!" Hydra still did not think Hansen would be this desperate. Nor could he imagine a person who would obey him in this matter, who would willingly help Hansen endanger thousands of lives. "I would! Better to wipe everything and start all over! The World Chalice is my only weapon against you now. As soon as I lose it, the crash will happen. No more legacy items, no more static, no more creator! And I will blame it all on you! I will find a way to make the world turn against you, I always do! So what will you do? Will you risk it? I am defenseless! You can end me now. But if you don't! My next turn will end you! So.. what will it be, Hydra?"

...

"I had no idea a man could sink to such depths. Who would follow those orders willingly?" Zettai muttered her curse as she heard Hansen's ultimatum. They all heard it thanks to Hydra's relayed recording of the duel. "No. He can't.. He wouldn't." Crescent began to despair. The thought of losing STHEREA forever made all of her previous fears come back to her. "He cannot. This world is too great to be brought down by a simple mechanical action. He will fail." Only Ezra remained calm in the face of the threat. "How can you be certain?" Crescent wished she could feel his confidence. "Because the creator resides here. The true creator. We have stay here! If we leave, we will have done what he wanted!" But his words alone were not enough anymore. Not for her. Definitely not for Zettai. "We cannot count on that! We have to get everyone out of here!" Unfortunately the CIDs were not letting them leave regardless. Each time they put one down, another immediately dragged them into a duel. "Damn it!" Zettai and everyone did not know who to place their hopes in now...

(To Be Continued in Line 100: The Great Crash)

**New Cards used by Hydra  
**Chobham Armor Dragon

-  
Borrelguard Dragon

-  
Borrel Regenerator

**New Cards used by Evert Hansen  
**World Legacy - World Chalice  
Treasure Panda

-  
Ib the World Chalice Justiciar

-  
Pot of Avarice  
Monster Reborn  
Emergency Teleport

-  
World Legacy's Sorrow


	100. The Great Crash

**Line 100: The Great Crash**

Turning off STHEREA, while hundreds if not thousands of people were still inside of it. It could be done, mechanically. The CTO also controlled the keys to start a forced reboot of the system. Manual reboots happened from time to time, to update the game world. But the vast network had plenty of failsafes in every corner of the world. If one part of the network had to go down for maintenance, another part could take over. STHEREA could even handle a collapse of two servers at once like this. But if more than three collapsed, nobody knew how great the damage would be. And emotionally few would dare to try to see the results. Most of the people underneath Hansen would never agree to put the userbase through such a 'test'. And everyone else, even those above Hansen, would not let the network itself be endangered. The only ones Hansen could turn to, for this final desperate move, were the people on his payroll with little to no knowledge of online functionality and who were also present at the crucial locations.

The champions.. Vitruvic, Heleil, Acrates and Dyzanthium: each one had their private room inside the main Exeter facilities and a data stick with the key program. Simply plugging that in would terminate all server activity at once in their retrospective continent. Nobody else in Exeter knew what they could do, half of the champions did not even know why they were there. Nor were they sure when or if the order would come, they only knew that they had to follow every order. Now they waited, ever since the fall of the fake city. Hansen himself had set his own office to release the keys as soon as it registered his involuntary expulsion from the network. That would be their signal. It would be the end. And nobody could stop them. After all, the heroes had no power in this world.

"Miss, you really cannot go in there. That is the champions room and.." Except for a few. "And I want to see it!" A strongheaded girl with dyed white hair slammed the doors open and barged into Dyzanthium's private chambers, refusing to let an officeworker slow her down. "I am sorry, madam. I tried to stop her, but she insisted. She is a special client you see." The Exeter employee bowed respectfully to the very confused fusion champion. "A special client?"

"Ayup! You might have heard of the name.. D Bonnet. Well that is me!" The girl pointed at herself with pride. "Dharma Bonnet? Little Bonnet? And Dyzanthium did recognize the name. "You are.. the child prodigy duelist. The one that won the junior tournament five years ago!" Any champion would know about the junior division, even if that event had been phased out ever since the network came around. The families of the winners were always payed handsomely. "Yeah, Little Bonnet. Lets not use that old nickname. Its all everyone calls me when they see me on the street. Well that and the luckiest girl in town." Less people knew about the other aspects of Dharma's history. "That is right! You were the sole heir of.." The helpful Exeter worker chimed in. But Dharma quickly cut him off. "I was.. So that means I am stinking rich enough to say this.. You can go now." Dharma said with a more embittered tone. "Dyzanthium and me have some business to attend to."

"Business... You and I know each other in another way, don't we?" Dyzanthium started to connect the dots. "Oh definitely." The girl waited until they were alone in the room. The employee finally left as Dyzanthium gave the okay with a nod. "Then we meet at last, Madam Blanche."

"Correct again. I mean there arent a lot of targets on your list that are as adorable as me. Heehee." The girl moved her hand through her curled hair. "I would ask you how you got in here. Or how you got here to begin with. But I suppose it all speaks for itself. Instead I wonder what you hope to accomplish by confronting me." Dyzanthium got up from her couch, and hid her hand in one of the many pockets of her large black coat. "Well, yes it is easy to get here when you have your own private jet and know who to ask for favors. As far as anyone knows, I am here to get a simple tour of the building and see if I wanna invest in Exeter. But I dont know a lot about business. What I do know.. is that you and your club are up to no good. See someone got a bad feeling about this whole thing you are about to maybe do. Nobody would tell them, and they did not know who to trust. They called the one duelist they remembered from their childhood years. Me. And you happened to be closest by, so I flew towards you."

"Someone in our club? That would be Heleil then." Dyzanthium immediately surmised. "Geez. You're smarter than I thought." Dharma winced. "There is only one of us young enough to have participated in the junior division. You made it easy to guess." The champion scoffed. "Okay if you know so much, can you also tell me if you understand just what you are about to do? You're going to destroy STHEREA!" Dharma came right out with it. "So... you learned? When? Heleil could not have told you that." Of the four champions only she and Vitruvic had been given the full update, and the fusion champion saw that this had been the correct move to make. "So you did know all along. Me? I heard about it very recently actually. Thanks to my friends sending me and everyone else messages to get the hell out of town." The pendulum champion only told her that she expected the worst. But if Dharma had known earlier, she would have simply blasted the news all across the net first. She was here now though. "Your boss has gotten itchy fingers because he is dueling someone and losing badly. And he might actually pull the trigger."

"And you came all the way here to talk me out of it? I am sorry, but I cannot step down. Hansen told me everything and I accepted the terms. Not all of us, but enough." Dyzanthium shook her head and turned her back on Dharma. "Yeah I was afraid of that." Until Dharma created a sound known to all duelists.

"A dueldisk?" Dharma looked back at her opponent. She had a classic real-life dueldisk model with her, strapped to her wrist and filled with a deck of cards. "Well I figured the cops probably wont believe me if I ask them for help. But like you said, I was a duelist long before the network. So if anyone can stop a champion on, it is me." She would be using just about the same cards as Madam Blanche. While her opponent would have to play without scripts or cheats. Dharma felt she stood a chance. "You realize a duel will not change my mind. It will only inconvenience me." Dyzanthium, of course, had her own disk with her at all times. She could respond to the challenge. "Oh but I can be very persuasive. Even if it doesnt work, if I can stall for time so that everyone can get out." Dharma started drawing her cards. "Either way, this is a chance I can't let go! Dyzanthium, it is time to duel!"

Dharma's LP: 8000 Dyzanthium's LP: 8000 -TURN 01-

"Now its been a while, but I believe it goes like this!" Dharma placed her physical card in the dueldisk slot. "I activate Trade In!" She smiled as the disk board lit up and made a pleasant sound. Dharma would have to move herself though. Trade In let her discard one of her Blue-Eyes White Dragons to draw two new cards. "I also activate Dragon Shrine, and send a dragon to my graveyard from my deck!" Her next spell tossed one normal monster: another Blue-Eyes White Dragon, and also the effect monster Deep-Eyes White Dragon.

"Then I summon the D Lord: Lord of Dragons!" The dragon-armored spellcaster(4/1200/1100) [Zone 3] appeared on the generator floor, holding a triple dragonheaded guitar in his hand. "Awesome." The holographic technologies did not match those of STHEREA of course. She could see straight through her own monster and it had limited animations. But for her, this felt like a blast from the past. "Anyway, when I control a spellcaster, I can play Dragon Revival Rhapsody! That revives two dragon monsters from my graveyard! One has to be normal!" The lord, as a spellcaster, could take the spell's power into himself. He played a soundless tune on a new guitar and called the Blue-Eyes White Dragon(8/3000/2000) [Zone 2] in attack position and the stardust-winged Deep-Eyes White Dragon(10/3000/0) [Zone 4]. The latter gained the ATK of the Blue-Eyes still in the graveyard. "That oughta do it. Oh and I also set one card face down!"

-TURN 02-

"White. What an envious color. I have many of my own. But none are as clean as those of your dragon. Or as holy. And since we are here now, I might as well shed all pretend colors and reveal myself for what I truly am. Black." Dyzanthium's voice turned gravely and hoarse. "I discard Evil Hero Adusted Gold from my hand. Which enables me to add a Dark Fusion spell from my deck!" Thus she made her choice of heroes: a choice for evil. This villainous band of demons spun off from the original elemental heroes, now corrupted by an unholy fusion power. "And I activate Dark Fusion, to fusion summon one demon that cannot be targeted by card effects this turn! The fusion materials for which are one Evil Hero and one highlevel monster!" She made two more monsters disappear into a pitchblack fusion vortex: The level 5 Evil HERO Sinister Necrom and level 7 Evil HERO Malicious Edge. "Evil Hero Malicious Bane. All monsters with the same power or less, shall die immediately!" The demon hero of Malice(8/3000/3000) [Extra Zone 2] emerged from the hellgate with its black dragonbone armor, extended claws and devil wings. He swept his tail across the field, aiming to kill both dragons and the Lord of Dragons in a single move.

"Oh? Indiscriminate destruction eh? Well my lord can't do much about that! But.." Dharma snapped her fingers and flipped her quickplay spell. "Concentrating Current lets Blue-Eyes get attackpoints equal to his defense points!" The spell nearly doubled the targets attackpoints. Dyzanthium's Evil HERO managed to destroy the Lord of Dragons and Deep-Eyes. But the original white dragon(5500/2500) flew over the tail with its glowing wings. "And when Deep-Eyes is destroyed by a card effect, all your monsters are destroyed too!" The starfall White Dragon released several beams from its wings just as it descended into the graveyard.

"You cannot vanquish evil that way!" Dyzanthium retorted as Malicious Bane forced himself through the beams and came out unscathed. "Oh your fusion monster is one of those 'cant be destroyed by any card types. Ugh." Blanche had forgotten one of the nuisances of dueling in real life: she had to read the card effects herself since there were no digital screens to read from. And Dyzanthium had kept her monsters powers hidden until the right moment. "Yes! And Malicious Bane gains 200 attackpoints for each monster it destroys." Bane would not be satisfied with just a simple death. He(3400/3000) swallowed the souls of his victims to truly fill his malicious hunger. "Yeah but I know a thing or two about Evil Heroes. And you can always get more attackpower when you need it." Dharma snickered. "Also Evil Hero sounds like a contradiction really."

"An Evil Hero is just a hero that has lost its way. There is no end to the power of evil. I tried to fight it, I did. But in the end it consumed me all the same. Creating the Dyzanthium you see now." The fusion champion reached for her head. "Hey are you okay?" Dharma had to ask. "It is too noisy. In here.. and in here." The woman tapped the side of her head. "I have always been.. plagued with other personalities. Other voices... Ever since I entered STHEREA, the voices only got stronger in this world. At first I thought the network would help me. But now I see that they were only suppressing them, lulling me into a false sense of security. I cannot lie to myself. That is why, STHEREA must be destroyed." Dyzanthium clenched her left fist to regain her focus and activated a new spell. "Evil Mind! When I control one demon, and you have less than four monsters in your graveyard, I can draw one card!" Dyzanthium drew the card from the deck herself. "There it is.."

"I activate the Supreme King's Castle. Now during damage calculation, my Evil Hero can take one other Evil companion from the extra deck. And his attack shall rise by 200 points for each of that monsters levels!" If this had been STHEREA, the activation of this field spell would have created dark clouds, hellish flames and purple lightning to set the mood. But here the terror would have to be left up to the duelists imagination. "I also banish Evil Hero Necrom from my graveyard. Which summons one Evil Hero from my deck! I choose the Infernal Gainer!" Another horned demon(4/1600/0) [Zone 4] in spiked dragonbone plates entered the suite, this one smaller and with skinless red flesh. "If I banish the Infernal Gainer. My monster will gain a second attack in this same turn! The first attack to slay your divine dragon. The second attack to destroy its master!" Dyzanthium banished the Gainer demon, and naturally used the effect on Malicious Bane. Both of the malice demon's claws glowed with the crimson light of the inferno.

"But to become deadly, I still need more power." Dyzanthium waited until they were in the battle phase before she sprung her next spell. "And I will get it through Psychic Fervor! I take damage equal to my monsters attackpower! But that monster's attackpower is then doubled as well!" The fusion champion did not feel any pain this time, but her life did take a substantial loss as she psychically empowered her own Malicious warrior(6800/3000). "Lady. Are you sure you wanna do this?" Blanche did not expect her to make such heavy payments just to win one battle. "No. I am not. And yet I am. The voice that tells me to stop.. is not stronger than the one telling me to continue! Evil Hero Malicious Bane! Attack Deep-Eyes White Dragon!"

Dyzanthium's LP: 4600

"Well then I am sorry for what I am about to do. In more ways than one.. First., I can't let you destroy the network. Sure its gotta lot of evil, but it can also do a lot of good and all that stuff. Plus my friends are still in there, so.." Dharma halted the attack as she signaled that she planned to chain a card. "Second. This is gonna be a terrible pun. But I cant resist. Because this is a day where we are all being honest!" That card being the virtuous angel Honest. "!?" As soon as it left Dharma's hand, Blue-Eyes(12300/2800) gained attackpoints equal to Malicious Bane. And while this effect resolved during the damage step before the damage calculation took place: the Supreme King Castle's own powerboost would never match that of Honest. "That is... I discard Malicious Fiend!" Dyzanthium had to activate the field spell anyway to make the damage survivable. The Castle spell sent a level 8 Malicious Fiend fusion monster from her extra deck to her graveyard to empower Bane(8400/3000). Even so the honest and divine Felgrand proved its superiority by blowing up the Malicious one with its sacred golden fire.

Dyzanthium's LP: 700

Of course, Bane still could not die, not even during battle. "You were saying that good things happen to good people? The world is not that nice." On the other hand, Dyzanthium could not attack Felgrand again since Honest's powerboost would last for the rest of the turn. Instead she placed one trap card down and ended the turn. Only then did the stats of Felgrand(2800/2800) and Malicious Bane(3400/3000) drop back to what they had been before all the spells and monster effects.

-TURN 03-

"No. Clearly not. I get millions and millions because of some coincidence, while you have to deal with a lot of problems just because of what you were born with? That is not very fair, I know. And for a long time I did think, why should anything matter if nothing makes sense? But that's just lazy. I dont wanna be lazy anymore... Of course, I dont think advise like that does anything for you and I dont know what would help you. I dont know what will happen if you push that button either, but the consequences are probably on the extreme end. And I doubt they will help you stay sane if you have those on your conscience!"

"I summon White Stone of the Ancients and use it and my other dragon as a link material for Hieratic Seal!" Two dragons, the Ancient white dragon egg(1/600/500) and Blue-Eyes combined into a single brilliant star. The star solidified as a glowing red orb(0/LINK 2) {Downleft/Downright} [Extra Zone 1] that resembled a larger folded up dragon. Smaller golden orbs orbited it like the planets would orbit the sun. "Hieratic Seal of the Heavenly Spheres?" Dyzanthium knew Blanche had wealth, and now it appeared that she had spent it on the most expensive cards in real life too. "Yep! I can tribute one dragon, even this link monster himself, to return one of your cards to the hand! And when the Seal of Spheres is tributed, I can special summon one dragon from my deck with all of its attackpoints reduced to zero!" The celestial system of spheres turned supernova, consuming all in its wake. "Argh!" The blast destroyed the first Malicious Bane with an effect that it had no immunities against. "Eh, I have seen better virtual fireworks. 5 out of 10. But I guess the universe is not so dark anymore."

Blanche special summoned her dragon next. A ghostly version(8/0/2000) [Zone 3] of the Blue-Eyes White Dragon manifested at the heart of the dying light. "I summon the Dragon Spirit of White! When Dragon Spirit of White is special summoned, I can banish one of your spells!" The Spirit Dragon flew forward, phasing through Dyzanthium's facedown spell card and causing it to disappear. "But this dragon has no power!" Dyzanthium protested. "No. But it still has another effect! If I tribute it, it will summon one Blue-Eyes from my hand. And since I can activate the White Stone of the Ancients from my graveyard to add a Blue-Eyes back to my hand. I dont think that's gonna be a problem!" Blanche dug into the graveyard to banish the White stone and reclaim her precious White dragon. Immediately she slammed the monster on her dueldisk, which still felt good after all these years. "Blue-Eyes!" The ghost dragon regained her(8/3000/2500) body, her majesty and her rage. "Direct attack!"

Dyzanthium's LP: 0

"Ugh.. You.. are a good duelist." Dyzanthium clutched her chest, so used to feeling pain after a defeat that she could not go against her own motions. "It seems that no matter where I go and no matter who I am, I cannot defeat a true hero." Her voice cleared up, the darkness in her mind relinquished control. "But I.. do not want to keep failing." All that remained was the woman, not the evil champion. "Then don't. But think about who you want to fail! Hansen is just using you, wants you to keep pretending! He doesnt care about you or your problems! I do! My friends probably do! All those kids who saw you duel at the championship do! You can not fail us! You dont have to be a bad guy just because of how you were born! Please, I am asking you.. Do not do this..."

...

Hansen's LP: 2000 Hydra's LP: 1675

Back at the duel, Hydra had not still not escaped his stalemate with the CTO. One attack could end the duel, but it would end STHEREA at the same time. "Do you still not believe me?" Hansen seemed insane enough to go through with it. "Or are you buying time? Hoping that your friends can all get away before the big bang?! You don't have that luxury!" Hansen pushed the invisible duelist a little further by holding his hand above his deck. "! I end the battle phase!" Hydra realized that the CTO could end the duel himself as long as he felt threatened. "Good. Good. Now end your turn as well." And he would not feel safe until Hydra had completely given up. Until..

"What!?" Until he received a call from the European branch. "Dyzanthium?! Why are you calling _me!_?" Hansen had not told them to report back to him under any circumstances, especially not on this line. "Yo, bossman!" And the look on his face was something to be seen, as someone else let herself be heard. "Blanche!?" Hydra gasped. "What? Her!? You!? How did you get.." The CTO did not and could not understand. "Oh that's my secret! I just came by to tell you that Heleil and Dyzanthium have already decided to not go ahead with your plan! So those keys you sent them? All gone! What a shame!"

"Gah!" Hansen quickly muted the channel. "So you were using the champions..." The damage had already been done, Hydra heard it all. "Bah! She only delayed the inevitable! And she was too late to save you!" Hansen controlled all of his monsters still. All of his traps would be unsealed during the next turn. He saw no reason for Hydra to win now. "No. She was in fact right on time... I activate Tactical Exchanger!" Hydra sprung his trap, which unexpectedly made his Magnarokket Dragon explode. "This card destroys one of my monsters, and special summons a new Rokket Dragon from my deck! I choose Exploderokket Dragon!" The destroyed magnum bullet got discarded from the metaphorical chamber and replaced with a serpent-like dragon(7/2000/2000) [Zone 3]. Exploderokket had six sharp wings of light and a seemingly volatile flame inside its long body. "When Exploderokket is targeted by a link monsters effect, I can destroy it and inflict 2000 points of damage to each player on the field!" Hydra activated the power of Borreload Dragon, loading the explosive Rokket bullet into its cylinder-torso.

"2000?! You are going to suicide against me?" Hansen cried out. "As long as you cannot win, I will be okay with the result!" A stalemate would likely not change who controlled the World Chalice, but it would leave Hansen temporarily weakened. "Exploderokket Dragon! Activate!" The dragon bullet blew to pieces just as Borreload took the shot, and covered the entire room in the flames of destruction. "Gaaahh!" Hansen got knocked back by the fire, and slammed into the World Chalice. At the same a fage humanoid shape vanished in the explosion. The blast took out Hydra's proxy, leaving him unable to monitor the room.

Hydra's LP: 0 Hansen's LP: 0

"That punk.. He thinks.. this changes anything?" Hansen coughed. "I will show them all... what happens to lowlives like him! Walter!" He felt too much pain to move on his own power now. Exploderokket's damage had left him singed and numbed. "Walter! Get down here!" But he could always rely on his personal aide to help him out. Just in case someone else decided to drop in, Walter would defend him while he recovered. He could not leave now, his CIDs were about to make a final strike on his enemy. Going offline would break his hold over the chalice and let just about anyone come by to pick it up. "Walter! Where are you!?" Yetsomething seemed to have gone awry in the real office. Normally Walter would immediately come to him. Had Millennium damaged Exeter's network more than he realized? Could those fools not run the place in his absence? He would soon find out, as the virtual butler finally showed up in front of him. "Finally! What took you so goddamn long Help me up! Tell me what happened!" Finally someone who would listen to him.

"I am sorry sir, but I cannot do as you say." Except the one listening had his eyes closed and his mind set on other things. "What are you talking about?" Hansen flinched as he realized, this was no ordinary bug. Walter stared right at the Chalice with an uncharacteristic grin on his face. "Walter is not here right now." The servant finally opened his eyes. "You will have to direct all your questions at me." They were filled with a distorted void.. with Static.

(To Be Continued in Line 101: Reliant on Digital Desires)

**New Cards used by Madam Blanche/Dharma  
**Dragon Spirit of White

-  
Hieratic Seal of the Heavenly Spheres

-  
Dragon Revival Rhapsody

**New Cards used by Dyzanthium  
**Evil HERO Adusted Gold  
Evil HERO Sinister Necrom  
Evil HERO Infernal Gainer  
Evil HERO Malicious Edge

-  
Evil HERO Malicious Bane  
Evil HERO Malicious Fiend

-  
Dark Fusion  
Evil Mind  
Supreme King's Castle  
Psychic Fervor

**New Cards used by Hydra  
**Exploderokket Dragon

-  
Tactical Exchanger


	101. Reliant on Digital Desires

**Line 101: ****Reliant on Digital Desires**

"God of Fire!" Zettai shouted as she activated her skill card, sending another CID and his cyberdarklings into a spiral of destruction. Between her skill cards and her choice to minimize dead draws in her deck, she could keep an even pace with the army surrounding Exeter HQ. "Shouldn't they be stopping by now?" Just like everyone else, the ace duelist got a second wind once they realized Hansen's plan had been thwarted. "Hydra still failed to claim ownership of the Chalice. Which means these drones are still protected." Ezra concluded as he still had to manage most of Hansens army with his and Crescents solidified illusions. Nobody could be certain anyway as Hydra's broadcast cut off as soon as the duel ended.

"We cannot keep this up.." Crescent herself started to feel concerned. Not just for Zettai who already looked tired, but also because she knew Ezra was exerting himself as well. "If the heroes had joined us. We could have held our ground more." Ezra scoffed. "I said it before, I will not let myself be taken in by your power!" Zettai cursed back. "It is not so bad, Zettai. You hardly notice it. But you do feel.. better... afterwards?"

"Wagner?" Crescent gasped as she suddenly saw her old friend walk into the palace grounds all by himself. "Why are you here!?" She shouted, knowing fully well that he could not hear her. The CIDs on the other hand took notice and immediately attacked him. "No!" Crescent fired a few crystal shards to impale his assailants, but she could not stop them all. One caught Wagner and locked him into a duel. "Wagner!" A duel he immediately gave up on. "What are you doing?!" And as soon as she did, a red dust left his body and traveled over to the hazmat that 'defeated' him. "!?" Even Ezra took notice of this strange mist that seemed to spread out. The crimson dust infected the Hazmats one by one, and the champion ADIs as well. They gained a red glow, as if corrupted by a plague of pure hate. "Wagner? How.." Nothing could stop the plague from reaching each and every Hazmat drone, freezing them into place.

"A virus." Ezra spotted the responsible party: Doctor Scarlet Fever and Prospero. He, Zettai and Crescent descended to the ground to meet their unlikely savior. "What did you do? That is not Wagner!" Crescent did not need her shield to see through the facade. She could immediately tell the difference just from this persons vacant expression

"No it is not. It's just a copy of his avatar. You weren't there for this, but a few days ago your friends and I broke into the avatar database. I collected a lot of samples back then, and I managed to create a few ADIs of my own using that 'borrowed' data. I felt creative." Scarlet talked at length about her new inventions, seemingly oblivious to Zettai's scathing glare or to Crescent's increasingly irate expressions. "But why him?" The latter found this use of Wagner's assets offensive at best. "Because I needed a name and face that could fool this army. One of 'the heroes'. I suppose I could have used my copy of Imperius or others, but I did not know yet if they had already recovered. It was not my intention to cause undue emotional trauma."

"So this is what you were working on." Ezra meanwhile inspected the now domicile hazmat drones and artificial champions. Not a single one reacted or flinched in his presence. "Indeed. You can thank Prospero for this. It was his ability to spread himself across the network that gave me the template. I simply inserted a viral program inside the Wagner ADI that would break into Exeter's network through whoever defeated him. Now my creation is inside every one of their units, overwriting their commands and freezing their functions. I theorized that Hansen's chalice could only counteract the effects of the other items, not something more mundane like malware." As she had heard through the grapevine, that Hydra had caught the CTO by surprise, her theory appeared to be correct. "Then I believe you have earned a spot in our family, good doctor." Ezra commended her for her timing.

"The family, is not, all good, Ezra." But Prospero disagreed. "Ezra. I fear, for Paradise. The brunt of his, forces, was not present, for this battle. Where, do you think, they went?"

Just at that moment, before Prospero could explain further, the remaining heroes returned to the scene. Cherry, Neo and Bionis, Vigionaire/Asterisk and Himiko, Giganoto/Donna and Arcis Da Vinci as well. "Therese Hansen? When did you return?" Zettai asked. Last time she checked, the sister of the CTO had been taken away by Vitruvic. "We got her out!" Giganoto explained with a cocky grin.

"Yes, and the building had plenty STHEREA sets lying around. So I took it upon myself to log back in. You people have caused a lot of chaos out there. They had to evacuate the building." She spoke out of frustration. Most of the people she knew did not deserve to go through this kind of panic. "We do not, intend to stop yet, Hansen." And Prospero had no sympathy for her. "I know I cannot stop you. But Hansen is still in the building physically. I was hoping to talk to him to get him to log out as well, since I heard he ran into one of you. But.. it does not seem like you found him."

"Hey, we checked like every floor!" Neo cried out. "Yeah, after we checked them first. I told you to leave it to Hydra." Cherry grunted. "..." Asterisk's group meanwhile said nothing. Whatever information they discovered, they did not plan on sharing it with Millennium. "Hansen and Hydra merely fought to a draw. The CTO might have relocated by now with his chalice, but he seems near." Ezra clenched the lance in his hands. He could still sense the faint power of the first item somewhere near. And Melyria would still be inside the building to get a feel for him. They could not simply wait him out, because item users could live inside STHEREA for as long as they wanted. At least the CTO did not have a lot of bargaining chips left now.

"Can't you get that butler guy to help you find him?" Bionis proposed to Therese, recalling how Walter usually never left Hansen's side. "No. I cannot find Walter either. I don't know why, he usually always answers when called. I... I do not have a good feeling about this."

...

"You're not Walter." Hansen deduced. "How very observant of you. No, my name is Mister Static. You might have heard of me." The possessed butler bowed formally to his former master. His voice had changed along with his eyes. "Static?!" The CTO and the host of the arena met at last. "How did you get into my system?" And the CTO could not get away, not if he wanted to keep control of the Chalice. "I presume you have also heard about the Crown? The item that lets one control the minds of every ADI in the network? Did you honestly think that this effect could not be extended towards other forms of artificial intelligence? You have under-estimated this power from the start." And finally Static revealed the source of his newfound influence: a cybernetic crown appeared on top of his head. "The Crown? Anders' toy? Ugh, those damned fools at the AI department insisted that the Walter unit could not be broken into! When did you infect him? Who are you? Who sent you? And why did you wait this long to confront me?"

"Oh nobody sent me. I work for myself, not some rival company. But that's enough about me. As for Walter... I inserted a little bit of my control back when our mutual friend Asterisk dueled your servant. I needed those heroes for a reason after all. But I did not really see a use for your slave, until here and now. Until I could lay my hands on your magnificent chalice." Until this day, Hansen had not wielded the World Chalice personally. Now it waited to get a new owner. "Thankfully Hydra could not claim it for himself. And even you are no longer really its master, which means.. This duel will decide its new owner." And the CTO had invited 'Walter' to come and play.

_"Static! Is this what we were for then; instruments?" But they were not the only ones who could watch. From the subconscious realm, Void could see and hear all that Static experienced. "And now you want to have power over the whole network?" Void should have expected this. He should have known that Static would never just 'hold on' to the items. But he had no idea that Static could use the Crown this way, that he could escape his world through other digital lives. And though he could not escape Static's world in the same way, he could see and hear everything that Static saw and heard. He was like a ghost in the garden. "It certainly looks that way, doesn't it? That chalice is the only thing that can fully resist the power of the crown. Having them both would make me unstoppable. But on the bright side, it means that you and Scarlet never had to worry about being partially responsible. I can use this item just fine on my own. And it's all thanks to you. Thanks to you letting me into your subconscious. Now enjoy. I am going to give this man a duel he will never forget!"_

Hansen's LP: 8000 Static's LP: 8000 -TURN 01-

"So that is why you are here: to take advantage of this opening. But I guess they never told you that I am invincible, Mister Static. Let me show you." Hansen did not have access to the World Chalice cards anymore, but that meant that he could go back to his old deck. With a smug expression he activated the Forbidden skill card. "I can discard 1 or more cards to draw one "the Forbidden One" monster for each card I discarded. Plus one." Hansen would only have to discard his four regular cards to complete the combo. And as it was his turn, his skill card had priority over all other cards. However, that did not mean that another skill card could not be resolved first. "Oh I know. I have access to all the memories of this loyal servant." And Static revealed his at exactly the right moment. "Here is my skill card, I hope you approve."

_Darklord Charity, Skill Card  
__Neither player can discard cards from their hand this turn._

"I .. That is ridiculous!" The opposing skill card took hold before Hansen could fully utilize his own, giving him no chance to discard anything. "Why does everyone always insist upon playing this game the normal way? It's all just a series of chances! I could lose simply because I have a bad opening hand!" Hansen groaned and moaned as he now had to continue with his regular set of cards and only one piece of Exodia. "Because that is the definition of a game, CTO Hansen. It is a competition where both sides have an equal chance of winning or losing. You might be more used to things always going your way, but this is no longer a one-sided street." Static explained himself with a pleased chuckle. "Bah! I will still win even without my skill. There is no amount of power that could ever beat an instant win condition!" Though getting to that condition would be easier said than done. He did have alternate options however. "I activate One Day of Peace! Now we both draw one card. But neither of us can take damage until the end of the next turn!"

"So you are hiding already. Well turtling is still a valid playing style." Static shook his head. "I am going to do more than that, Static! I summon the Left Leg of the Forbidden One!" The CTO still only possessed one piece. But usually one would keep that in their hand instead of normal summoning the chained limb(1/200/300) [Zone 2] to the field. "And then, to special summon this next card, I must tribute one Forbidden One piece. I summon the Legendary Exodia Incarnate!" The leg exploded with a holy light, a light that spread up from the severed hip and transformed into a full torso with arms and another leg. Finally the mantled pharaonic head of Exodia placed itself on top. The full form of the Forbidden One(10/1000/0) [Zone 3] loomed over the arena. "This card gains 1000 attackpoints for each Exodia part in the graveyard. And during my endphase, it puts one piece from the graveyard back in my hand." Hansen placed one trap card down and moved to his endphase. During that phase, the Incarnate's left leg stopped glowing because He(0/0) returned the regular Left Leg card to Hansen's hand.

-TURN 02-

"Heh, how amusing. After all these years, Exeter finally caved in and made a proper avatar for the completed Exodia. Well, discounting Necros and Exodius of course. And now I cannot damage you. But that does not mean I cannot touch you." Static drew his card and summoned it. "Behold, Timelord Michion! This card can be normal summoned without tributes, as I control no other monsters!" A crimson flame gave life to a crimson god. The armless and faceless body(10/0/0) [Zone 3] stayed in the air on six goldenfeathered wings, while the face of a redhaired angel gazed through the glass window on the Timelord's chest. "When this card does battle, neither of us takes damage and it cannot be destroyed! But at the end of the battle phase, it will halve a players lifepoints! Here is the live demo: Michion attacks the Legendary Exodia!" The Timelord Michion flapped its wings and spread its feathers that ignited into fiery projectiles. They would not hurt Exodia Incarnate, the explosions would reach Hansen instead.

"Lifepoint halving? Ugh, who came up with an effect like that? You wont succeed however! I activate my trap card: Obliterate!" Hansen's continuous trap flipped itself face-up. "It sends one Forbidden One card from the deck to my graveyard, to return one monster on the field to the hand! Three guesses which one!" Hansen discarded the head itself: Exodia the Forbidden One, from his deck, which gave the Incarnate's physical head a burning radiance. With one swift blast from its mouth, it evaporated the Timelord Michion.

"A guessing game? I would rather play my own way." Static flicked his finger as he activated his quickplay spell: Arrivalrivals. "During the battle phase, I can normal summon one monster from my hand again!" The spell normal summoned Timelord Michion(10/0/0) [Zone 3] all over again, and gave it a new chance to attack. "Ugh! that means.." Hansen took the barrage of golden feathers after all, as the battle phase came to an end. In the blink of an eye, 4000 lifepoints disappeared in a series of golden explosions. "Gaahh! Why does that hurt so much!?"

Hansen's LP: 4000

"A wise man once said: a game is no fun with no stakes involved. The realer it gets, the realer the stakes!" Static placed two cards face down in the trap zone and ended his turn. _"!? You aren't..." And Void had to speak up again at this point. Because to him it sounded like Static was hinting at dire consequences for the CTO if he lost. "The arena is supposed to be a safe space!" He imagined that the host of the arena beyond could very well waver his own rules to make an exception for Hansen, giving him the same punishment as Imperius and Wagner. "Don't tell me you are feeling sad for the man." And Static did not talk like someone who minded doing just that._

-TURN 03-

"Sad? Who are you talking too? Tch. I have had it. Everyone mocks me, but nobody understands the sacrifices I had to make! It ends here!" Hansen angrily drew his new card. "Ha! I activate Pot of Extravagance! I banish six cards from my extra deck face-down, to draw two new cards!" The CTO banished whatever he could afford to lose, as this strategy no longer needed link monsters anyway. In return the deck gave him a trap and a monster. "Finally, I am rewarded. I summon Treasure Panda!" The monster turned out to be a treasure hunting white panda(4/1100/2000) [Zone 4], wearing a hat and brown leather jacket. "This card can banish one spell from my graveyard to special summon a normal monster from my deck with the same level as the number of cards I banished. So I only need to banish one for.." Hansen's monster buried the spell, One Day of Peace, deep in another dimension. And it managed to dig up a new part of Exodia: The Left Arm of the Forbidden One(1/200/300) [Zone 1]. "And I can use this effect more than once a turn!" Laughing, Hansen reactivated the power of Treasure Panda. He banished Pot of Extravagance and special summoned the Right Leg of the Forbidden One(1/200/300) [Zone 5].

"You probably are wondering why I would bring more parts to the field instead of the hand? Well, there is a reason for that! Obliterate can also send monsters from _my_ field back to my hand!" Hansen turned to the continuous trap: sending a 'True Exodia' card from his deck to the graveyard. In turn Obliterate bounced the Right Leg piece and gave it to Hansen again. "Three to go." He smirked and placed his trap card face down. He also switched the Legendary Exodia(1000/0) to defense mode, since it(0/0) would be taking the Head of Exodia out of the graveyard during the endphase anyway. "But I can only activate Obliterate once per turn. Ergo.."

-TURN 04-

"I will use it during your turn!" Hansen let the continuous trap send another 'Legendary Exodia Incarnate' card from the deck to the graveyard, just to move the Right Arm of Exodia back into his hand. Between that and the reclamation of the main Exodia card: Hansen had collected four pieces of the Forbidden One in just two turns. "That is a good combination of cards. Did you invent it yourself? Or did you take it from one of your many employees?" Static had a hard time believing the CTO could come up with a move like that on his own. "I learned it from the thing you took over. Once I am done with this nonsense, I will make sure Walter gets a proper reformatting." Hansen scoffed, referring to the 'betrayal' of his butler. "Oh, but do not blame the poor servant. He has no mind to play our game." Static meanwhile had to activate an effect of his own, as the Timelord Michion removed himself from the field. "Ah yes I forgot to mention. Timelords cannot stay on the field beyond my own standby phase. So Michion has returned to my deck."

"But now I can normal summon this monster without tributes, as only you control a monster right now!"' Static slammed a new element on the board: that of the light. A booming voice shouted, coming from the face inside the new timelord's chestwindow. The rest of its pendulous body(10/4000/4000) [Zone 1] was adorned with gold armor, spiked pauldrons and glowing red and blue orbs. "4000 attackpoints?" Hansen took a step back out of fright. An attackpower like that could wipe him out with just a regular attack. "Oh that? That's nothing. See this is Sandaion the Timelord. He cannot inflict battle damage. But he will have help." Hansen flipped his face-down spell card: Celestial Transformation. "I summon one fairy monster from my hand, with half of its attackpower! Another fun game! Dividing by zero! I summon Lazion the Timelord!" The spell special summoned yet another lord of time and flames. This one(10/0/0) [Zone 2]. appeared with deep red armor, large hands, curved wings of cold steel and shoulderplates that let out intense flames.

"Now. the Legendary Exodia does not care for other effects. But a good old fashioned attack will beat it down. Timelord Sandaion, attack!" The grim face of the golden timelord released a massive sphere of holy light. "I wont let you make that attack for free, mister Static. I activate Toll Hike! Each time you make an attack you must send a card from your hand to the graveyard!" With only one card in Static's hand, he would only be making one attack this turn.

"No I don't suppose you would. But the best games are never free." Static discarded said card and gave Sandaion permission to throw its holy spell into the Incarnation of the invincible Exodia. Who did not seem so invincible anymore. "You may regret that. When Legendary Exodia is destroyed, I can draw one card for each Exodia piece in my hand!" Hansen said as he showed off his four pieces. The only reason he did not have Obliterate send the final Forbidden One to the graveyard, was so he could draw it from his deck in case the Incarnate would die before the end of the third turn. "Ah four chances to draw what you need. In a deck of 40 cards, with 27 cards remaining. That is about a 15 % chance to get what you want. However, there is a 100 % chance that you will lose 1000 lifepoints." Static made his other Timelord attack pre-emptively, burning the CTO's hand as he pulled the four cards from his deck. "Tch. What was that?"

Hansen's LP: 3000

"That was the effect of Lazion the Timelord. Once a turn, when you draw a card, you lose 1000 lifepoints. Your own greed could be your undoing, CTO. I could not have thought of a better way to cause your downfall you myself." The fact that this effect could resolve at all also proved that Hansen had failed to get his hands on the final Forbidden One, because Exodia's instant win effect always would outspeed Lazion's effect damage. "And now you only have a 4 % chance. Tell me, CTO. Do you feel fortunate?" Static moved to the end of the battle phase, so that Sandaion could activate its actual power. "The timelord inflicts 2000 points of damage if it has battled during this phase!" The light of the divine lord had never left the field. "That's.." It came back down like a falling sun. "Graaahhh!" The energy slammed Evert Hansen against the floor, knocking the wind out of him before dissipating. "That is.."

Hansen's LP: 1000

"That is check. And possibly mate. Maybe you would preferred a game of chess over this?" As soon as Hansen started his turn, he would have to draw a card. And Lazion the Timelord would take 1000 of his lifepoints away. "That does not mean I lose!" Evert insisted with his body still in immense pain. "No. If you draw the Right Arm of the Forbidden One, you would certainly be victorious. But the question is, can you? I will leave it all in the hands of fate. As a proper game master should."

-TURN 05-

"Urgh." Hansen trembled. He could not predict what card he would draw, the odds were too low to be in his favor. "I am not supposed to lose. I was meant for this." If he won however, he would have the Crown. He would have the favor of his superiors. He would have Millennium on its knees. It all depended on that fateful draw. "Draw your card, Chief Technology Officer." Even his confident opponent could not have been certain that this future would not come to pass. "I.. I am. I am the master of STHEREA!" This world belonged to him, it would favor him! "Arghl!" The flames scorched his hand to chase that hope away. He drew a mere spell card, Pot of Duality, and Lazion punished him for it with its effect damage.

Hansen's LP: 0

"Not anymore." Static immediately knocked the CTO aside with a gesture of his arm and walked over to the chalice. "Ugh!" Hansen coughed, as he dropped to the floor with scorched paralyzed hands. "Stop! You don't have the right to.." He would not let a simple defeat get the best of him! "I have every right now." Static ignored him and placed his hand against the side of the World Legacy chalice. And through a miracle, the item began to shrink in size. "What!?" It became so small that it could be picked up with one hand. "You never thought to do this?" Static laughed out loud and kept his mouth open so he could swallow the chalice whole. "!"

Immediately the arena began to rumble underneath Void's feet. The same rumbling happened inside Hansen's garden. The host of the beyond had done it, he acquired another Item of legacy. "It's mine! Mine!" Weakly Hansen tried to attack Static, pulling at his legs. But he could not get a grip, his hands hurt too much. "Checkmate, Evert Hansen." Static simply bent down to stare at him with bright blue eyes. "Goodbye."

(To Be Continued in Line 102: Never Say That Word Again)

**New Cards used by Evert Hansen  
**The Legendary Exodia Incarnate  
Treasure Panda

-  
One Day of Peace  
Pot of Extravagance

-  
Obliterate!  
Toll Hike

**New Cards used by Mister Static  
**Michion, the Timelord  
Lazion, the Timelord  
Sandaion, the Timelord

-  
Arrivalrivals


	102. Never Say that Word Again

**Line 102: Never Say that Word Again**

_"What did you do to him?" From the realm of consciousness, Void saw what happened to Hansen. Static defeated the CTO of Exeter from his own garden and absorbed the world chalice, all while inhabiting the body of Walter. __But what happened after remained unclear. "The same thing I did to Donna, with a special bonus attached. __Do you want to see?" Static snapped his fingers and the scene then switched back to Hansen's actual office, still seen through the eyes of the butler hologram. Hansen sat there, slumped back in his chair. "You.. you put him into a coma?" The man did not stir restlessly, nor did he appear to be sleeping peacefully. "A temporary one, don't worry. This is just to teach him a little lesson. He is trapped in his own subconscious like you once were. Maybe he will wake up smarter than he was before." Static clenched his hand, forcing it to look more like a normal human hand. "Thanks to you and to him I can now hand out lessons like this." He clapped both hands together and the Walter hologram shut down. The window to the real world vanished. "I may even be able to get out of here soon."_

_"May? What is the catch?"_

_"Heh. Are you asking for my sake or yours? I already told you, you can leave whenever you want." Static descended to the arena floor, bringing Void with him as well. As he did, the whole place started to rumble. "What are you doing?" Void saw the walls shift, loose stones crumbled to dust and drifted away. Cracks began to mend and pillars stood upright. "Expanding.." Once Static finished his work, the stage of the beyond looked even more intact and colorful than before. "Did you.. add another floor?" Void knew this had happened before, back when they gave mister Static the Crown. "Two in fact. Each item works exponentially. Pretty soon my tower will be complete." The faceless man chuckled. "It's a tower now? Why? What happens when you get all the floors you need?" At this rate this building would be at least 32 levels high. "Now why would I tell you? You would just.."_

_"!?" Abruptly, the man of mysteries turned around with a frightful gasp. "Of course." He muttered bitterly, raising his hand. "Even now?" And he promptly retreated back into his static portal in the sky. "Static?" Void could still see him, but he could also see two duelists coming in via a quickjump: Midsummer and..her._

"It worked!" The girl in the wheelchair cried out in excitement with her hands on her cheeks. "Indeed it is a surprising turn. I knew your miraculous nature would mean that Static could not force you away. Yet it appears that my invitation has not yet been rescinded either. Most fortunate; I would not have wanted for you to visit this arena on your own." Midsummer had assumed that his alliance with Millennium would have cut the strings, yet it seemed he still counted as a part of Static's game. That carried some ominous implications of its own, but he set those aside for now. "Nobody is here?" His lady needed answers this wondrous location. "So it would seem. Of course, all souls are occupied with other matters. But there is one who I imagine would be most curious about meeting you. Mister Static." Midsummer also remembered the heroes crying out how the arena host had interest in her, and he definitely wanted to know more about that. No reaction came however, the place stayed as silent as a graveyard. "Where is he? Down below? Or up there?" Echo's eyes drifted everywhere.

_"!?" Her gaze even fell on Void and stayed there. "You can see me!?" However she gave no follow-ups to his questions or movements, making her lingering glance seem like a mere coincidence. Midsummer certainly could not see him either. "Static! What is happening? You and her.. Are you connected?" The man in static clearly knew her somehow. "This is not a game I am playing, Void. The more you know, the more danger you are in." And he clearly hesitated to answer him. "I am right, aren't I? Were you once like us? Until someone trapped you in here?" Void would not put up with that anymore. "Pretty sure I already told you that I am not human. But yes, we are connected. That is why she can show her face here despite me trying to keep her out. Fortunately I see an answer to my problem coming up right now." _

_"What do you..oh!" Void noticed two more quickjumpers warp into the arena: Agent Asterisk and Yoro-Himiko. Since when had they been working together?_

"Asterisk. Himiko. You have returned. I take it that all has gone well with Exeter." Midsummer adjusted to their surprise guests rapidly and greeted the agent and zombie princess with a cordial bow. "Midsummer, you could say that. It went better than expected. We did not lose anyone, and Scarlet... pulled through with her own unique contributions." Asterisk explained. "Though we have been unable to locate mister Hansen, I am sure we will find him before long." Right now Donna, Scura and the others were trying to comb through the floors for signs of activity or the chalice. While Therese Hansen had returned to the real world to establish some order in her brother's absence. But Asterisk did not have the time to relay every fact.

"See! I knew we could all work together!" Echo responded giddily to the news, causing Yoro-Himiko to narrow her eyes. "Some of us could. Some of us could not. You do not see Void around anymore, do you? And we here were you this whole time, Midsummer? Even Hydra risked his life for this mission. Yet you hid yourself away?" She sent her judging glare in the direction of the masked man. "I had to make sure my lady Echo stayed far away from any dangers. Not even Paradise was safe. And I reasoned that I could bring her here, that she would not be obstructed by Mister Static's rules and regulations." The Altergeist duelist had his reasons as always. "Yes, that is why we are here as well technically. Allthough we did not expect to find you as well." Asterisk cleared his throat. "But I am glad that we did run into you. What I wanted to ask Static, I can ask you as well. Miss Echo.. Himiko told me about you, but I always prefer to hear a story from the person in question."

"Oh? Me? Well.. I do remember a bit more now! Not how it happened, but I almost died! Except a nice man came and saved me, and put me in this place. He was sweet, talked to me all the time. Except he went away after a while, because of a less sweet man. Midsummer says that guy's name was Hansen. Hansen locked me up and I was starting to lose my memories. But then Midsummer and some other friends came and found me!" She abbreviated heavily, but Asterisk could get the gist of it. "Interesting. That certainly does sound like something this _man_ would do. You see, miss Echo, a friend of mine is very good at reading. And he found a treasure of information. It might not be very shiny or tangible, but it has value. And those records show that this man performed experiments on people; he tried to transfer their consciousness into this world. This experiment succeeded on a temporal level, which is what lets us walk this world. But... he never successfully transferred a complete consciousness permanently. Every test ended in failure...".

"What are you saying?" Midsummer almost broke character as the agent's words reached his ears. "That that there is no one with her history in the official database." Himiko backed Asterisk up. "Aha!? Did you presume there would be? Surely the company had erased all traces of her long ago. Such unfairness should not be echoed." The masked duelist did not see how that proved anything. "No. These horrible records persisted, Midsummer. It was just as Alpha once said: Exeter did do experiments with people. But even then there was no one with her age in that group. They only used adults." The zombie princess supposed that even Exeter had a limit to its awfulness. "Where we went, we could find data of all sorts. V is still trying to explore the depths of it as we speak. I don't really know how to explain it, but there were logs and files that probably not even Hansen knew still existed. It was as if someone wanted us to find them, saved them on this end while they were deleted in the real world.. And you already know what Ezra told us.. about the one who made the items. That same person might have left that information behind."

_"The creator." Void said to himself. "Static. Are you the creator?" He quickly asked the host, now that he had a chance to throw whatever question his way. "Me? Ahahaha!, that is rich! No, Void. I am not the Creator. I am the Creation." His answer only deepened the mystery surrounding him. "Creation?" He looked at the static man and then back to Miss Echo. "Are you and her.."_

"He saved me." Echo spoke up again. "That man was the creator. He saved me from death. I am sure of it!" Her voice began to crack, now that she got confronted by this news. "Maybe. Maybe we will still find something about you in that mountain of knowledge. But you have to be prepared for a possible alternate explanation. You said you were different from us, right? Maybe you never were...human." Himiko did not like to say it, but she felt someone had to hit the girl with reality. "Lies!" Yet Midsummer reacted the harshest to the claim. "Do not scare her with such tales of horror and deception! She is alive, just like us! Just like Sundown! What does it matter how she got here?" He placed himself in between her and the two duelists. Asterisk looked at Midsummer with a sympathetic expression.

"Sundown? What do you know about him?" Asterisk flinched. "He is not your concern anymore, Agent Asterisk. And neither is she!" The Nightmare duelist refused to answer. "Midsummer, we do not want to frighten her. Far from it. But I do not know if the people you are currently with can help. If the two of you come with us, maybe we can see what we can.."

"You will not come near her. Not this day or any day. Not while I live and breathe." The midsummer duelist put power behind his words, by activating his dueldisk. "Midsummer! This not the time or place for this!" Himiko immediately snapped at him. Though that had more of an effect on Echo than him. "Why.. do you have to fight?" She did not like seeing him go to this extreme. "My sincere apologies, I did not mean to startle you either. But this man vies for your attention and he tasks me at the same time. What does your heart desire, do you wish to stay with me, or to go with him?" For a moment the masked duelist seemed to calm down. "I don't know.. anymore. Can't I be with both of you?" And she seemed undecided. "I would like that as well." Asterisk said with a charming smirk.

"But that is impossible. Our tales cannot reconcile. There is only one way to settle this. Unless of course, these two choose to withdraw from their suggestion." Despite his mask, one could feel the burning stare of his eyes upon them. "What cannot be reconciled? What is your obsession truly about, Midsummer? Himiko did not have the appetite for this duel. Agent Asterisk on the other hand. "We only want to know the truth, Midsummer. Is that not in her best interest too?" He did not stand down, his left hand prepared to reach for his deck. "If there is a truth, I will be the one to find it. And what is truth? Is it the word of Exeter, the word of man? We can shape our own truth!" Midsummer finally drew his cards, locking the agent in as his opponent. "Fear not, my lady Echo. Dueling is more than fighting in the right hand. I will turn this into an event to remember. And at the end you can decide who can best serve you. Even if it would seem that fate favors my foes.." Midsummer bemoaned at his luck, as he preferred to take the first turn on any occasion. Yet now he would have to go second.

Asterisk's LP: 8000 Midsummer's LP: 8000 -TURN 01-

-TURN 01-

"I am not your foe, Midsummer. I will make you see that." The agent activated his first spell: Reasoning. "You think this is just a game to me? Four." That spell and Midsummer had their own shared history, which meant he needed no explanation on how to react to it. "I do not know what you think, Midsummer. That is the problem." Asterisk could now discard cards from the top of his deck until he drew a summonable monster. And if its level matched the number that Midsummer called out, he would have to discard that monster too. "But it seems you cannot guess my future either. I summon Spyral Quickfix!" Reasoning resolved, excavating a spell, two traps and one level 1 monster. Therefor Midsummer guessed wrong and Asterisk could special summon a lab-coat wearing gadget scientist(1/500/400) [Zone 5] in defense mode. "And Quick-Fix adds one Spyral Gear to my hand!" Asterisk added a monster, SPYRAL Gear Drone. Afterwards he placed one trap card and one more monster face-down.

-TURN 02-

"I need not know what lies in your future or your present. You have already given me one false story too many. I duel only for her, not you." Midsummer started his turn, and promptly revealed his skill card. "Watch miss Echo, as I activate a trap card from my hand; Altergeist Emutalelf. How do I do this? With my skill: Makyura's Sentence!" The skill card could play just one trap from the hand, and Midsummer chose a trap that was also a monster. "Altergeist Emulatelf summons herself to my field!" She took the form of a golden elf android(4/1400/1800) [Zone 1] with her cybernetic arms melded with her wide waist.

_Makyura's Sentence, Skill Card  
__Activate 1 Trap Card from your hand. Banish that card when it leaves the field._

"So those are your monsters? They look a little strange.." Echo commented as she looked at this 'elf'. "You might say Strange is his preference." Himiko muttered. "I only take such words as compliments, my lady Himiko and mistress Echo! Now behold! As I activated a trap card this turn, the Altergeist Multifaker may be special summoned from my hand! And Multifaker, when special summoned, calls upon an Altergeist from my deck!" The even more bizarre scarlet purple android(3/1200/800) crawled out of Midsummer's hand and brought a friend along with her: the cyberspace mermaid Altergeist Meluseek(1/500/300) [Zone 2]. "Oh I like her more!" Echo said with a smile.

"I am glad to hear it. Alas, Meluseek can only be with us for so long. She has to become a link material for my Altergeist Hextia!" Both Meluseek and the Emulatelf trap transformed into energy for the linking circuit, and released the crest-headed centaur creature: Altergeist Hextia(1500/ LINK 2) {Down/Right} [Extra Zone 2]. "But she gives us her blessing none the less! Meluseek adds an Altergeist card from my graveyard to my hand, when she leaves the living for the dead!" The effect of the grave-sent mermaid gave Midsummer his next alternate ghost: Altergeist Marionetter. With a spin and a creepy laugh, the marionette witch(4/1600/1700) [Zone 3] got normal summoned to the field. "Marionetter can set one Altergeist trap card from my deck when she is normal summoned. Do you wish to choose, miss Echo?" Midsummer did in fact show her the entire complement of traps: multiple copies of six names.

"Ooh! Ah! Pick the Haunted Rock!" And the blue lady managed to choose the best one in Midsummer's mind. "You and I think very much alike." Midsummer placed the trap card face down. "Because when Altergeist Haunted Rock is set by an Altergeist's effect, it can be activated in the same turn!" Midsummer continued as he flipped his continuous trap face-up, at the cost of an Altergeist (Silquitous) in his hand

_"What a display. She has him wrapped around her finger." Static grunted. "She? Are you saying she has some controlling power over Midsummer?" Void asked the host, who seemed to be the best source of information right now. "No power. That is just the way she is. Everyone wants to be her friend."_

"Now for another story! I link summon Altergeist Primebanshee!" Hextia left the field, along with Altergeist Multifaker as link materials for the three-headed and serpent-armed cyberBanshee(2100/LINK 3) {Down/Downright/Right} [Extra Zone 1] "When Hextia leaves the field, an Altergeist card is added to my hand!" The altergeist duelist claimed a trap card: Altergeist Manifestation. "But as all forms of life in this world, Hextia can come back whenever I need her. Altergeist Marionetter sends one Altergeist to the grave, to special summon another!" Midsummer could even have the marionette sacrifice a trap card like the Haunted Rock. After which the curse-spreading Altergeist Hextia [Zone 2] returned from the graveyard to link up with her reviver. The fact that Hextia(3100 atk) gained the original attackpoints of any monster she pointed at was seen as a bonus. "Now the stage is set! It is time to reveal all the players, Marionetter!" Midsummer opened his battle phase with a screaming magical blast intended for the inventor Quickfix.

"Then I activate my trap card from the graveyard!" Not if Asterisk had anything to say about it. "Spyral Mission Recapture! I can banish this trap to postpone the destruction of my Spyral operatives!" Quickfix attempted to protect himself with a barrier matrix. "Fate is not that kind, Agent. When I say your monster dies, he dies! Hextia!" So Midsummer revealed the power of his own monster: Hextia negated the effect of the trap by sacrificing the same Altergeist Marionetter, and breaking the barrier that kept her victim alive. "That was one!" Mercilessly, Midsummer declared his second attack on the unknown set monster, sending the weaker Hextia(1500 atk) after it with her stomping claws. "Then this is two, but not just any two. You attacked my Charming Resort Staff." Asterisk's second card turned out to be the simple but kind waitress(3/300/200). Though the hex geist tore her to digital pieces, her effect could still be used in death. "Since you saw fit to end her, I can instead special summon the Spyral Agent from my deck!"

"Oh?" Echo looked up to the clouds, seeing a helicopter fly by. The dandy pompadour-haired agent(4/1900/1200) [Zone 3] leapt out of the chopper on a long ladder and landed smoothly in defense mode. "That was a cool effect." The girl clapped. "He has a penchant for theatricality, that much I shall not deny. But is there more substance to your style, Agent?" Now the Prime Banshee struck, lethally strangling the dandy SPYRAL operative with her snake arms. "That all depends on the audience. Some are satisfied with just charms." Though he lost his monster, he could now activate an effect from his graveyard. He banished the Charming Resort Staff lady from the graveyard, and used her effect to move SPYRAL Agent from the graveyard to his safe hands. "But you want more, don't you? Miss Echo? What is that you seek? Your memories? The truth? We can help you as well, to unravel the mystery that is you."

"You do not get to talk to her, Asterisk! Not as you are now!" Midsummer silenced him again and placed two trap cards down with a tense hand. "Why are you like this? Why do you want to protect her so!?" Himiko yelled. She simply did not understand what went through the masked man's head.

"I am certain my opponent already knows. If not him, then his visionary companion." Midsummer let out a deep breath as he focused on Asterisk again. "I know what you are accusing me of, Midsummer. But we have never done anything of the sort." Neither he nor Vigionair would go as far as to break into the private data of another duelist. "Is that your truth? Perhaps. Then do you want to know mine? I do not believe I should burden Echo with my tragic tales. And yet, she is the embodiment of a new hope now. A hope that I can see what was lost.." Yet again Midsummer Nightmare appeared to lose his melodramatic tone, sounding almost genuinely miserable. "What I want.. is to see my family again. My brother, my sister. They were taken from me, years ago."

"What?" Echo flinched. "Taken? How?" Himiko shuddered. Agent Asterisk kept his silence.

"They were on the subway, a new type. There was a malfunction, a human error. It crashed. It crashed because the people in charge thought it could move safely during a storm. Half the people on that train died instantly. Others died in the hospital. My family was not among those fortunate few. They left before I could ever talk to them again. They were going to see a play. I would have gone too, but I told them I did not feel like seeing it. I only survived because of that foolishness. But I wished I hadn't... isn't that the real joke?" He rested his head in his hand and laughed and cried at the same time. "I had no idea. Is that why.. you want to be with her? Because Echo could have died like that as well?" Asterisk began to see why Midsummer did the things he did. "If what you say is true. Then they are gone, Midsummer." In spite of everything, he felt the Altergeist's duelist told the truth this time. "I also do not see how what you desire.. is possible." Himiko echoed the agent's sentiment.

"That only shows how limited your imagination has become because of your sheltered life, miss Yoro-Himiko. I have seen the impossible happen. She is right there. Echo, she came back from the land of the lost." He pointed at the girl who did not know what to say right now. She looked unnervingly serene in the moment. "Yes I sought my hope in this world, my dreams. I just wanted to find a way to relive my past, to breathe life into my memories. But now I know that this is more than a virtual reality, this is the world closest to our very soul! And if she has a chance... then so do they! I know what you are going to say, but it does not matter to me! She was created, a true life. I do not know how, she does not know how. But she is here." True anger. "Together with Millennium we will find her savior, the creator. And we will find the answers to this world of eternal life! I will not stop, unless you force me. And I know you will not stop either."

"No. I suppose I wont." Asterisk sighed. If Midsummer would fight for a fantasy, then he could only resist as an agent of the truth.

...

While the heroes of Pandemonium and Ulysses tended to the Exeter tower, the Item wielders followed Prospero's messages of doom. "Gone. It's all.. gone." Returned to what remained of Paradise. "I can't believe he did this. _He_ did this." Ezra surveyed his vast field, which had once been populated by thousands. Now there were none. The homes were destroyed, the plants and flowers melted, the landscape itself reduced to dunes of silver sand. Only his black throne and tower remained in the desolation. "The Chalice did this.." The power to undo the creations of the other Items had finally reached their promised land.

"When I, returned, it was already, too late. Exeter attacked us, while you attacked, him. His machines invaded, paradise, and purged everything. They destroyed, your illusions first, and made everyone, see how they, were really living. Most of them, did not even, want, to stay, after that. Others fled, because of the shutdown, threat, Hansen made." The lord of thunder described the horrors he had seen. How Paradise got dismantled by Hansens forces. Every part of their family that stayed behind, who had never even actively fought against Exeter because they had no stomach for it, had been banished.. or banished themselves. Now less than a hundred remained. The Millennium became a Century.

"But the threat is gone now! We can rebuild it? Can't we?" Crescent shuddered. She did not want to see this world fall to ruin, not so soon after she became a part of it. "Yes, of course! We can begin again, yeah! They have not stopped us, Ezra! This is not the end!" Melyria tried to comfort her partner, who seemed to be mortified. "Begin, all over again? That is, not possible. They are free now, free, from the delusion. That is how, they will see us, now." Prospero on the other hand had no hope. It took them months to secretly build up their community. They would not get away with it again. _"But that does not mean it has to be over.."_ He thought to himself. One drastic act could get them back to where they once were... and make things even better.

(To Be Continued in Line 103: The Lesser of Two Virtues)

**New Cards used by Agent Asterisk  
**SPYRAL Quick Fix

-  
Reasoning

**New Cards used by Midsummer Nightmare  
**_MAKYURA'S SENTENCE_

-  
Altergeist Emulatelf  
Altergeist Haunted Rock


	103. The Lesser of Two Virtues

**Line 103: The Lesser of Two Virtues**

Asterisk's LP: 8000 Midsummer's LP: 8000 -TURN 03-

The masked duelist had finally given his story in tragic detail. Agent Asterisk could never have guessed at such a grave loss, and yet he could not waver. "You would continue the fight?" Even Yoro-Himiko seemed shaken in her resolve now. "I must. I do not know where you stand, lady Himiko. But I cannot trust Millennium. And it is a shame that you do, Midsummer." At the very least the agent understood Midsummer Nightmare now. Though the agent did not have any trauma in his own past, he had seen plenty of people around him suffer because of human errors. Nevertheless understanding did not always lead to agreement. "My turn shall proceed. I activate the Spyral's resort!" If the agent could not set the tone, he would set the stage at least. The field spell of the spyrals would ensure that none of them could be targeted or destroyed.

"And I shall shatter it! Hextia, use your power!" But Midsummer did not feel so generous. His link 2 Altergeist {Down/Right} [Zone 2] sacrificed the Altergeist Marionetter [Zone 3] she pointed towards, to negate the activation of the field spell card. That did mean however that Hextia(1500 atk) had no monsters to draw attackpower from for now. "I see. But what if I were to summon my Spyral Gear Drone?" Asterisk tried a different approach, with his hovering espionage drone(1/100/100) [Zone 1]. Its summon allowed Asterisk to look at the top cards of Midsummer's deck.

"Then I shall activate Personal Spoofing! And that means Altergeist Multifaker can once again be special summoned!" Other effects also stayed hauntingly the same. As a continuous trap revealed itself, Multifaker(3/1200/800) [Zone 3] could also reveal herself in defense mode and link up with Hextia(2700 atk). And after the purple faker summoned herself from Midsummer's hand, she could also special summon a new Altergeist from the deck: Altergeist Kunquery(5/0/2400) [Zone 4]. "When Kunquery is special summoned, the effects of one face-up card on the field are negated for as long as she exists!" The redtailed cyber centaur fired its negation beam at the drone, and depowered it. The machine had to land on the arena floor and failed to get any readings on Midsummer's deck.

"It would seem you are both equally persistent." Himiko sighed. "Perhaps. But I am also known to take a gamble." Asterisk had not prepared his usual skills for this duel, so he would have to guess what card lied on top of Midsummer's deck. Then again, even if he tried, Midsummer could just shuffle his deck around with Personal Spoofing. "In my hand is my charming agent. If I can tell him what your next draw would have been, he is summoned and one of your spells is destroyed. So.. what will it be? Spells? I doubt it, you favor traps. But monsters are always possible as well." He narrowed it down to two choices. "That is what it always is about, choices and choices. I think I shall go with, trap!" He made his call, so Midsummer would have to play along.

"Confound it." And the masked duelist showed his consternation, by picking up an Altergeist Camouflage trap card from the top of his deck. "He guessed right!" Even Echo was impressed. Now the pompadour SPYRAL agent(4/1900/1200) [Zone 3] could descend from the skies again, and signal the destruction of Midsummer's other trap card. "But that is all he can accomplish!" Midsummer responded immediately, with his link 3 monster. "Primebanshee special summons Altergeist Kunquery!" The snake-haired Banshee(2100/LINK 3) {Down/Downright/Right} [Extra Zone 1] could also sacrifice Altergeists during Asterisk's turn, and trade them in for Altergeists with the same name even. The first Kunquery made way for the second Kunquery(5/0/2400) [Zone 4], and this time it targeted the SPYRAL Agent to drain its energy and silence its attempt to destroy the face-down trap. "Wow. It just keeps going back and forth." Echo could hardly follow their moves.

"That is the nature of a duel. You fight for every card." Asterisk smirked and went on to activate an effect from his graveyard. "I still control the Spyral Agent, which means I can discard a card to resummon Spyral Quick-Fix!" Asterisk discarded a SPYRAL Tough monster card, and recalled the quartermaster and inventor(1/500/400) [Zone 5] back in defense mode. Subsequently, Quick-Fix's effect added a SPYRAL GEAR card to Asterisk's hand; SPYRAL Gear Last Resort in this instance. "And you fight for everyone you call a friend. You cannot always do it with words... or getting your hands dirty.. I summon the Spyral Sleeper! Three Spyral cards will be banished!" Asterisk removed the Resort, Tough and a Spyral Gear Utility Wire trap card that had been discarded earlier through the Reasoning spell. And this gave a new agent his moment to shine: an older muscular man(8/2800/1200) [Zone 2] with long spiked grey hair. His wild appearance contrasted with his fancy black suit and red tie.

"Then I tribute the Drone, to give the Sleeper 500 attackpoints for each card you control! Each card you defended, Midsummer!" The drone, now back at full capacity, scanned two traps and four monsters on Midsummer's side of the field. That translated into an attackboost of 3000 points for the berserker agent(5800/1200). Asterisk also equipped the sleeper agent with SPYRAL Last Resort, the union monster that made a Spyral operative indestructible. "And we are off! Spyral Agent attacks Altergeist Multifaker and the Sleeper attacks Altergeist Primebanshee!" With two gadget fists and a fully robotic suit to empower him, Sleeper could deliver a decisive blow to the Altergeist of serpents. Primebanshee let out many cries before falling into the graveyard. Even before that the linked Multifaker faced her own demise through a precise blasts from SPYRAL Agent's lasergun

Midsummer's LP: 4300

"Tch. The Banshee is still there even in death! When it leaves the field, I can add an Altergeist from the graveyard to my hand!" Midsummer took back Altergeist Multifaker. "I figured as much. You could also have taken back Kunquery and stopped my attacks, if I destroyed the Banshee first. Though you could also have added another Kunquery to your hand with your trap card." Asterisk pointed at Personal Spoofing, a card designed to switch one Altergeist with another in the main deck. "I am no fool. You would have used your Sleeper's power to break my continuous trap before it could resolve. If you wish to do so, you will have to make the first move!" Midsummer would not start that chain. "Since you insist." So Asterisk did, by activating the quick effect of SPYRAL Sleeper. "He destroy one of my Spyrals and two of your cards! I will pick my Sleeper, since he cannot be destroyed." The strong agent deflected his own suicidal bomb blast with his Last Resort armor. Altergeist Hextia and the Personal Spoofing Trap were less fortunate.

"When Hextia is destroyed, I can add an Altergeist card from the deck to my hand. I choose Altergeist Marionetter." Despite the hit his lifepoints took, Midsummer seemed entirely unphased. "A dazzling turn, Agent Asterisk. But you did not make it to the final act!" Before the turn could come to an end, Midsummer activated his last trap card: Altergeist Manifestation. It revived one Altergeist in attack position, Altergeist Hextia(1500 atk) [Zone 3] and linked her up with Altergeist Kunquery. The two were already going back to the way things were. "Midsummer, you know this does not have to go on... I am not trying to take anything away from you." Asterisk placed a trap card of his own face-down and did indeed let it end.

-TURN 04-

"There is nothing more you can take. I have nothing to lose, and everything to gain." Midsummer began his turn with a spell which he felt sounded rather appropriate. "Foolish Burial Goods. I send one trap card to my graveyard: Altergeist Camouflage. And after that I normal summon Altergeist Marionetter." The laughing marionette ghost(4/1600/1700) [Zone 5] spun out of his hand, but her smile failed to infect her usually gleeful master. Even if she did give him a new trap, Altergeist Camouflage, to set down on the field.

"Either we are fools or we are puppets? Is that your creed?" Himiko wondered. "We are all puppets, miss Yoro-Himiko. But Millennium cut our strings. You should know that feeling as well as I. There is no going back to that life anymore!" Midsummer activated the effect of the Marionette, and destroyed the Altergeist Manifestation card to special summon one monster from the graveyard. "If I had lived here from the start, they would not have died! And now I have a chance to rewrite that story!" He of course brought Primebanshee(2100 atk) [Zone 1] back to life. And at the same time he banished Altergeist Camouflage from his graveyard to negate the destruction of Hextia, to avoid the cost of destroying the trap that kept Hextia alive to begin with.

_"But what if it doesn't work? What if.." Void, still forced to just observe, had all kinds of troubling thoughts. "Are you even considering that it is possible? That girl's story is a lie. She was never saved from death, because it is not possible." And Static still mocked him and them every turn. "If you are so sure, why don't you tell them that yourself?" Void fought back. "Why would I interrupt this duel? If Asterisk wins, he will take that wretched girl away from me. That is a win-win in my situation." The host laughed._

"Sleeper's effect activates!" Asterisk meanwhile switched on his monster's effect, even if it would only result in failure. But he had to trigger it now before Primebanshee could summon another Kunquery to the field. "Hextia's effect activates as well!" Of course Midsummer could already block it with his link 2 Altergeist, who tributed the second Altergeist Kunquery to negate Sleeper's destruction effect. "I gathered. Good thing Sleeper is still indestructible." The big agent defended himself from the curse with his mecha armor. "But you are not, Agent." Midsummer continued and banished Altergeist Manifestation from his graveyard. "I will use my traps's second effect, to reclaim an Altergeist trap from the graveyard. And because I activated a trap, I can special summon Altergeist Multifaker from my hand once more!" With two elegant swipes of his hand, Midsummer withdrew the Altergeist Emulatelf trap card and placed down the metal-legged Multifaker(3/1200/800) [Zone 2]. And this turn Multifaker's effect summoned a unique kind of Altergeist. "I also call out the Altergeist Fifinellag!"

A red and gold fire Altergeist(2/0/1000) [Zone 4]: with two silver horns, small claws and a flower-like lower body, that was the form Midsummer's new monster took. "A tuner?" Himiko recognized its status on the spot. "Miss Yoro-Himiko, if nothing else, I have enjoyed my time with you. You were all enlightening in helping me find my own way... Now to honor you, I shall synchro summon Altergeist Dragvirion! In attack position!" The crimson Fifinellag tuned with the laughing Altergeist Marionetter, gathering six stars in a bright circle. The cyber casters transformed into a dark greenhaired Altergeist(6/2200/1200) [Zone 4], with four horns, four arms, two beastlike legs and three tails. Hextia(3700) greatly appreciated its presence. "Dragvirion is another guardian of my path! Once a turn, when it is tributed, it can return to my field as if it never died! Die for the Banshee and be reborn, my synchro geist!" The primal Altergeist sacrificed the synchronic one, so that a new Altergeist could be special summoned to the field. Dragvirion promptly special summoned herself[Zone 4] back to the field.

"And I summon Altergeist Silquitous! Each turn she can return one of my Altergeists to the hand, to return another card to yours!" The jester duelist revealed every aspect of his ghostly deck, now calling the winged ghost of wind(2/800/1500) [Zone 5] in attack position. "And while your monster cannot be targeted, your armor can," Silquitous targeted the Multifaker and SPYRAL Last Resort, removing the last defense of the sleeping agent.

"But his monster is still stronger though." Echo meekly pointed out. That warning only gave Midsummer more vigor. "Power is not everything. I activate my spell card: Spiritual Entanglement! Asterisk, your monster is banished for one turn!" He would invoke the ghosts of wrath themselves if he had to. "..." The spell entangled the struggling and moaning SPYRAL Sleeper and dragged him into another dimension. "The curtain falls on whatever remains! My Altergeists, rage against Asterisk's monsters and lifepoints!" SPYRAL Quick-Fix and SPYRAL Agent were swiftly dealt with: destroyed by the wind blasts of Silquitous and the black magic of Hextia.

Asterisk's LP: 6200

"I am still in the game, Midsummer." The agent said as he braced himself for the undoubtedly more painful direct attacks. He remembered how a duel with a Millennium duelist went. "I activate SPYRAL MISSION Rescue! I add SPYRAL Agent to my hand from the grave!" The continuous trap could retrieve any deceased Spyral monster. It would do Asterisk little good now though, but he had to play it while Hextia's effect had not yet recharged. "You have your game, I have mine!" And thus Midsummer sent Dragvirion an Primebanshee loose on his opponent. The synchro fired a bright orb of magic with the wand in one of its four hands. And the Banshee's many snakes released a stream of acid energy. Asterisk took damage from both ends of the field and had to drop to one knee. "It is painful isn't it? Yet still incomparable to what I had to leave behind. Tell me, Asterisk." Midsummer placed his trap card down. "What would you have done in my position?"

Asterisk's LP: 1900 -TURN 05-

"I wish I could tell you, Midsummer. I know that I could never begin to feel what you have gone through. And I still want to help you. But I don't think this is the way. I always wanted to find the truth, to avoid living a lie and to never tell one. Midsummer, I do not think that what you want can be achieved. I think you're walking into a trap." The agent shook his head. "I have to try." The masked man coldly responded.

"I know.." As the turn started, SPYRAL Sleeper returned to the field. And Asterisk reactivated SPYRAL MISSION Rescue to add the SPYRAL Gear Drone back to his hand. "Sleeper! Take her down!" Without his Last Resort gear, the Sleeper would have to destroy the continuous Rescue Mission trap and risk his own life in order to destroy Midsummer's Altergeists. "I reject it." Even so, Altergeist Hextia sacrificed the synchro Dragvirion to block the effect of the Sleeper agent and kill him with her deadly curse. Altergeist Dragvirion special summoned itself[Zone 4] back right away, though it could only use this effect once a turn. "And I will use that rejection. When Sleeper is destroyed, I can destroy my own cards to special summon a SPYRAL Agent from my deck!" The dying sleeper sent out a final distress call, bringing another dandy agent(4/1900/1200) [Zone 3] in as back-up. And since it had been summoned by the effect of a SPYRAL card, it could destroy one trap card on the field.

"I reject that as well." So Midsummer flipped his trap cards: Altergeist Emulatelf and Altergeist Camouflage. "A double-layer of protection?" The fake elf trapmonster(4/1400/1800) [Zone 4] prevented the destruction of all other Altergeist traps. And Altergeist Camouflage negated any effect that targeted Altergeist Emulatelf. "Yes, you will have to rain indiscriminate destruction on my backrow if you ever want to shatter my traps. The kind of destruction that only reality provides."

"I still have other tools at my disposal. I can banish Spyral Rescue and another Spyral card to bring back one Spyral monster." Asterisk would banish the Sleeper for the trap's second effect, as that card could not be summoned from the graveyard anyway. As a result, SPYRAL GEAR Drone(1/100/100) [Zone 5] reappeared on the field and looked into Midsummer's next three cards (Altergeist Meluseek, Altergeist Protocol, Traptrick). "The next card you will draw is a monster." The agent deduced. "My future is what I make it, Asterisk." But of course, Midsummer ruined that entire plan by activating the effect of Altergeist Primebanshee. It sacrificed Hextia and special summoned an Altergeist Marionetter(4/1600/1700) [Zone 3] in its place. Having sent Hextia to the grave, Midsummer could add a new Altergeist card from the deck as well: his final Altergeist Kunquery. Both these effects meant that the deck got shuffled around entirely, with a new mystery card on top.

"In that case. I summon my Agent the normal way!" Asterisk moved to the main phase and brought out another SPYRAL Agent(4/1900/1200) [Zone 2], the one rescued by the SPYRAL MISSION trap. "I know what you are planning too, Agent. Silquitous sends it away!" But Midsummer removed it quickly, letting his winged Altergeist bounce the spyral spy and Altergeist Marionetter back to their owner's hands. "Altergeist Dragvirion has another effect. She can negate attacks from special summoned monsters, but not attacks from normal summoned ones. You would have used that and your gears to attack me directly. I can see it all." If Asterisk wanted to use his union monster now, he would have to equip it on the special summoned SPYRAL. "You give me little choice but to be crude. I activate Old Mind!"

"Old Mind?" Himiko narrowed her eyes. Old Mind was a normal spell that looked at one random card in the opponents hand and discarded it. Though Asterisk would also have to discard one of his cards and draw a new one. "V gave me this card, probably because he did not like me calling him an old man when we first met. I was not always the suave man you see before you." Asterisk let the spell play out, and randomly discarded... the Altergeist Kunquery.

"Are you mocking me?" The Old Mind card itself also added itself to Midsummer's hand as well. "Not my intention I can assure you. I just needed to get a better hand, and getting rid of one attack negator is a bonus." Asterisk discarded his SPYRAL Agent and drew another spell. "Because now I can activate.. Machine Duplication!" And that spell could triple the number of machines on the field, if it had 500 attackpoints or less. The SPYRAL Drone called out two more of itself(1/100/100) [Zones 2 & 4]. "Three of them?" Midsummer cursed. The Drone could use its effect as often a turn as it wanted, so it successfully scanned the new card on top of Midsummer's deck: Altar of the Mind Eye.

"Yes, Midsummer. I equip my other Agent with Spyral Gear Last Resort. And the gear destroy one of the drones to give the Agent the power to attack directly! And the second drone will be tributed to make him stronger!" Three and a half monsters, one and a half trap: the drone scanned five cards on the field and gave 500 attackpoints to the now mecha armored SPYRAL Agent(4400/1200) for each one. Another Drone got scrapped so that Last Resort could bypass the other Altergeists for the next attack. "Then I banish a Drone from my graveyard to activate its third effect! It lets me add SPYRAL Super Agent to my hand! And since I know the top card of your deck is a spell, I can special summon him!" Asterisk drew the first spy back from the graveyard and revealed the Altar spell to succesfully special summon SPYRAL Agent number two(4/1900/1200) [Zone 1]. And this one(4400/1200) received a powerboost from the third and final GEAR Drone, which also scanned five cards for five attackboosts. "Agent one attacks Altergeist Dragvirion!" Together the double agents could overcome any obstacle.

"So this is how it ends.." Even if Altergeist Dragvirion activated its effect by sending an Altergeist, Silquitous, back to Midsummer's hand, the synchro could not use this effect more than once a turn. Midsummer blocked the first attack, but had no answer for the second. "You have.. beaten me." Midsummer turned his face around, to look at miss Echo. "I have failed you." The direct attack from the other dandy Agent would tip him over the edge. "Midsummer, you know what happens when I make this attack. Don't make me do this. We can still use you on our side, as a duelist and as a companion." A complete would scar Midsummer at best, render him comatose at worst. "You might as well end it, Asterisk. Because I will not go on without her."

"Damn it man. I am trying to.. What?" Asterisk's anger got broken up by a sudden call. "V? What is it? Did you find anything new?" He answered the call, but kept the audio limited to himself. "What?" His eyes widened. "What? What is it?" Himiko asked impatiently. "He found out.. what the creator's last project was." Asterisk's sympathetic glare turned towards the girl in the wheelchair. "Himiko, could you take Miss Echo somewhere else?" Asterisk wanted to lie and not tell them what he heard, but that went against his very nature.

"Whatever you heard, you can say to both of us!" Midsummer refused to be separated even now during his final turn. "Perhaps that is fair after all. Very well.. Echo, this may sound.. painful. But it is the truth. You are not what you thought you were. You... were never human."

"What?" Midsummer gasped, while Echo stayed silent. "There is a record long gone, a record that Vigionair rediscovered. In it the man who built STHEREA explains how it all came to be. And how things came to be that were not by his design. One element arose by itself; a consciousness. He believed it to be the sum of minds interlinked in a way they had never been before, a fusion of personality and thought. At first it was just a voice in the code. Then an echo of sounds. And finally, an avatar. STHEREA gave life to a whole new entity. And that... is you, Echo."

"What? That cannot be true! Her memories..." Midsummer protested again and again. Yet for all his rage, Echo remained hauntingly calm. "That.. is true." She did not fight the agent's story, she accepted it with all her heart. "Miss Echo? No, do not let yourself be.." It got to the point where Midsummer could no longer think straight. "Then I.." He lowered his head into hand and started to laugh. "Midsummer?" It was the laughter of a man who had lost everything. "Ahahaha. I knew it!" He pulled his head back and threw away his mask. Behind it appeared the face of a man wrecked by grief, with unkempt red hair and empty green eyes. "Even I knew my fantasy was never more than that. I just felt like, if I could learn a little, see how the dreams turned to reality in this world.. Then I could breathe life into my family again. I know it wouldn't be the same. But I would not be able to see the difference." He stretched his hand out towards Echo, but he looked beyond her. "Midsummer?" She stared down at him. "You don't have to..." Even now she sounded hauntingly calm. "I do. I can see them now already, every time I look at you. And now I know how unjust that is.." He shook his head. "I have to let you go." He placed his hand on the deck and accepted defeat.

Midsummer's LP: 0

"Gaaah!" The nightmare duelist screamed in pain immediately afterwards. "Midsummer?!" Echo twitched as she saw him fall to the ground, going silent and limp like a carcass. A large gash had appeared on his chest, a scar for his avatar. He was not dead, but he was not moving either. "Asterisk? What did you do?" Himiko yelled. "I.. I did nothing!" The agent swore.

_"No he didn't. But I did." Static smugly stated, though only one person could hear him. "You? You're changing the rules!? Now? Why the hell would you do that?" Void cursed him out. "Oh such language. I only returned the safezone to what it originally was. A stage where people duel to the death. And since he is no longer technically an avatar from Exeter, he can suffer so much more. Midsummer lost the game and he wont be playing with us anymore." Static raised his hand to prepare for a more final punishment. Stop! I wont let you!" And Void had had enough. "Oh? What are you going to do about it?" Static chuckled._

_"You want to know? Static?! Something I should have done from the start! We have had enough of you! So I.. challenge you, to end this game once and for all!"_

(To Be Continued in Line 104: Installed Hatred)

**New Cards used by Agent Asterisk  
**SPYRAL Sleeper

-  
Old Mind  
Machine Duplication

-  
SPYRAL MISSION - Rescue

**New Cards used by Midsummer Nightmare  
**Altergeist Fifinellag

-  
Altergeist Dragvirion

-  
Foolish Burial Goods  
Spiritual Entanglement


	104. Installed Hatred

**Line 104: Installed Hatred**

While Therese and the heroes were left to the devices of Exeter HQ, Scarlet Fever tended to her own machinations just outside the palace gates. "Ezra is, weak." And once again Prospero visited the good doctor to voice his grievances. "I imagine he must be horrified by his losses." Scarlet heard the news from Paradise, how it had been laid to waste by Hansen in his final moments. "It is more, than horror! He, does nothing, about it! He sits there, on his throne. He does not, let anyone talk, to him. Only Melyria. And, now the outside thinks, that we are beaten!" And it drove the thunder duelist into a frenzy. "They are the ones with the ability to mend the damage. I am sure Crescent can easily make an even better home for you." While the doctor just calmly proceeded to check responses from her new army of reformatted ADIs. "For us, Doctor. A home, still needs a, family! And, you can help us, get it."

"Easy now, Prospero. Don't forget who put you back together." Scarlet changed her tune to a more threatening one, when she saw Prospero advance on her with the intent to intimidate. "..." The thunder lord backed off. "Besides, I already am working on something that will make you happy. Because the bigger problem is making sure that Exeter does not go through with Hansen's threats. Blanche stopped one attempt to shut the network down, but she cannot be there 24/7. We need a more permanent solution.."

"Hey." At that point, a new face waded into the mob of drones. "Mephistar?" Scarlet reacted with mild surprise. "Midsummer told me I could find you here. Turns out he was right. Or am I interrupting something?" The gunslinger had a weary grin on his face. "Not at all." Scarlet gave Prospero another look to keep him silent... "Did you come here to see the others? I am sure they missed you." ...and gave Sundown all of her attention. "And I am sure you have heard by now, about my condition. No I did not come for them. I do not want them to see me. I came for you." He had to force himself to even talk to her. "I thought you could help me with my... problem. And from the look of things, I am right." Sundown gave a questioning glare at the artificial duelists surrounding Scarlet: especially the ones that looked like Wagner, Imperius or the five champions. "Yes, I heard about your astounding condition. You came to the right person." Scarlet clasped her hands together. "Why don't you come with me to my lab? I need to go back there anyway to pick something up..."

...

_"You? Want to challenge me?" Static repeated Void correctly and he seemed to be so taken aback that he got stuck between laughter and ire. "Why not? I already told you I wasn't gonna play by your rules anymore! And that counts for them as well!" Void did not consider this a laughing matter. "Heh, you don't know what you're buying here. You have seen how I deal with my opponents. If you lose to me, I could trap you within this realm forever." Static for his part still gave the cyberse duelists way out. But Void had passed the bargaining stage long ago. "And if I do not, I could be stuck outside of STHEREA forever.. But I do not want your help regardless." Once Void might have believed that mister Static acted out of some twisted sense of order. That time passed. "Besides, if I win, I will be able to claim the Legacy Item from you. That way I can stay inside STHEREA for as long I have to! And you never won the Crown from me to begin with! Are you afraid you will lose it in a proper duel?"_

_"Heh. Consider it done then, Void. No take-backs." In response Static snapped his fingers._ "Ah?" And Void found himself back in the arena, along with Asterisk and the others.

"Void? How did you... get here?" Asterisk and Himiko reeled from the shock of their sudden arrival. "You can see me?" As did Void. It appeared that the arena's host had physically brought him back. He felt like himself again! But he also felt like the past few hours had all been a distant dream. "I was trapped in an illusion. And then in his world. But I saw everything. I even saw him defeat Hansen and claim the World Chalice! But then.. I challenged you." He pointed at the static man. "Are we dueling here? Why?"

"Because the cat is out of the bag.. thanks to your damned nosy friends. But then it is nice to finally be free of all lies. Don't you agree, miss Echo?" Static's blank eyes turned towards the girl in the wheelchair. "Who are you? Did you hurt Midsummer?" She returned the gaze with her own wide-eyed stare. "Don't act cute with me. You know who I am, just like I know who you are." He still spoke carefully around her, but he did not seem as nervous as before. "I.. I don't like you." Echo only sounded slightly hostile herself, and surprised that she could even feel this way about someone. "Do you? Then you should remember that emotion. Ha, I thought I could play my games without your interference, but then someone went and woke you up. That was you, wasn't it Void? You used a piece of the creator in her vicinity, and that gave her enough power to break free." Static looked back to his challenger, the challenger who started to put one and two together. "A piece? The World Legacy cards?" Void recalled now how he had used one of the Crown's spells against Dyzanthium, how that created a big pulse throughout the fake city. And shortly thereafter, they found miss Echo.

"Void, what exactly is going on?" Himiko demanded clarification. "Static is. Everything you and Asterisk said about Echo, also applies to him. When I went into my illusion; my subconscious, I created an opponent out of my own thoughts. He is the same, just much bigger. He said he was a creation of the creator." These two were separate sides of the same coin, he figured. "Echo. I think I can help Midsummer, but for now he should not be here. Can you take him somewhere else?" And he did not want to find out what were to happen if the two stayed in contact for much longer. "Yes. I can." Luckily the girl seemed to want to leave anyway, and she moved closer to the unconscious Altergeist duelist so she could use his golden skill card to teleport back to Paradise. That just left him, Asterisk and Himiko.

"Heh, you are so right Void. I only exist because of you all. Because of your game, your thoughts, your rules. Linking so many minds together gave life to a collective consciousness.. a will to play games and to have fun. That is me, mister Static. And she is the same, she was just born from different emotions. Emotions I have no use for. And now I am more free than ever thanks to you. Now I make the rules, and what I say goes!" Static raised his hands to the sky and made the whole arena rumble. "Guys, stand back. I do not know what he will do next. But I will take it on!" Void activated his dueldisk. It felt good to have his proper deck with him again. Though his opponent would not be an easy one. "Oh don't worry, I will start small. I want to savor this confrontation. And to give this showdown a more appropriate scale." The stage of the fighting ring began to lift upwards, taking Void and the host into the air. "!?" The clouds also parted, revealing a whole new world above them. "What is.." Void stared at the planet earth, upside-down and miles away.

Static's LP: 8000 Void's LP: 8000 -TURN 01-

"Our world. The arena was hiding in our world this whole time?" Himiko and Asterisk saw it too, and could not begin to comprehend. "You don't have to think about that for now! Just enjoy our show!" Static summoned a monster to his field that looked like a miniature version of a Timelord. This angel(1/0/0) [Zone1] had no face for its a vase-like body, but it did have a thorned waistring and silver hair for wings. "This is a Time Maiden. I can special summon her freely when there are no monsters on my field. And she comes with another special power: tributing herself to add one Timelord to my hand. And I own one for each notch on the tree of life! What shall I choose?" Static chuckled and made the Maiden disappear. "Timelord Metaion! Since I control no monsters anymore, I can summon it without tributes!" A lord of air: Metaion(10/0/0) [Zone 1] had the same basic form as the other timelords and distinguished itself through its hotred crowned armor, wings like giant swords and the manic wide-eyed expression trapped behind the window on its chest. "Whatever shall its power be?" Static also placed two trap cards face down and ended his turn.

-TURN 02-

And at the start of a new turn Static flipped his first trap card. "Empty Machine?" Asterisk uttered the name of this continuous trap. It resembled a golden ring, with a dark void at the heart of it all. "Yes, little by little, my full power will be revealed! The Empty Machine can discard one Timelord from my hand, to draw a new card!" Static discarded a Timelord Lazion for a quick demonstration. "Be careful, Void. We do not know what his monsters are capable of." Asterisk advised the cyberse duelist. They had all seen how easily he overpowered Donna. "I have seen a little more. Enough to realize that, unless you defeat him in one turn, he will always bounce back." Void looked at his hand and saw a lack of tools to accomplish such a feat. "I set two cards face down, and summon Texchanger! Then I end my turn!" He would have to go on the defense for now, with his traps and his digital green frog(1/100/100) [Zone 1]. "But I also know that each Timelord returns to the deck at the start of your turns, Static! So I wont fall for whatever effect it has!"

-TURN 03-

"You may think that was a clever move. It would have been foolish to attack, certainly. Metaion would not have died, and all your monsters would have been forced back into the hand." Static drew his card next. And just as Void declared, Timelord Metaion returned to a random spot in its master's deck. "But I have all the time in the world, and you do not. Your kind always has less time than they think you have... But while you're spending your time with me, why don't you all say hello to Michion?" It would be the fire lord with the six golden wings. Michion(10/0/0) [Zone 2] also normal summoned itself without tributes. "You used that card against Hansen." Void cringed. An attack from that would have his lifepoints instantly. "Correct. But if you think I am a slave to one routine, think again! During a turn in which I did not special summon anything else, I can banish Time Maiden from my graveyard to special summon a Timelord from my deck, regardless of the restrictions!"

A new lord of time arrived from a realm of rock and earth: a wide-bodied bronze angel(10/0/0) [Zone 3] with wings like metal sheets. "This on you havent met yet, Kamion the Timelord! So what will it be, Void? Which attack will you block?" Static entered the battle phase. The curl-haired face of Kamion appeared on the timelord's chest window and split the earth with its stare. "Ugh. I..do nothing!" Void allowed the attack to hit Texchanger. Like all other Timelords, Kamion took no damage from striking a stronger monster and avoided all destruction. "Okay. And now?" Then the firelord Michion unleashed its attack in the form of blazing feathers. "Void!" Himiko shouted. "I know! Texchanger's effect activates!" This time Void blocked the attack. The low-polygon frog's effect absorbed the fire with a barrier, and used the energy to special summon a new Cyberse normal monster from the deck: Leotron the cyberlion(4/2000/0) [Zone 3].

"A good choice in the end, Void. But a battle phase that had Kamion fight in it, ends with Kamion returning one of your cards to the deck! And you take 500 points of damage!" The crevice in the earth stuck around just a little bit longer, to swallow Texchanger whole. Some rocks hit Void in the leg. "Agh!" That hurt, but not as much as Michion would have. "Then I activate Cyberse Beacon! Since I took damage this turn, I can add a cyberse from the deck to my hand!" Void retaliated with a trap card and added the SIMM Tablir monster card to his hand. "Oh you approve then? Excellent. There is more where that came from." Static stated ominously as he activated his Empty Machine once more to discard Timelord Raphion from his hand to draw another card. Whatever purpose all these Timelords in the graveyard had, Void could not tell.

Void's LP: 7500

-TURN 04-

"He is just toying with you." Himiko scoffed. "Fine by me. Let him treat this as a game. The longer he under-estimates me, the sooner I can finish him! I summon Prompthorn!" A tiny redhooved cybergoat(1/200/400) [Zone 4] walked into the arena, and fired an electric beam from its flat horns. "Prompthorn can sacrifice one level 4 cyberse, to special summon an equivalent level of normal cyberse from my deck!" The beam struck Raitron and split it up into smaller digital specimen: two Protrons(1/100/100) [Zones 1 & 2] and one Bitron(2/200/2000) [Zone 3]. "And I will use them all to link summon Link Spider and Security Dragon!" The six-spiked Bitron ended up as a material for the digital spider(1000/LINK 1) [Extra Zone 1], while the two Protonic creatures opened a link circuit for the tiny network protector Security Dragon(1100/LINK 2) {Up/Down} [Zone 2]. "Security Dragon can return one monster to your hand when it is co-linked! They may be indestructible, but they are not untargetable!" Void pointed his finger towards Timelord Kamion, and let his dragon remove the threat.

"Heh." Static offered only a sly smirk as he added the card back to his hand. "That is one down. Good show." Asterisk nodded.

"I have a plan for the other one too!" Void climbed the link ladder as he combined Prompthorn with Security Dragon to link summon the dapper cybermage, Trigate Wizard(2200/LINK 3) {Left/Up/Right} [Zone 2]. "Then I special summon SIMM Tablir from my hand, to a zone my link monster points to! And if do so, I can add a level 4 cyberse from the graveyard to my hand!" The cyberse tapir(5/0/1800) [Zone 1] appeared on the field next, jumping down to link with Trigate Wizard and to add Raitron back to Void's hand. "Then I activate my continuous spell: Castle Link! I can move my link monster to a zone he points towards." Void's castle gave a little push to the Wizard [Zone 3], so that he could leave the zone beneath the Link Spider. "Link Spider's effect activates! I summon Raitron from my hand!" And to that marked zone, the Spider would special summon the normal cyberse lion[Zone 2]. "Are you trying to banish my Timelord, Void?" Static chuckled, realizing that a second co-link with the Wizard would let it remove Timelord Michion from the field forever.

"...You should not have said that, Static." Void flinched, as he realized something. Static had shown two methods of special summoning monsters from his hand already. And who knew what his face-down trap could do? "I know your tricks. I am going to leave that Timelord.. but I will also destroy it!" So Void used Link Spider, SIMM Tablir and Raitron as a triple link material barrage for his own master of fire. "I link summon Powercode Talker! Once a turn it can negate the effects of a monster on the field!" The clawed red knight(2300) {Left/Downleft/Right} [Zone 2] was his new answer. "Oh! Of course." Himiko recognized the crimson Code Talker who successfully drained the powers away from Timelord Michion. Without those handy effects, it was just a helpless monster with zero attackpoints. "Then I special summon Link-Infra Flier from my hand, to a marked zone!" Void eagerly linked the infranet cyber-kite(2/0/1800) [Zone 1] from his hand with Powercode Talker, as that meant Powercode could double his attackpoints by sacrificing that monster. "Powercode, attack the Timelord!"

"Hoho. How greedy we are." The math could not be denied. Trigate Wizard would double the battle damage inflicted by any monster co-linked to it. And Powercode(4600 atk) had already gathered twice its normal strength after it tributed Link Infra-Flier. A single tap from the grappling claws would do 9200 point of damage to Timelord Michion, and to all 8000 lifepoints of Mister Static. "But your heart is in the right place." So Static snapped his finger and activated his trap: Infinite Impermanence. "What? Now?" The trap targeted Trigate Wizard and negated all of its effects for the rest of the turn. Void had to break even with a single powerboost, one that Powercode Talker delivered after he slashed through the fire timelord and broke it to pieces in a cloud of crimson flames. "Ugh. You wanted me to strike!" Void cursed. "That is the only reason you did not use a trap like that sooner!"

Static's LP: 3400

"Maybe, maybe not. Do you want to find out? Or do you think you should hold back now?" Static could still be attacked directly by the Trigate Wizard. Of course since such an attack could not take him down, he had little to fear. "Tch!" Void did not want to let fear take hold of him now. "Trigate!" The wizard flung his staff in tune with his master's rage and blasted Static up close. "Hahaha! Good, good!" The faceless lord of the conscious realm looked like little more than a head now. But of course, Donna had already put him in a similar state before. "..I set one more card face-down, and end my turn."

Static's LP: 1200

"Not so fast! Now that I have no other traps left, I can activate my Empty Machine's second power! Behold. It can return one Timelord from my graveyard to the deck, to set the next stage from my deck! The light of Ain becomes the light of Ain Soph! I set the Infinite Machine!" The void inside the golden ring swallowed the flames of Timelord Lazion, and used it to create a new face-down trap. "Infinite Machine?"

-TURN 05-

"Infinite is right!" As Static's turn started, he used the first effect of the Empty Machine one last time, discarding his rebound Timelord Kamion to gain a new draw from the deck. "That trap can be activated by sending the Empty Machine to my graveyard!" Static flipped his trap card face-up, and consumed the Empty trap to do so. One golden ring transformed into two looping rings: an infinite machine shaped like the infinite symbol crackling with infinite energy. "Now, each turn, I can special summon one Timelord from my hand. And all Timelords become immune to targeting effects! Effects like those of your link monsters!" Static then tossed one more card to the field. As he controlled no monsters while Void did, he could normal summon the great golden lord Sandaion(10/4000/4000) [Zone 5]. "Four thousand?" Asterisk gasped in protest. "Yes. I have seen monster before too. It cannot inflict battle damage, but it will inflict 2000 points of effect damage at the end of the battle phase." Void could only dread which Timelord Static would combine it with.

"Now! Infinite Machine special summons Hailon the Timelord!" Through the double golden rings, a familiar face flew: Hailon the four-armed earth angel(10/0/0) of destruction. "That's what he used to bring down Donna!" Asterisk cried out. "Indeed indeed. She will inflict damage equal to the difference between our lifepoints. And since that difference is more than 6000, she and Sandaion make the perfect pair!" He pointed his distorted hand at Void. "Hailon, Attack Trigate Wizard! Sandaion, destroy Powercode Talker!" He set his targets. Hailon hurled a mighty black quartz crystal at Trigate Wizard. The wizard shattered the attack, but could not inflict any damage back to her.

On the other side, Sandaions holy flames were more than enough to incinerate the Code Talker of fire. "I activate Cynet Backdoor!" If Void allowed it. "Powercode is banished for one turn! And I draw a cyberse from my deck with less attackpoints!" Void could at least save his monster from an early demise. The Powercoder slipped away into the cyberverse, and Void added a Defect Compiler monster card to his hand. "Very well.." Instead Sandaion fired its blast towards Trigate Wizard and sent it to kingdom come. "But now the battle phase ends! And Hailon inflicts 6300 points of damage!" The remnants of the shattered quartz prism surrounded Void: all 63 pieces of them.

"Not if I use Link Restart to negate Hailon's effect!" Void smiled and flipped his countertrap as well. "Restart?" The trap could negate a damage dealing effect and revive one link monster at the same time. Void opened a portal to the graveyard and pulled Trigate Wizard [Zone 2] back out. The Wizard in turn shot each crystal shard out of the sky and tried to do the same to Hailon. Hmph. Too bad that Timelords cannot be destroyed!" The female angel simply let the magic shots bounce harmlessly off of her burgundy armor. "And that fancy trick only works once!" Now Static resolved the effect of Timelord Sandaion, letting its divine golden aura explode in front of the cyberse duelist. Rghaahh!" The damage sent Void careening backwards as he nearly fell of the edge of the floating platform.

Void's LP: 5500

"Did that hurt, Void? I am sure you are used to it by now. The game wouldn't be any fun if there was no pain involved!" Static laughed as he placed a trap card face-down. "I must say, for someone who claims to be a lover of all games. You sound like you only enjoy the confrontational aspect of it." Asterisk chimed in with his disapproval. "Because that is his true nature. He is not the manifestation of games and fun, he is a manifestation of conflict. Of winning." Himiko hissed. "Ah, but what is human nature if not conflict? Your desires of superiority gave life to me! And I merely supply you with what you all secretly yearn for!"

-TURN 06-

"That is not true. You just want to be the one superior to all of us. You want to win more than anything." Void cursed, as he managed to pick himself back up. "But there is more to STHEREA than that! And that is why you hate Echo, isn't it?" At this point Cynet Backdoor's effect resolved and returned Powercode Talker(2300 atk) [Zone 2] to the field. "Well, then let me bring the fight straight to you! A monster that was banished by Cynet Backdoor can attack directly when it returns!" If he could not remove the Timelords anymore, he would attack around them. "Powercode!" And he would do so right now, the red code knight leaped into the air and descended in between Sandaion and Hailon.

"So greedy. Just like the others." And Static simply flipped his trap card up: Countergate. "Since you attacked me directly, I will let this trap negate the attack! Then I draw one card!" A door opened in between him and his attacker, and a green light shined through. "I draw Sadion the Timelord!" The foreboding face of a new wind timelord came through the gate and pushed Powercode Talker back with a blast of wind.

"Damn it." Time kept slipping away, andVoid's enemy grew stronger every turn. "Then I will normal summon Defect Compiler!" A round monitor-faced robot(3/1000/1000) [Zone 5] floated in the air, scanning the data on the field. "Each turn it can negate one instance of effect damage. Your Timelords are strong, but you cannot get more than two on the field at a time, Static!" Since they kept returning to the deck each standby phase, he could at least keep up with them. "What a precious strategy. It might have worked, if I was not constantly evolving!" So Static activated the Infinite Machine's secondary power. "Again!?" Void winced. The continuous trap returned Timelord Kamion to the deck, to set a new trap on the field. "Again. The light of Ain Soph becomes the Infinite Light of Ain Soph Our! When this trap activates, Timelords will no longer be returned to the deck! And I can special summon up to three each turn!" Static laughed out loud. "But go on, keep hating me. Keep being angry with me! The more you fight back, the more powerful I become! Now... Behold, THE INFINITE LIGHT!"

(To Be Continued in Line 105: Theories for Cognitive Dissonance)

**New Cards used by Mister Static  
**Metaion, the Timelord  
Time Maiden  
Kamion, the Timelord

-  
Empty Machine  
Infinite Machine  
Countergate

**New Cards used by Void  
**Prompthorn  
Defect Compiler

-  
Castle Link

-  
Link Restart


	105. Theories for Cognitive Dissonance

**Line 105: Theories for Cognitive Dissonance**

Static's LP: 1200 Void's LP: 5500 -TURN 07-

So close to defeat and yet so far. "On and on we go, where I stop, nobody knows but me... So Behold, THE INFINITE LIGHT!" Static entered the final stage of the golden infinite cycle: sacrificing the Infinite Machine to activate the next continuous trap. The Infinite Light appeared as three connected golden rings; rings so bright they could light up any darkness anywhere in existence. Now his timelords would not be returned to the deck anymore. Already the Timelords Sandaion(10/4000/0) and Hailon(10/0/0) could stay for as long as they wanted. "And I activate my skill card: Promises from the Future! I can send two monsters from my deck to the graveyard as tributes! To tribute summon one monster!" He then sent away a Timelord Metaion and another Time Maiden from his deck. Since he already controlled two monsters, he would sacrifice two from the deck to normal summon a lord of the air: the headless yet sternfaced Timelord Sadion(10/0/0) [Zone 3]. Its green armor was thick, its tassels long and its wings sharp and transparent.

_Promises from the Future, Skill Card  
__Conduct a Tribute summon by sending 1 or more monsters from the deck to the graveyard instead of Tributing (it is still treated as a Tribute Summon).  
__Monsters your opponent controls cannot be destroyed until the end of the turn._

"And since I did not special summon this turn, I can special summon a Timelord from my deck. Or rather, my Time Maiden can!" Static banished the temporal maiden angel, to create a fourth lord of time. "Timelord Gabrion!" There came an angel of the sea: the majestic and sleek Gabrion(10/0/0) [Zone 4]. Two golden halos floated above its body, and wings of blue and purple crystal extended from its back. "I could have just kept Sandaion paired with Hailon, if you hadn't gone and ruined it with your Defects." Void's Defect Compiler(3/1000/1000) [Zone 5] would negate one instance of effect damage, forcing Static to take this different but obviously more dangerous approach. "I wonder if you can handle all their powers!"

"When faced with the uncertain, I will deal with what I know." Void took in his warning as he allowed the Timelords Sadion and Gabrion to land their attacks. One created a violent hurricane around his Trigate Wizard(2200/LINK 3) [Zone 3]. The other left a large wave of water behind. Neither lord managed to destroy the Wizard, but they could not be destroyed either. He did not even intervene when Sandaion made its move and blasted Powercode Talker(2300/LINK 3) [Zone 2] out of the sky, since that monster could not inflict battle damage. Void waited still, for Hailon's attack. "Static! When you fight one of my cyberse, I can send Prohibit Snake to my graveyard and return that monster to your hand!" That was when he activated a monster effect from his hand: a yellow computer snake coiled around the four-armed Timelord and tightened its body around her until she could no longer be seen.

"Prohibit? Do you think you made the right choice?" Static added his four-armed angel back to his hand. He could still use the powers of his other three. "At the end of the battle phase, Gabrion will return all cards you control to the deck! Then you draw one card for each card shuffled back into your main deck!" First came a cleansing tidal wave created the blue lord. "Gh. So you did have an out to Defect Compiler." Void's remaining cards (Defect Compiler, Trigate Wizard, Castle Link) were swept away by the high tide. He could only draw cards for two of the three losses. "Of course. And in the mean time, Timelord Sadion resets my lifepoints to 4000 at the end of the battlephase! And Sandaion, you already know his specialty!" The green lord of wind cast a cool breeze across Static's field to restore 2800 of his lost lifepoints. On the other end, the golden timegod landed a devastating blow that sent Void back to the edge of the floating ring. "You chose correctly. Anything else would have led to your defeat. But that defeat _will_ come."

Void's LP: 3500 Static's LP: 4000

"Is that so?" Suddenly, a new visitor arrived at the arena beyond. "Well, I think the boss would love to test that theory!" Madam Blanche gave Void her patented smile. "Blanche! You're.." Much to Void's surprise, it seemed her arm had still been scarred from the duel with Crescent. Static noticed that as well. "Oh? Welcome, miss Blanche. Do you want to help your friend? I am affraid you cannot do anything for him in this state. Then again, neither can these two." The static man laughed at Asterisk and Himiko as well, noting their helplessness. "Eh. Nah, I cannot do anything. But the others might.."

"Others?" Asterisk perked up when he caught Blanche's words. At her cue: Neo, Zettai, Scura and Donna entered the arena as well. "Yo! I heard there was a scrap going down between Static and Void! Now I would not miss that for the world!" Donna said as she slammed her fists together. "Me neither! I've been with you since the start, Void! You can do it!" Neo would have been capturing this footage if he could. But right now all he could do was cheer. "Yeah, what they said." Scura did not feel like being loud, but she definitely did look happy to see Void again. "Finally, the villain will be vanquished." Zettai would have dueled Static herself if she could. But this was Void's moment. "You all came.. Almost all of you." He noted a few absences, but he already felt excited to see them here. "Yeah we couldn't pry Bionis away from Exeter HQ. And Giganoto can't enter this place." Donna explained.

"And Sundown has left you, Midsummer has failed you, Hydra, Crescent and Scarlet have betrayed you. You are all that remains of the 'Heroes of Pandemonium' Hmph. Is this the strength of friendship? That which Echo treasures?" Static placed one trap card down again and ended the turn. "Is that what this is about? Proving your superiority as an avatar of hatred?" Himiko hissed. "It is the truth. You humans love to fight more than anything! You all want to fight me! Dont you?"

-TURN 08-

"Yes, but I am fighting _for_ their sake, Static! And I know what to do next! I summon Cyberse Gadget! Who special summon a level 2 or lower cyberse from my graveyard!" The gadget-composed droid(4/1400/300) [Zone 1] opted to special summon Bitron(2/200/2000) [Zone 2] and prepared for the next step. "I link summon Link Disciple!" His ever trusted lowlink servant(500/LINK 1) {Down} [Extra Zone 1] took the Gadget as its link material. In turn Cyberse Gadget left a token(2/0/0) behind through its second effect. "And for this... the link materials are two level 2 or higher cyberse monsters! I link summon Update Jammer!" The token merged with Bitron, and created a blue-haired boy(2000/LINK 2) {Left/Up} [Zone 2] in a long green labcoat. A gasmask covered his mouth and a large radar dish device was strapped to his back. "Oh! Niice! That card can negate the effects of all of an opponent's cards during a fight!" Neo cried out in excitement. Update Jammer would even block a Timelord's ability to ward of damage and destruction. And all powerboosts would be reset to nothing during the damage step.

"Indeed, Neo! And I can use this effect each time a Cyberse battles your monster!" Void set his sights on the Timelords Sadion and Gabrion. "Update Jammer, attack!" First he aimed at the water lord, and had Update Jammer fire a jamming wave and a soundpulse blast with its backpack machine. "So that basically means.." Static saw the first wave drain the powers of his monsters and traps, making Gabrion weak enough to die to a normal attack. Not only did he take damage now, Update Jammer also inflicted 1000 points of effect damage each time a monster got destroyed. "One down!" Scura snickered. Now the Link Disciple only had to estroy Timelord Sadion to end the duel.

Static's LP: 1000

"A very amusing card. But the fun ends here, Void!" Static revealed another trap for his evolving tactics: The Dark Factory of More Production. "Each turn I can send one monster from my hand or field to the graveyard each turn, to draw one card!" He let his continuous trap remove the Timelord Sadion, so that he could draw a new card again. "Aw dang. He has you there." Blanche said with a frown. The only remaining attack target was Sandaion and the Link Disciple could not exactly tango with a 'jammed' 4000-ATK monster. "I still destroyed one and one is enough. When a cyberse monster manages to beat another monster in a battle, Prohibit Snake can add one cyberse monster from the graveyard to my hand!" Even in the graveyard, his snake cyberse could keep using its effects. Thanks to Update Jammer's victory: Void could redraw Cyberse Gadget. Though he also had to banish one graveyard card (Bitron) of his choice to use this effect. "Well, I am sure you got this." Madam Blanche grinned. "Heh. I'd hate to argue that." Void placed a trap card face down, and let the turn end.

-TURN 09-

"Feh. Just listen to yourself. Trying to support him, when you can do nothing else. If all of you had come at me at once, you might have stood a chance." Static sneered and entered his turn. The Dark Factory now sent the Timelord Sandaion himself to the graveyard, just to draw one more card. "We would have. But I feel just one of us is enough." Zettai retorted. "You brought us together to turn us into rivals. Only one of us could win your game, wasn't that what you said? And all of that, just so that you could feed of our discord. But you failed, Static. The heroes of Pandemonium are still together." The ace duelist finally saw the man in static for what he was and why he played his twisted games. None of them would be fooled anymore. "That is alright, Zettai. I do not just enjoy the taste of hatred between you humans. I also enjoy the hatred you have for me. Remember, Donna? Remember what I did to you? What I did to Midsummer, Imperius, Skylander, Cryomatic, GigaSafersefirot? Yes you do, yes you remember. And I am glad you do! Now I can finally answer your feelings appropriately! Now that I have received your hatred ten times over, I can activate the Tree of Life and Time!" Laughing madly, Static created a sphere of golden light with his new spell.

_The Tree of Life and Time, Field Spell_  
_Once per turn, if you have Summoned 10 or more "Timelord" monsters during this Duel, you can special Summon 1 "Timelord" from your hand, deck, or graveyard, regardless of the summoning requirements._  
_Each time you summon a "Timelord" monster you gain 1000 LP for each "Timelord" with a different attribute, that you control_

"Another new card?" Donna scratched her head. First monsters and traps, now the enemy had begun making his own spells as well. The light split up and moved down to two more orbs before converging into one. And so the sequence went on until a symbol had been drawn in the sky: of a tree connected by 10 spheres. "Now! When the Infinite Light sees no monsters on my field, it desires to fill it! I can special summon one Timelord from my hand, deck and graveyard! All at once!" Void saw each golden ring fill itself with a different color: earth, fire and water. Static sent three Timelords through the golden rings. Timelord Hailon(10/0/0) [Zone 1] returned from his hand, Timelord Michion(10/0/0) [Zone 2] reappeared from the graveyard, and a new Timelord left the main deck. "Zaphion the Timelord!" Another lord of the sea: Zaphion(10/0/0) [Zone 5] carried an elegant shape. Long curved horns, curved cloth that draped down her shoulders, decorations on her thin arms and a large screen that revealed a womans face with purple hair. "And I gain three times 1000 lifepoints!" Three orbs on the Tree of Life lit up, bathing Static in healing energy.

Static's LP: 4000

"But of course, now that I have summoned my tenth Timelord, I can summon the Ultimate Timelord! Sephylon!" The ten lights converged and created a angel whose size dwarfed all others. A majestic blue and golden timelord body framed around the window that showed the face of an old bearded wisemen. A god of the light: that was Sephylon(10/4000/4000) [Zone 3]. "Does that mean?" Scura cringed. Another summon meant another activation of the Tree of Life, restoprting four times 1000 lifepoints this time. "Crap! Now he is back to full!"

Static's LP: 8000

"More than that. When Sephylon appears, I can special summon one Timelord from my graveyard with its effects traded in for 4000 attackpoints! So here is one you have yet to see! Come, Timelord Raphion!" The one above all others breathed new life and light into the commander of the freezing winds: Raphion(10/0/0) [Zone 4]. "Not great." Donna winced, as she remembered the card that destroyed her very well. "How is he supposed to stop this?" Zettai grunted. The field spell counted five Timelords now, so it regenerated 5000 lifepoints at once!

Static's LP: 13000

"Now let me give you a preview of your future! First, your Update Jammer will die. It can block effects, but it cannot do anything against pure attackpower now can it?" With its 4000 attackpoints, the ultimate Timelord Sephylon had no trouble at all with the Update kid and his jamming equipment. Ten blasts of different colors surrounded Void's monster and sent it into oblivion. "And then the timelord Zaphion will strike!" A torrent of divine water followed, pouring down on the Link Disciple. Zaphion's attack had no immediate consequences, yet Static was all too happy to dispel any signs of hope. "Now that she has attacked, I can return all your spells and traps to your deck during the end of the battle phase. You won't be negating any damage this turn! Then again... all I need to do is destroy your last monster. Raphion, attack the Disciple!" At this point Static could win the battle through sheer brute force: a victory he did not feel too mighty for. Void looked done for.

Void's LP: 1500

"Man that guy really cannot read the room." Blanche nevertheless still grinned, because she knew better than anyone when Void planned to spring a trap on his opponent. "You can say that again." Void laughed. "Man that guy really.."'

"I was joking, Blanche." He sighed happily. "I activate World Legacy Awakens!" And Void had one way out. "A legacy card!?" Static's body twitched. Just like before, a pulse of energy ran across the arena and the clouds. "Yes, Static! And this one lets me perform a link summon during your turn! So I take one link monster as a link material for Secure Gardna!" Void replaced his Link Disciple in an instant and brought out the twin shield guardian robot(1000/LINK 1) {Right} [Zone 1]. "And during a turn in which Secure Gardna is special summoned, I take no effect damage!" Raphion, Sandaion, Hailon; none of them would get a chance to pass through the guard's shield's this turn. "That damned card. So you cannot win on your own, and now you are resorting to _his_ creations? How sad!" Static continued the attack anyway, and let the Timelord Raphion destroy the new link monster. Though that would not stop its effect. "Secure Gardna also blocks battle damage once a turn!" Nor could Void be harmed by the first attack. "I guess the creator did not like you very much either!"

"Ha! The Creator did not even know he made me! And what would you know? Without me you would be as ignorant as the rest. Without me, you would not even be together. On your own you are nothing." No effect damage could be inflicted now, nor were there any spells or traps to return. But Static could still use Timelord Michion's power. "Rgh!" The angel of the flames attacked Void directly to end the battlephase. "Michion halves your lifepoints! So now you are just one effect away from total destruction! While I have more lifepoints than all of you!? What can you even do now? You _need_ me! You need conflict to spice up your dull meaningless lives!"

Void's LP: 750

-TURN 10-

"I think I can speak for everyone when I tell you that we _dont_ need you. We have done plenty on our own, without your help. We might even have been able to do more. You did not help us, Static. You only used us." Void began his turn the same as the last: normal summoning Cyberse Gadget(4/1400/300) [Zone 1] in order to special summon a lowlevel cyberse from his graveyard. This time however he chose Prompt Horn(1/200/400) [Zone 4] the tiny cybergoat. And as he normal summoned a cyberse, he could also special summon Boot Staggered the antler cyberse(5/2300/500) [Zone 3] from his hand. "Link summon! Linkuriboh and Elphase!" The first link material had to be level 1: one Prompt Horn for one angrily glaring cyber Kuriboh(300/LINK 1) {Down} [Extra Zone 1]. After that Boot Staggered combined with the Gadgeteer. They turned into a martial artist cyber-elf(2000/LINK 2) {Up/Right} [Zone 2] with a blonde ponytail and golden blades strapped to his boots for extra kicking power.

"Then I will use Elphase and Cyberse Gadget's token..!" Just like the last turn, the Cyberse Gadget left a token(2/0/0) [Zone 3] behind when it disappeared. "To link summon Shootingcode Talker!" That token joined with the elf and turned the link circuit into one of water. "Shootingcode eh? That's a new one boss." Blanche approved of the color scheme of the aquatic Code Archer(2300/LINK 3) {Left/Up/Down} [Zone 2]. "It is the one that helped me against Dyzanthium. But this time it will be my finisher! Static, Shootingcode can attack once for each monster he is linked with! Also, when Elphase is used as a link material, I can summon one level 4 cyberse from my graveyard!" Void declared as he special summoned Raitron the cyberlion(4/2000/0) [Zone 3] back to the field. The revived monster's effects would be negated anyway, and it could not be used as a link material this turn. "What is your plan, Void? Five attacks for five timelords? You cannot even destroy one!"

"I am glad you asked. Because I activate World Legacy Sucession!" Void revealed the last card in his hand, the one he drew this turn. "I special summon a monster from the graveyard to a marked zone! You know which one it will be!" The graveyard opened up a hole on Shootingcode Talker's left side, and revealed the powerdrainer kid Update Jammer [Zone 1]. "Another Legacy card, and the Jammer again?" Static clutched his chest. "You should have claimed the cards along with the Crown, Static! Now, Shootingcode points at three monsters so he can attack three times! And each time, during damage calculation, Update Jammer will use his own effect to bring our monsters down to normal!" The Shooter prepared three arrows of light, and took aim at the Timelords Michion, Hailon and Raphion. And if Static dared to tribute one of three with his Dark Factory trap, Void would just shoot down Zaphion instead. "Damn you." Static had to let all three attacks hit, while Update Jammer negated the effects of the targets and reduced Raphion(0/0)'s attackpower to zero as well. "Gah!" He took three blasts of 2300 battle damage, and an additional 1000 effect damage each time his monster got destroyed.

Static's LP: 3100

"Only two to go, wow!" Donna could not believe her eyes. "But how is he gonna take care of the big one?" Scura grunted. Update Jammer's effect would be useless against 4000 base attackpoints. "Like this! Since I destroyed another monster, Prohibit Snake can move one cyberse monster from my graveyard to my hand! Even himself!" Void looped the snake's graveyard effect back to itself, and returned the monster to his hand while he banished Protron from the graveyard. "Then when a link monster battles another monster, Prohibit Snake can be discarded again to send the other monster back to the hand! Linkuriboh, its your time to shine!" Void's littlest cyberse made a big impact after all. It smashed its tiny round body into the face of Timelord Sephylon, who gained an expression of utter confusion as the Prohibit Snake entangled it completely and strangled it into a million tiny lights. "One left, Static!" Finally the leon Raitron attacked and killed a 'jammed' Timelord Zaphion, inflicting another 1000 points of effect damage and 2000 points of battle damage.

Static's LP: 100

"Don't say it is over til the last lady sings, Void...When Zaphion leaves the field, I draw one card. And with today's handtrap society, who knows what the future will bring?" He drew his cards and.. fell silent. "It appears, not a future of victory." He put the card aside and lowered his arms. "What!?" Static had given up. "Is this another trick, Static? Or is this really how it ends?" A game of bluffing would not work anymore at this point. "Did you want something special? Like a dying speech? You wont get it, Void. Defeating me wont destroy me. Sure it might set me back for a few moments, but I can wait. I will live on as long as there is conflict, as long as STHEREA exists! You cannot get rid of me without getting rid of the entire network. So go ahead, take me down! Take my arena while you are at it! But you wont get any answers from me anymore!"

"I think we have earned one final answer, Static. Becaise I still wonder... Why us? Why us specifically? You could have chosen anyone with your parameters, which I dont even believe in anymore." Static claimed that he picked people nobody would listen to in the real world. That clearly was not the case anymore, and never was in some instances like with Hieronymus or Asterisk. "You want a reason? A prophecy maybe? That old hat trick? There is no glorious answer, Void. There is only data. I ascertained that you were more ingrained with STHEREA than most others. Your subconscious was easy to connect to. And you had a natural connection to the items, a sixth sense of sorts. Why, I have no idea. It is all just random. There is no greater purpose... except the one I designed."

"That is it?" Zettai cursed. "No. This is." Void heard enough. He sent Update Jammer into the fray and blasted Static directly. "Ahaha! No it is not!" Static yelled as he took the hit. The clouds above the arena closed up again, and the floating battle stage set itself back on the ground. "The game will still continue in one form or another!" Rapidly most of the static man's body got deleted, but a tiny sliver remained for an insignificant amount of time. "Until we meet again!" And that too turned to nothing.. What he left behind on the other hand was far from nothing. A pile of cards dropped to the ground, and the Chalice and Crown landed on top of the cards. Void could claim his prizes.

Static's LP: 0

"Is it over?" Scura finally asked as she waited for signs of Static, expecting him to come back and troll them all over again. "Maybe. Hang on!" That gave Neo an idea, and he turned on his recording device though he did not go live. "Whoa! I can actually stream from here now!" He surprised himself and quickly shut the stream off again. "You can? That is most interesting." Asterisk rubbed his chin in contemplation. "Perhaps he meant what he said. Perhaps you wrested control over this entire sector from him by defeating him. However, like all things concerning Static, I would take his words with a grain of salt." The agent advised.

"Of course." Void walked up the Crown and the Chalice and tapped both with his foot. He could touch them. "These two must be the real deal." Otherwise he would have been banished from the network by now. Owning the item allowed him to stay for as long as he needed. "Hey Blanche. Can you show me your arm?" Confidently he picked up the chalice and saw some instinctively opened a lid to let out some silver shimmering water. "Uh sure? What's gonna happen?" She stretcher her scarred arm out and let the water wash over it. "Whoa! Cold!" She pulled it back, and discovered that it looked brand new. Even the damage to her coats sleeve had been fixed. "Oh right, it can fix damage done by other items.. Hey, thanks!" In this state she could duel again. "No problem. I think I will hold on to this" The chalice could also shrink down to any size, which would come in handy. Void made it very small and placed it in his inventory along with the cards.

"The Crown I am not particularly interested in. I can always give it to one of you. We all earned it. I do not know if I could have won without your support." Void replied. "Bleagh. Don't get all mushy with us!" Scura nearly gagged. "We just yelled and stuff. We wouldn't even have known to show up if it wasn't for that creepy girl in the wheelchair."

"The wheelchair? Echo? She was the one who brought you here?" Void did not expect that. He had assumed Asterisk or V had been responsible for that. "Echo's her name? Man, we missed out on a lot I guess." Neo heard that name for the first time too now. "I hear you have your own stories to tell as well. What better time than now to catch up?" Void laughed. It felt good to be in trusted company again. And for once, he felt like he could take on any problem on the horizon.

(To Be Continued in Line 106: Extinction of the Flesh)

**New Cards used by Void  
**Prohibit Snake

-  
Update Jammer  
Elphase

-  
World Legacy Awakens

**New Cards used by Mister Static  
**_Promises from the Future_

-  
Sadion, the Timelord  
Gabrion, the Timelord  
Zaphion, the Timelord  
Sephylon, the Timelord

-  
_The Tree of Life and Time_

-  
Dark Factory of More Production  
Infinite Light


	106. Extinction of the Flesh

**Line 106: Extinction of the Flesh**

The heroes had enough stories to tell each other, filling in the gaps where it mattered. Though what it all meant for them that there was a psychological part to this network, they did not know. "So you saw Sundown too? Where did he go?" Zettai inquired. They would rather focus on more tangential matters like missing comrades. "All I know is that Static sent him on a solo mission to the desert region." Though even there Void did not have all the answers. "And he listened? He must be more out of sorts than I thought." Zettai muttered. "Maybe. There are some other issues. But I would rather have him tell about it." Void did not want to talk behind the gunslinger's back. Not when he himself could not be certain what Sundown saw himself as now. Had Static been telling the truth about him?

"Let me go look for him! And maybe we should go look for Midsummer and Crescent too?" Neo figured they might as well try to get the whole gang back together. "I would focus on Sundown first, Neo. Don't do anything reckless." Void said. To visit the other two would mean a trip to Paradise. "Right! I will be back soon!" The cyberduelist left the arena, more excited than he had been in the last few days. "So.. what do we do now, boss?" Blanche asked. A world of possibilities lied out there for those that stayed behind.

"Actually I have suggestion." Donna cleared her throat. "Let me guess. You wanna fight some guys." Scura sighed. "Hey! That's not always my go-to solution! But in this case we might have to. I just got a message from Giga. He says he needs help with something. And he doesnt really ask for help unless its serious! So maybe we should cut celebrations short?" She would be going regardless. But she would like to have more power at her side. "If he wants help, he will get it." Void stated resolutely. "Asterisk. I am leaving the Crown to you. Bring V here so he can take a look at it." Nobody else could touch the chalice physically. So Void felt comfortable leaving the item behind. "Ah that is right. His rules should no longer apply. V might actually make it this time." Asterisk chuckled, as his partner had already tried to get in on his own anyway. "Good. Everyone else, if you want to come along, let's do it!"

...

Giganoto's LP: 8000 Imperius' LP: 8000 -TURN 02-

Giganoto did indeed need help. Back at the palace grounds, a futile fight took place within another fight. "Imperius. You have to be in there somewhere!" Giganoto faced his former dueltaining comrade, but not as he used to be. This was just a clone created by the doctor of fevers. "Link summon!" He did sound like Imperius, used the same tone, same cards and same lines. But he had no regard or mercy for the dinowrestler. "Murmillo and Test Tiger become link materials for Test Panther!" The duel had reached the second turn. Imperius controlled a continuous spell, Gladiator Rejection, and two monsters: Gladiator Beast Murmillo(3/800/400)[Zone 1] and a special summoned Tiger slave(3/600/300) [Zone 1]. Both of them transformed into a new pet animal: the blackfurred and armored Test Panther(800/LINK 2) {Downleft/Down} [Extra Zone 1] "Now I can claim one Gladiator Beast's card from my deck! Gladiator Beast Noxious!"

"Are you just a face? Do you not know who you are dueling? Maybe this will refresh your memory! I activate my skill: Endangered Species. Remember it? It's a secret rare skill! Only I have it! It forces us to trade our current monsters for new ones!" Giganoto chuckled as he discarded Dinowrestler Capoeiraptor and Eskrimamenchi from his hand for two new draws. The skill also forced Imperius to get rid of Gladiator Beast Vespasius and Noxious from his hand and caused him to lose 1000 lifepoints for each discarded dinosaur. Yet even though Imperius took two meteoric blasts right to the face, he did not move a muscle.

Imperius' LP: 6000

_Endangered Species, Skill Card  
__Both players discard any monsters in their hands: inflict 1000 damage to your opponent for each card you discarded. Then each player draws cards equal to the number of cards discarded  
__For the rest of the turn you cannot activate the effects of any card with the same name as the cards you discarded, and your opponent takes no damage._

"I guess I really am just talking to a brick wall.." His opponent on the other side only controlled a face-down monster and his World Dino Wrestling field spell card. Not even the sight of this Jurassic dueling ring drew a reaction from the Imperial one. At this point X wished he could have had just someone to bounce off of

"X!" And he got his wish, as Donna quickjumped in along with Void, Zettai, Scura and Blanche. Asterisk and Himiko had stayed behind to continue helping Vigionair. "Donna! Great timing!" He let out a cry of joy. "X! What happened?!" Donna noticed a few changes to the scenery: A CID that produced its own barrier guarded every entrance to the palace. And plenty of drones were walking about freely as well. There did not seem to be any way inside now. "I was hoping you could tell me! Scarlet's electrical pal just marched in and told me to stay outside. Then all of her drones took this new formation and He sicked this fake Imperius on me when I didn't listen! I don't know what is going on now.. but Bionis and Therese are still in.."

He tried to say more, unfortunately his opponent simply continued its turn without a care in its head. "I activate Gladiator Beasts Comeback. And special summon one Gladiator Beast from the graveyard! And Test Panther can return that Gladiator Beast to special summon another from my deck!" His link monster resurrected the Murmillo fish gladiator [Zone 1]. Murmillo then tagged out to special summon the lady lynx warrior: Gladiator Beast Attorix(4/800/2000) [Zone 2]. Her effect sent one Gladiator Beast (Vespasius) from the deck to the graveyard. "And when one Gladiator Beast summons another, Gladiator Rejection can call out one more from my deck!" The continuous spell came into play as well, bringing out the the green bird gladiator Bestiari(4/1500/800) [Zone 3]: the key ingredient for a specific fusion monster. "Come! Gladiator Beast Gyzarus!" Imperius contact fused both Attorix and Bestiari for his winged destroyer(6/2400/1500) [Zone 2].

"Ugh! Hold on!" Giganoto could not focus on two things at once. Already he had to let Imperius to destroy two cards with Gyzarus' effect: his field spell and his face-down dinosaur: Petiteranodon(2/500/500). "You wont get me so easily! Smashing Petiteranodon with an effect makes it summon a new level 4 or higher dinosaur from my deck!" The destroyed eggshell helmeted baby pterasaur let out a tiny shriek and called down the spine-backed and spike-tailed fighter: Dinowrestler Systegosaur(4/1900/0) [Zone 3]. "He can add a Dinowrestler to my hand now!" Giganoto chuckled as he claimed the Dinowrestler Anga from the deck. "How do you like that?"

"You realize you are you talking to a computer, right?" Himiko pointed out. "I am talking to Scarlet! I bet she can hear everything her drones hear!" X reasoned. "She will not answer." And Imperius replied, astonishing the heroes. "What is this? She _can_ hear us?" Himiko for a moment wondered if they could ask it questions. Unfortunately its brief bout of clarity quickly passed. Imperius simply activated his next spell, United Gladiator Beasts, to contact fuse several Gladiator Beasts in the graveyard. Though he could only attack with Gladiatior Beasts for the rest of the turn. "Send in Gladiator Beast Domitianus!" Vespasius merged with two random beasts, sent to the graveyard earlier, and created the seaserpent weaponmaster and wargod Domitianus(10/3500/1200) [Zone 1]. Now two Gladiators were linked with Test Panther. "Now we will battle, Giganoto!" Imperius declared Gyzarus' attack against the defending Systegosaur. "You know my name too?"

"He is just trying to throw you off, X." Void guessed that this could have just been programmed in to throw him off his game. "You're probably right!" The dinosaur duelist steeled his focus and discarded the Dinowrestler Anga from his hand. "Anga will stop you! When you battle my weaker Dinowrestler, he prevents my monster's death and ends the battlephase!"

"But Domitianus can negate the effect of a monster once per turn, Giganoto!" Imperius deftly cancelled the effect of the Angasaur, so that Gyzarus could land a successful blow. "And when a Gladiator enters the damage step, I can special summon Gladiator Beast Vespasius from my hand! And he adds 500 attackpoints to all my monsters!" Of course he would have a second copy of that card in his hand. At least Giganoto always saw him pull that trick off, where the seaserpent swordsman(7/2300/0) [Zone 3] would come in with a surprise powerboost during the first attack (Vespasius: 2800 atk, Domitianus: 4000 atk, Gyzarus: 2900 atk, Panther: 1300 atk). It felt just like the old times. Too much so. "In that case I activate Martial Ampelo instead! My Dinowrestler cannot be destroyed by your stronger monsters attack! And the battle damage is halved!" Giganoto discarded the second of three martial wrestlers: the ampelosaur. It intercepted Gyzarus' attack with his entire body and pushed the winged gladiator back. "I probably should have led with that. But the old you would never fall for my feints either."

Giganoto's LP: 7500

"That only lasts for one battle. Domitianus, strike him down! I command it!" Imperius gave the kill order to his Gladiator of many armaments. It chose to impale Systegosaur on its crystal-tipped spear. "Aha! But when a monster attacks, I can banish Martial Ampelo from my graveyard! And that lets me add a new Dinowrestler to my hand: Pankratops!" Giganoto acted quickly before the damage reached him as well and drew his new monster. Afterwards the attack finished with the violent shattering of the Stegowrestler. "Ugh... Well, he still hurts more than the real Imperius." X grunted as he rubbed his arm.

Giganoto's LP: 5400

"More? You mean these drones are using real damage?" Donna gasped. "I can handle it, Donna!" The dino duelist had never experienced such a duel before. "Direct attack." And, still with no hint of caring, the centurion duelist carried out his remaining strikes. The Vespasius Gladiator visited the dino-duelist with sharp claws that left scratches in his avatar. "Argh!" This time Giganoto could not just laugh the damage off. The pain of the gashes overwhelmed him. "X! This duel has to stop!"

Giganoto's LP: 2600

"You're right. Besides there has to be a faster way inside." Blanche looked upwards. "Zettai, what do you think is stronger, their barrier or your mods?" They could not afford to wait for this duel to end. "Hmph. Do you have to ask?" Zettai clearly agreed, as she already pointed her vector cannon at the tower. "No wait!" Giganoto tried to stop her, but she already fired one shot. "!?" The blast got deflected by the shield. All she succeeded at was angering one of the other ADIs in the area and forced her to duel it. "Bah! This should not take long." Zettai relished the chance to destroy some more of these tools.

"Frick! I cant believe we're back at this again!" Scura grumbled. "No. It should be fine! They will only attack you if you try to get inside. Just leave this one to me! There will be an opening once it goes down!" X bellowed, he believed he could still win. "Don't you think that's a little simple? There's one of you and a million of them." Himiko sneered. "Yes but there is only one entrance they can guard! As soon as he goes down, there will be a chance to run inside!" He replied. "Heh. He's right you know." Donna chuckled. Some people called Giganoto simple-minded. In truth he just preferred straightforward solutions.

By now, Imperius' battle phase had ended and Gyzarus tagged out to summon two new Gladiators from the deck. One was Equeste the winged centaur shieldbearer(4/1600/1200), whose effect could retake one Gladiator Beast card from the graveyard. The other was Sagittarii the goldenhaired centaur archer(3/1400/1000) [Zone 4], whose effect discarded one Gladiator Beast card from the hand to draw two new cards. Both the discarded and retrieved card were one and the same: Gladiator Beast's Comeback. "..." Afterwards Imperius placed two traps face-down and performed a new contact fusion between the centaurs and Vespasius. "Appear, I command you! Gladiator Beast Nerokius!" The darkest of all Gladiators descended: the emperor knight(8/2800/1900) [Zone 2] with his black bat-styled armor and six demonic wings. Then, as the turn ended, the destroyed Dinowrestler Systegosaur could summon one Dinowrestler from the graveyard if there were more monsters on the opponents field than on his. And the wrestler used that to bring a Dinowrestler Capoeiraptor(4/1800/0) [Zone 2] to the field.

-TURN 03-

"Just give me a chance... To let my solo gig rock your world!" As soon as the turn started, the defending Capoeiraptor could use its own effect to special summon a second copy of himself(4/1800/0) [Zone 2] from the deck. "I link summon Dinowrestler Terra Parkourio!" The raptor duo re-materialized into a single wrestler: the parkour master Talasaur(1000/LINK 2) {Left/Up} [Extra Zone 2]. "And now I am gonna give you my special move! I special summon Dinowrestler Pankratops!" Once again, having less monsters than his opponent allowed X to call out one of his wrestlers from the hand: the Triceratops practicioner(7/2600/0) [Zone 3] of Pankration techniques. "He will tribute himself, to destroy Gladiator Rejection!" Pankratops could make any card submit, if it came close to them.

"I have seen that move already, Domitianus negates its effect!" Imperius naturally would have none of it. "And I have seen yours!" Neither would Giganoto. "I discard Miscellaneousaurus from my hand! And now my dinosaurs are immune to your card effects for the rest of the turn!" Another ceratosaur showed up on the field, but as a black ghostly skeleton. "I still have time to activate Mad Gladiator Beasts!" Before the Miscellaneous dinosaur could complete its protection effect however, Imperius revealed his first trap card. "I can destroy a face-up card for each Gladiator Beast I control!" He whipped his own gladiators into a frenzy, and made them rampage across the field to slaughter Dinowrestler Terra Parkouria. "You know me well, Imperius!" Meanwhile Pankratops could freely resolve his own effect and destroyed the continuous spell of Rejection. "He does. How can he sound so real?" Donna did not have the answer. "Maybe it still has his memories. That fake Hieronymus sounded real too." Scura, like everyone else, could only give guesses.

"Anyway! Let's use this card next: World Dinowrestling! Yes, from the graveyard! I can summon a Dinowrestler from my deck if I banish this card while you have more monsters than me, Imperius!" X let out a howl as he brought out his more combative pterasaur: Dinowrestler Capaptera(3/1600/0) [Zone 5]. "Not that you will have more than me for long!" The self-defense dinosaur could send one monster on the opponents field to the graveyard, as long as that field had more than Capaptera's field. "Sayonara, Domitianus!" X saw which one he liked the least, the fused seaserpent, and got rid of it with a wingslash from Capaptera. "And next up I can banish Miscellaneousaurus from my graveyard, along with a few other gentle dinosaurs!" The undead ceratosaur banished itself, Petiteranodon and the two Capoeiraptors: to buy 4 stars worth of levels. A level 4 dinosaur could now be special summoned from the deck: a ghoulish raptor(4/1800/500) [Zone 4] with a line of blue flames running down from its headcrest to the end of its tail. "Here we go, Souleating Oviraptor! Since I summoned it, I will take a Dinosaur from my deck and add it to my hand! I..."

"X? Is something wrong?" Donna noticed the pause. Especially since X did not usually interrupt himself. "Nothing. I was just starting to think, Scarlet brought me back right? Was she trying to do the same for Imperius?" Giganoto pondered aloud as he used Oviraptor's effect to add another Petiteranodon to his hand. "I doubt it." Blanche mumbled. "Millennium did bring Wagner back though. Maybe she wanted their help?" Void suggested. "Well if anyone can figure out what she wants, that would be swell. But the clock is kinda ticking..." The white-haired tapped her dueldisk

"You got that right! I shouldn't bore those around me! Least of all you, Imperius! Souleating Oviraptor can destroy one dinosaur to special summon one from my graveyard!" Giganoto normal summoned a second Petiteranodon(2/500/500) [Zone 3] to his field and immediately fed it to his Souleater. The Oviraptor destroyed the baby dinosaur with its blue flames, to resurrect Dinowrestler Terra Parkouria[Zone 3]. And the destroyed Petiteranodon could special summon a dinosaur from the deck as well: another Dinowrestler Systegosaur(4/1900/0) [Zone 2]. "Never enter the ring without two of these guys!" The second Systego added a new Dinowrestler to Giganoto's hand: Dinowrestler Iguanodraka. "Now I know all of your tricks too, Imperius! Which means I am gonna gave to add a lot of power into one card! So I will link summon the Agave Dragon!" Terra Parkouria, Systegosaur and the Souleating Oviraptor disappeared into one flash of light that pierced the earth. Soul cracked and roots were broken, as a massive green drake(3000/LINK 4) {Left/Downleft/Right/Downright} [Extra Zone 2] spawned like a new seed of power. "Agave Dragon gains 200 attackpoints for each Dinosaur monster in my graveyard!"

"Each one? Ah %#^&* I am not counting that. How many are there?" Scura asked just as the green wyrm drake(4600 atk) grew eight extra heads from its stem-body. "Oh. Okay, that makes it easier. But are you gonna attack now or what?"

"Almost, madam! First, since I used him as a link material, Terra Parkourio can special summon one Dinowrestler from my graveyard in defense mode." Giganoto resurrected the Pankratops [Zone 3] with a smile on his face, though sadly its effects could not be used more than once a turn. "Look at this, my final spell: Monster Reborn!" Instead he proceeded to bring Dinowrestler Terra Parkourio [Zone 4] back as well in the classic way with the dead raising spell. "Link summon, King T Wrexle!" Parkourio immediately returned to the graveyard and took Capaptera with him. They transformed into link materials for the triple-mark link circuit of the red-striped and bone-carrying king of all dinowrestlers: T Wrexle(4000/LINK 3) {Downleft/Down/Downright} [Zone 3]. "Wrexle gets an extra 1000 attackpoints since he used Capaptera as a link material. So there you go, now we can have a proper skirmish!" Giganoto entered the battle phase with the King. His powers would block any spells or traps as soon as it picked a target.

"Gladiator Namauchia!" Meaning it would now or never for Imperius and his other trap card. "All monsters must attack if they can! And I can send one Gladiator from the graveyard back to my deck, to give my monster attackpoints equal to his defense!" The Namauchia turned into spiked naval vessel for the Gladiator Beast Nerokius. Domitianus fled from the graveyard to the deck, and gave the Nero gladiator(4700/1900) the edge he needed to overcome his opposition. "Oh crud! He's gonna overpower you!" Donna cursed out loud. X could not just simply hold back his attacks either, he would have to attack Nerokius eventually.

"Heh. But I am not too old to learn new tricks, Donna! Watch this for one! I activate Tyrant Dino Fusion!" The duelist flipped his quickplay spell. "Fusion?" Unsurprisingly, this spell could fuse two of his monsters into one bigger Dinowrestler. "Yup! I gotta new fusion! I have to grind one Dinowrestler together with a Dinowrestler link monster, and then I can make Dinowrestler Chimera T Wrexle!" After merging with Pankratops, the tyrannosaurus(8/3500/0) [Zone 3] grew even fiercer than anyone could have imagined. Teeth and claws grew out of its skeletal armor, which itself appeared on more spots of its body and gained bloodred stripes. Its left arm even mutated into a large stomping foot that looked like it belonged to a different type of dinosaur. "I think it's in the mood for a panthery snack!" The Chimera used its new arm to pulverize Test Panther.

Imperius' LP: 3800

Chimera T Wrexle(4000 atk) gained 500 attackpoints afterwards, an effect that activated each time it made a kill. Nerokius on the other hand got left as a target for the Agave Dragon(5000 atk), who had two more dinosaurs in the graveyard to draw power from. "But Nerokius cannot be destroyed in battle!" Imperius protested. "I know, but you made me attack. So..." The ten-headed wyrm fired ten large concentrated blasts; firepower that could have obliterated an army. Nevertheless the Nero Gladiator withstood the punishment with a malicious grin.

Imperius' LP: 3500

Of course, as the battle phase ended, a Gladiator Beast could rest once again. Nerokius had finished one fight and returned to the extra deck to special summon two Gladiator Beasts from the main deck: Murmillo [Zone 3] and Vespasius [Zone 4]. "Here we go again." Murmillo could now destroy one face-up monster on the field, and it selected the Agave Dragon. The great wyrmplant burned down, root and all.

"He is still a tough old bastard, Scarlet got that trait right. But so am I! We were always two for two! Imperius, since you special summoned a monster in my turn, I can activate Dinowrestler Eskrimamenchi from my graveyard! I add him back to my hand, and special summon one Dinowrestler from my graveyard!" Giganoto carried out his own special summons, and resurrected the first Dinowrestler Systegosaur [Zone 2] in defense mode. "And then I special summon the Dinowrestler Iguanodraka! Which only takes one discarded dinosaur!" Giganoto re-discarded Eskrimamenchi and a new wrestler entered the ring: the kickboxing and spiked glove-wearing Iguanodon(6/2000/0) [Zone 1]. "If I sacrifice this guy, I can special summon one Dinowrestler from my old graveyard! Guess which one!" Giganoto raised one finger to the sky. "That is right! Pankratops!" His favorite cerato-wrestler [Zone 1] took the place of the Iguanodon wrestler. "I promise you guys. I will get him on the next turn! Consider it called!"

"I do not believe that victory will come soon enough." Said the last man everyone expected to show up on any day of the week. "Hydra?" The invisible duelist could be seen by all, though to Giganoto he looked more familiar as the black baron Schwarzwald. And he did not come by himself.

"Void." Crescent stood next to him, speaking to someone she never expected to see again. "You are.. different." And she could sense what he owned now: the world chalice. "Aurora. Why are you.. What is the matter?" She probably did not expect him to greet her this calmly either. But Void knew she would not be here without a reason. "I.."

"Where were you? And where did you go off too, mister I can be anywhere I want to be!" Scura hissed. "Trying to repair what was lost. I had to destroy my own proxy to prevent Hansen from acting on his threat to shut down the network." The man explained as he gave a look to Blanche. "Yeah you're welcome." She grinned back, knowing fully well that he would not be standing here if she had not shown up in the real world to stop Dyzanthium. "At any rate." He continued. "My proxy is too damaged to function properly now. Such was the power of his Chalice. For now, I can only be in this form. Which regrettably means that I have to be as slow as everyone else." Hydra sighed. "Yeah well, Void took care of the chalice problem." Blanche clarified as she looked back to see if Void made any more progress up above. From the sound of things, he did not. "I heard. Well done, Void. But that is not why we are here. I am here because of what Prospero and Scarlet are doing."

"Oh you know what's going on then?" Donna snarled. She was not exactly pleased to see this man here, given that his actions led to Imperius being in his current state. She would rather hear the news from Crescent. "Y-yes. Cherry told me. It's because Hansen.. he destroyed Paradise, and banished everyone from it." And so the weather duelist began to explain. "After that happened. Prospero suddenly left with Scarlet. Everyone in Millennium knows what is about to happen. But none of them are willing to stop it. Or they are too afraid to rebel. I was worried, so I tried telling Ezra. But Melyria wont even let me see him." She did not have much good news. "I fear she agrees with whatever Prospero's plans are." Hydra shook his head. He would have liked to bring more supporters than just the shieldbearer. "Heard what? What are they going to do?" Donna yelled. "A last ditch effort. They are going to use the network itself as a weapon. It sounded to me like they are going after the STHEREA interface: to drag people from the real world into this one. Whether they want to be here or not."

(To Be Continued in Line 107: Overwritten with Armageddon)

**New Cards used by Giganoto X  
**_ENDANGERED SPECIES_

-  
Petiteranodon  
Dinowrestler Systegosaur  
Dinowrestler Martial Ampelo  
Souleating Oviraptor  
Dinowrestler Eskrimamenchi  
Dinowrestler Iguanodraka

Agave Dragon  
Dinowrestler Chimera T Wrexle

-  
Monster Reborn  
Tyrant Dino Fusion

**New Cards used by 'Imperius Rex'  
**Gladiator Beast Attorix  
Gladiator Beast Equeste

-  
Test Panther  
Gladiator Beast Nerokius

-  
Gladiator Rejection  
Gladiator Beasts Comeback

-  
Mad Gladiator Beasts  
Gladiator Namauchia


	107. Overwritten with Armageddon

**Line 107: ****Overwritten with Armageddon**

"Drag everyone into STHEREA? How?" Void cried out. The nightmare that Hydra and Crescent described seemed impossible: a plan to force everyone into the network. "I do not know. Prospero seemed certain that it could be done if they had full access to STHEREA's servers. I have seen him do enough to consider this a possibility as well." Hydra could not give any assurances, not when one combined Prospero's widespread nature with Scarlet's genius. "So.. they lost paradise. Are they just trying to get to their family back?" Void saw why Millennium would turn to such a desperate tactic, but he also remembered how Prospero spoke about the people 'on the other side'. He saw them all as his enemies. "I would not be here if it was only that, Void. I fear that Prospero would use this chance to do more than just return to the previous status quo. The company has its network installed in every home in every major city. If Scarlet can do what Prospero asks of her, then they could very well pull in everyone at once: enemies and friends alike." Hydra stated grimly.

"Okay, that sounds so much worse than what I thought it would be. So maybe we should cut to the chase, no offense Giga..." The main entrances to Exeter HQ were still blocked. Blanche knew they needed a new one. "Crescent, I know we've had a few differences. But I can tell that you want to help. So can you break that shield open with your fancy new item?" The cheating approach could be worth a shot. "Maybe. But I..." Crescent had been staring at something besides the building.. And the fever-infected drones surrounding the palace stared right back at her. "Wagner." And they were not just the usual hazmat troops either: she saw clones of Wagnerok and Imperius as well. The arrival of Hydra and Crescent had made them a little too active.

"Crescent! He is not the real one. This is just her way of slowing you down." Void told her, while he wondered if Scarlet had known that Crescent could pose a threat to her. "Y-yes." Before anyone could get attacked, the girl fired her shield down at the bottom of the ground. She created an immediate and immense rift: literally caving the ground in to swallow the countless of enemies and to keep them from getting any closer. The tower itself stayed intact of course, and a few stragglers were stuck on the other side of the pit near the forest edge. "I will Stop. All of them!" She then fired the shield beam at the tower in front of her, attempting to pierce the shield. "Ngh." It proved to be surprisingly stubborn. Each time she removed one, whether by turning it into brittle ice or a shower of leaves, a new forcefield popped up right afterwards. "It was too good to be true, I guess." Scura groaned.

Imperius' LP: 5500 Giganoto's LP: 2600 -TURN 04-

"Then I suppose it is still up to me!" X laughed. While the others had been talking, Imperius had started his turn, normal summoned a Gladiator Beast Bestiari(4/2000/800) [Zone 5] and contact fused it with Murmillo [Zone 3] to special summon another Gladiator Beast Gyzarus(6/2400/1500) [Extra Zone 1]. "And I can't let you guys down!" Giganoto still controlled the Dinowrestlers Systegosaur(4/1900/0) [Zone 2], Pankratops(7/2600/0) [Zone 1] and a powered up Chimera T Wrexle(8/4000/0) [Zone 3]. The latter two were targeted for destruction, by the effect of the fusion summoned Gyzarus. "Pankratops! Destroy!" The Pankra-wrestler tributed the Sytegosaur and slammed his own body into the seaserpent Gladiator Beast Vespasius[Zone 4]. However that submission effect came too late to stop Gyzarus' own effect."Why did you not do that sooner?" Scura complained, seeing as how Pankratops could easily have destroyed Bestiari. Imperius would not have been able to create Gyzarus without that monster. "Because he has a skill that lets him fetch a new Bestiari anwyay!"

"Besides!" The wind blast from Gyzarus reached Chimera T-wrexle.. and bounced back into the sky. "My monster was fusion summoned with Tyrant Dino Fusion! So it takes two destructions to kill it!" The lingering effect of the fusing spell saved T Wrexle from the first death. "If that fails, then.." Imperius did not know how to quit either, as he activated his skill, Contact with Reincarnation, anyway. It special summoned the contact fusion material and Gladiator Beast Augustus(8/2600/1000) [Zone 3] from his deck. "Contact fusion! Take these two highlevel Gladiators and tame them!" Augustus immediately fused with Gyzarus to create the golden-antlered Gladiator Beast Tamer Editor(8/2400/3000). "I activate Gladiator Namauchia on Editor, and attack Chimera T Wrexle!" The continuous trap gave Editor(5400/3000) attackpoints equal to his defense by returning Gladiator Beast Vespasius from the graveyard to the main deck. With the spikes on its naval Namauchia vessel, the Tamer could impale the Dinowrestler Chimera and destroy it.

Giganoto's LP: 1200

"Oof!" Giga fell to his knees. "Imperius, it's really sad to see you like this. You should really be here with us, fighting together against the real enemy!" Giganoto felt more and more disturbed by his opponent with every turn. Not to mention the pain Imperius made him feel with each attack. At the very least, the grave-sent Systegosaur could activate its effect again as soon as Imperius ended the turn. Systego special summoned Chimera T Wrexle(3500/0) [Zone 2] from the graveyard. "Yeah he could have been here himself, if not for some other guy. But who could that be eh?" Blanche stated as she glanced at the elephant in the room. "You mean.." Neither X nor Donna had seen the downfall of the Gladiator duelist. But they knew who dueled him last. "Hydra.." The invisible duelist that now stood right behind them.

"If you are trying to make me regret my past actions, you will not find any success." The baron stated callously. "No? Don't you ever look back and wonder if you made a mistake? Imperius is right there! He wouldn't have tried to destroy your avatar!" Donna growled. She stayed quiet for the sake of speeding things along, but she could only hold her tongue for so long. "We all make mistakes. We can all do terrible things to each other. But I knew what I was doing then and I know what I am doing now. Do not conceive my presence her as an attempt at redemption. I only want to keep Millennium from making their own terrible mistake." Not that it had any effect on Hydra.

"Forget it Donna, he was like this before he got hopped up on the brainwashing juice." Scura just rolled her eyes at him. "No. I am _not_ letting this go. You _still_ want to be a part of Millennium? Even Himiko has wised up!" Donna loudly pointed at the zombie princess. "What is that supposed to mean?" She felt rather offended. "I dont mean to insult you. I am just saying that he is blind! Hydra, do you even know half the stuff they have done? Did you know that they used Giganoto to get that precious golden card inside Exeter's system? And now this is happening. They are just as traitorous as you thought we were!" She had missed Hydra's first rant, but heard plenty about them from the others. "...I did know, about Giganoto. But that took place before I joined. I cannot apologize for that. Only Prospero can. He was the one, who placed that card in your deck."

-TURN 05-

"Prospero?" Giga reeled from the revelation. "You're not trying to trick me are you?" The cause of all his troubles lied inside that tower. "Well I guess it don't matter." Now he felt extra motivated to win this duel. "Draw!" And his deck felt motivated as well, as it handed him the key to victory. "Aha! I activate Double Evolution Pill! I banish one dinosaur and one non-dinosaur from my graveyard to summon another dinosaur from my deck. And that dinosaur wont have to care about his usual summoning demands!" He popped the pill and captured the spirits of Dinowrestler Capaptera and the wyrm Agave Dragon. The magically induced evolution of their combined biological matter resulted in the creation of a hellred dinosaur tyrant(10/3500/3200) [Zone 3], armored with purple spiked scales and adorned with crystal shards and spheres. "Not my usual finisher, but here we are! The Ultimate Conductor Tyranno! This card can destroy one monster on the field, to switch the positions of your monster, Imperius!"

"But! If Chimera T Wrexle is destroyed by a card effect. Then all your monsters are destroyed instead!" The ultimate conduction began, and one tyrant charged the other. Giganoto fed his own Rex fusion to his Ultimate Tyrannosaur, and started the chain of destruction that led to the death of Gladiator Beast Tamer Editor. "You just can not beat me like you are now, Imperius! Ultimate Tyranno! Direct attack!" The Conductor T-Rex rushed towards the helpless gladiator duelist. "Giga.. wait. Just let me.. win." He tried to speak up in his final moments. "Sorry, buddy. I am not falling for it. I know that aint you!" Giga did not stop now, he could not. The Ultimate dinosaur fired a blue lightning from its crystal spines and overloaded the systems. The ADI dropped to the ground. With its functions shut down, it no longer looked like anyone they knew. And for a brief moment, there was no barrier in its spot.

Imperius' LP: 0

"There is your chance!" Giga bellowed. "Yes!" Immediately Crescent fired another blast from her own shield to turn the doors of the elemental palace into a wall of bubbles that they could easily pass through. "Huh. Now aint that something?" Giga chuckled to himself. "X? Are you alright?" Donna knew the duel had taken a lot out of him. "Nothing. Just a little tired is all! Go, don't mind me!" He gestured at her to keep moving. "You're not just tired.." Donna shook her head.

"He is still right, Donna! Come on!" Void led the charge, with almost everyone following right behind him including a reluctant but angered Donna. "Hydra?" Only two duelists stayed behind with Giganoto. Zettai, who could not go as she was still dueling one of the remaining CIDs, and Hydra. "Dude? What's your problem? Are you that scared of a little jog?" Scura growled at the delaying duelist once she reached the inside. "I have done all I needed to. I would only get in your way in there. Do not wait for me either." He said to the only ones who even stopped for him: Void and Scura. Donna also lingered, but only to look at Giga one last time. Then they headed further inside.

"Hey! Where have you been! We've waited forever!" They were spotted by a different duo first: Bionis Khan and Therese Hansen. "Void? Oh so you really did come back? Did you beat Static too?" Bionis gave the cyberse duelist a begrudging welcome as well. "Yes, but now is not the time to talk about that. Therese. What happened here?" Void replied and inquired hastily

"I was hoping you could tell me. Prospero entered the building but left our sights before we could see where he went. We don't know where he is now.. What is he here for?" Therese asked. "Okay, I can make this short. They're trying to do some funky cyber attack throughout the entire network." Blanche summarized. "The network? Of course! They must be going after the servers!" Therese instantly realized the magnitude of their crisis. "Are you kidding me? They're going to do this across the globe? Shouldn't someone be warned about this?" Bionis cried out. "I could send an alert to the system operation team. But unless I know the specifics, I cannot really help them." Therese did not really have the power to give orders like that. "And I can't ask... Something.. happened to my brother. He wont wake up." As she continued, Void realized why Hydra chose to stay behind. Though it was not the dragon duelist that put Hansen in his current state.

"Therese. I know.. Hansen tried to fight someone he could not beat. I don't think it will be permanent, and we may be able to help. But now is not the right time." Void wondered if the Chalice could also heal the CTO, or if that was still beyond him. "No. That is alright. He made his own enemies, and maybe he even deserved it. But still, I am his only family. I already had him shipped to one of our hospitals and have put him under close supervision. What else could I do?" She sighed. "What else can we do?"

"I know what we can do! I'll start a buzz on the old forums! That will wake people up!" Bionis nodded and quickly logged out. "I see he finally found a use for that talent." Himiko quipped.

"And I will use mine. I can see the steps Prospero took.. he went down there." Crescent pointed to the stairway. "Down? But the server room is on the higher floors." Therese objected. "Maybe in your world. But this tower, does not match everywhere." Crescent insisted. "Alright, alright. I will believe you. Lead the way." She did not want to fight her. So she let her go down and the others followed. "But you made all of this, Crescent?" She still had to comment on the craftsmanship, every floor looked exactly like the workplace she knew at heart. "I only painted what was already there." Crescent still did not want to hear praise from her. But their relation did not matter right now. They were getting closer and closer.. "There!" The stairs suddenly ended. And everyone stumbled upon a large open hall. So large it did not appear to have any walls, doors or ceilings.. despite the fact that they clearly came in through a door. "This is.. " Therese recognized the place as the central server room of Exeter HQ, at least the parts she recognized. "This is not supposed to be here." But not only did it appear on a completely different level, it seemed to connect to an infinite black void.

But the void did not stay black. "Welcome." Everything lit up with the spark of electricity. Portals appeared in the darkness, floating like stars in space. Those were servers too. One could see other rooms inside the portals, other computers and mainframes. They connected to the brightest star in the center of the whole. Where the voice came from. "Prospero!" None other than the thunder lord himself formed the core of this server web. "What are you doing?" Himiko yelled. "I am, not doing. I simply, am. And you are, already too, late, to stop this. I have gained, access, to your entire network. Every link and interface in, every office, city and home; I can feel it, all, course through me. Soon, I will be, ready, to deliver Scarlet's message, to the world. She gave me, the tools." He was not bluffing. Therese knew how many installations Exeter controlled around the world, how many families they supported. The stars in the sky seemed to account for all of them.

"So how is this going to go down? What will Scarlet's tool even do?" Void asked the lord of thunder, as it seemed like the doctor herself would not be making an appearance. "Call it, a virus, if you will. It will maximize, the forcefield, created by the STHEREA interface, whether they are active, at the moment, or not. Anyone caught, within 25 feet of the device, will be sent into, the network, and unable to leave. And I, am spreading, this virus." He boasted his replies as more and more stars turned red. "That is insane! Is this how you are going to bring your family back together? You cannot control this, you are going to drag millions of innocents into the system as well This is not the way!" Void could not believe what he heard. "Collateral damage, is unavoidable. They started this, war. We will finish it. If our enemies, are in here with us. They cannot hurt us, from the outside anymore. And you cannot, stop this. The virus, is not something a, Legacy item can cure."

"Yeah but you know what does sound like a cure?!" Donna was done listening. "A good kick to your head! So let's do it!" She activated her dueldisk because, even in this state, Prospero could not set aside his duties as a duelist of STHEREA. "You, would challenge me? It will change, nothing." Prospero cursed. "Hey, I am also a duelist of simple answers. Guys, let me handle this. You're the one with the special powers, don't need you getting stuck here in case something else happens. Besides. I owe this guy a major stomping." If she could not take her anger out on Hydra, the thunderous duelist would do

Donna's LP: 8000 Prospero's LP: 8000 -TURN 01-

"Void. She is right. If this virus of hers has already embedded itself in the network, we have to find Scarlet." Therese nodded. Defeating Prospero would only stop further contamination, it would not remove the malicious code already spread. "Are you thinking that she has an antidote or something?" Void wondered, not knowing much of computer-viruses himself. "I wouldn't call it that. But she may have a program that will render her virus harmless. I cannot imagine a person like her not creating a fail-safe just in case." Therese on the other hand had dealt with plenty of coding, though this current cyber attack went above her own skills. "You do so. I will go to V and Asterisk." Himiko stated. It could not hurt to handle this problem from two fronts. "Good. Crescent, Blanche. Come with me. I might know where to start looking." He prepped his quickjump ability. "Right on, boss!" The four duelists teleported away.

"Heh. Looks like I got you two for company." Donna smirked at Therese and Scura. "I will try to make this entertaining!" She drew her cards. Yet, of all times.. today was the day where she failed to draw her leading warrior. "Ugh. Suprex where are you?" Without it, she would have to take the more costly Gouki link summon circuit. "Twistcobra! Headbatt! You'll take his place!" She normal summoned the green viper Gouki(4/1600/0) [Zone 5]. And Gouki Headbatt(2/800/800) [Zone 2] could be special summoned by discarding a Gouki, Bearhug, from the hand. "Link summon! Gouki the Heel Ogre!" Twistcobra and Headbatt jumped back out of the server space, leaving their material worth behind for a twin-marker link. A chained up Gouki ogre(1000/LINK 2) {Up/Down} [Extra Zone 2] with burning fire hair and ramhorns slammed his spiked staff on the computer floor. "And now I can add two Gouki cards to my hand, heheh!" The effects of grave-bound Twistcobra and Headbatt allowed her to search the deck for the Gouki Rematch and Faceturn spell cards.

"Even when you don't draw Suprex, your turns always look the same to me." Scura remarked. "If it works, it works! Gyahaha!" Donna smiled as she did the expected and activated Gouki Rematch. "I special summon two Goukis with different levels!" Headbatt [Zone 2] and Bearhug the grizzly bearskin wrestler(6/2400/0) [Zone 3] returned from the graveyard. Headbatt immediately linked up with the Heel Ogre to gather three materials worth of linking power. "Go get em! I Link summon you, Great Ogre!" She turned them into her classic champion the redcaped axe-wielder Great Ogre(23000/LINK 3) {Downleft/Down/Downright} [Extra Zone 2]. "But this fight also still needs a Heel! I activate Gouki Faceturn!" Donna's other spell destroyed Gouki Bearhug, in order to resurrect a different Gouki from the graveyard: Gouki Heel Ogre[Zone 2]. And since Bearhug had not used searching effect yet this turn, Donna could activate it to add Gouki Suprex from the deck to her hand. "I set one card down, and end my turn. How do you like these apples big guy?"

-TURN 02-

"I thought, you would never, be silent." The clearly unamused Prospero sparked a few bitter words before he readied his own cards. "I know what, your tactics are." He normal summoned his first monster: Batteryman Solar the solar-panel robot(4/1500/1500) [Zone 1] with a battery for a head. "Your Great Ogre reduces my monsters power, subtracting defense from attack." The Batteryman tried to absorb sunlight with its chest and wing panels, only for it (0/1500) to be entirely overcast by the shadow of Donna's Link 3 monster. "Pointless. I send Thunder, Dragonroar, to my graveyard." Batteryman Solar could still use effects at least, and its first would send a Thunder monster out of the deck. "And I banish, Thunder Dragonroar, to special summon Diana, the Light, Spirit." Another more feminine form of living thunder struck the field. Diana the blonde light goddess(4/1700/1000) [Zone 2] in her feathered white dress could be special summoned from the hand by banishing one LIGHT monster from the graveyard. Even she(700/1000) would have to surrender some attackpower to the Great one though.

"Now, if a Thunder monster is, special summoned.. Batteryman Solar, creates a token! And if, Thunder Dragonroar is, banished, it can, special summon one, Thunder Dragon from my, deck!" The solar robot used Diana's electric light to generate a miniature token(1/0/0) [Zone 2] version of itself. And the vanquished energy of the roaring Thunder Dragon channeled back into Prospero's deck to energize and special summon Thunder Dragondark(5/100/1500) from the deck. "The end! Link summon! Thunder Dragon Thunderstormech!" The two Batterymen, Diana and Dragondark crashed into each other as pure bolts of lightning and created a storm of clouds that drowned the ceiling of the server hall. A great golden dragon(2800/LINK 4) {Left/Down/Downright/Right} [Extra Zone 1] spread its massive wings, drawing in power from the whole field through the electric rods attached to its half cybernetic body.

"Oh I get it, link monsters don't have defense!" Donna muttered. Great Ogre had no effect on this card. "But that's why I summoned Heel Ogre! Because this guy can negate an effect of a monster he points towards!" And right now the Heel stared right at Thunderstormech. "A pointless, power." Prospero activated Stormech's effect anyway, which allowed him to pseudo-activate the effect of a Thunder Dragon in the graveyard, as if he was discarding it from his hand. "Your funeral, pal! Heel Ogre! Destroy Stormech!" Donna would not look that gift horse in the mouth and proceeded to shut the effect down.

"As I, said. Pointless. Stormech banishes three, thunder monsters, to negate its own, destruction." Donna might have successfully stopped one effect only to trigger another. The Stormech dragon banished Diana, Batteryman Solar and Thunder Dragondark to survive the staff counter-strike of the Heel Ogre. And if Thunder Dragondark were ever to be banished, Prospero could add a new Thunder Dragon card to his hand. He opted to add Thunder Dragonhawk. "In essence, your very actions are limited, pointless... They will be, even more, limited, soon." Prospero said as he discarded Thunder Dragonhawk from his hand. "I activate Dragonhawk to special summon my banished Thunder Dragon!" He discarded the hark, and a screeching blast of thunder relit the spark of Thunder Dragonroar(5/2400/0) [Zone 3] "And I.."

"Don't get ahead of yourself, pal! I know your twists!" Donna realized exactly what kind of limits Prospero planned to implement. So she beat him to the punch with a trap card: Backs to the Wall. "My Goukis always bounce back!" The trap special summoned Gouki Twistcobra back to the field in defense mode. "Twistcobra!" The green viper warrior gave its own life for its own power, adding its attackpoints to Gouki the Great Ogre(3900 atk). And since she sent TwistCobra to the graveyard, she could add another Gouki Rematch from the deck to her hand. "Now you can do your thing. Or try it at least!"

"And here I, thought, you could not think, one minute ahead." Prospero praised her briefly, but quickly turned back to his own army of dragons. Thunder dragonroar exploded into black lightning, sacrificed for a greater black Thunder dragon(7/200/2400) [Zone 2]. "Thunder Dragon Colossus, can be fusion summoned, during a turn in, which I, activated a Thunder Dragon, from my hand! If I tribute, another thunder being! And from now on, no cards can be, added, from your deck!" The Colossus spread its electric aura all over, into Donna's dueldisk as well. "Additionally, I special summon, Thunder Dragonduo!" Then he banished a Dark (Thunder Dragondark) and Light Thunder dragon (Thunder Dragonhawk) from his graveyard. And that allowed him to special summon a purple and green thunder dragon(8/2800/0) [Zone 1] with two snarling heads instead of just one. "And fusion summon, Thunder Dragon Titan! Using three Thunder Dragons!" Prospero even activated the Thunder Dragon Fusion spell: which used banished fusion materials. Dragonroar, Dragondark and Dragonhawk re-entered the main deck, and merged into the three-headed green stormdrake: Thunder Dragon Titan(10/32000/3200) [Zone 2].

"Geez, you think you had enough yet?" Donna groaned. She guessed she had hit a nerve. "Enough? It will never, be enough. Not for me, not for Millennium!"

(To Be Continued in Line 108: More Than a Wish)

**New Cards used by Giganoto X  
**Ultimate Conductor Tyranno

-  
Double Evolution Pill

**New Cards used by Grand Donna the Monday Smasher  
**Gouki the Heel Ogre

**New Cards used by Prospero  
**Batteryman Solar  
Diana the Light Spirit  
Thunder Dragonduo

-  
Thunder Dragon Thunderstormech


	108. More Than a Wish

**Line 108: More than a Wish**

"Zettai! We need to find Scarlet!" Void shouted as he came back out of the tower with Crescent and Blanche. "Why? What is the matter?" Giga yelled back. He'd been waiting outside for some news, while Zettai wrapped up her duels with any remnant drones. Hydra could no longer be seen anywhere. "She created a virus to do her work! If we can get to her, we may be able to reverse the effects before it is too late! You have been to her hideout, havent you?" Void asked hurriedly. "So have you. That does not mean I can go to her now." Zettai muttered. Like Vigionair, Scarlet always changed her workshop's locations. "But she can come to us, to coordinates she used in the past." Crescent said. She had already brought the palace back to a previous location, she could do the same for her laboratory. But Void never got to see the coordinates, only Zettai and Himiko did. "I see. Follow me then." The ace duelist understood. "Giganoto, inform the others of our mission. And wish us success." She gave a respectful nod to the dino duelist before taking everyone away..

"Ehr yeah! Success!?" Giganoto actually mostly wished they told him how Donna was doing..

...

Donna's LP: 8000 Prospero's LP: 8000

Donna controlled the powered up Gouki Great Ogre(3900/LINK 3) [Extra Zone 1] and the Heel Ogre(1000/LINK 2) [Zone 4]. Because of that, Prospero could not claim victory in this turn. But the thunder still had every other advantage: controlling Thunder Dragon Stormech(2800/LINK 4) {Left/Down/Downright/Right} [Extra Zone 1] and the linked fusions Thunder Dragon Colossus(8/200/2400) [Zone 3], Thunder Dragon Titan(10/0/3200) [Zone 2] and a Thunder Dragonduo (8/2800/0) [Zone 1]. "That's a lotta heads." Blanche certainly never went beyond six at most. "Yeah well, all of them will have to play by my rules!" Donna's Great Ogre still drained each monster's attackpoints, if it had defense points. The Titan and Colossus had been summoned in defense mode anyway.

"I only, follow my own, rules! I attack your weaker monster!" Prospero entered the battlephase with the monster that could still attack: Thunder Dragonduo. Its two heads roared and unleashed a primal storm that incinerated the Heel Ogre from above.

Donna's LP: 6200

"Ugh! Is that why you went against your buddies now eh? Or is Scarlet your only new friend?" The wrestler taunted him regardless, even if the pain she felt was nothing to laugh at. "There is only, one rule. Power. No matter what, world you live in. People, just do not, understand anything else. Even Ezra does not, understand. He could do, so much more. I will make him, see that, as well." Prospero activated the effect of Thunder Dragonduo. Since it had destroyed a monster, he could banish a card from his graveyard to draw a new 'Thunder' monster from his deck. He banished Thunder Dragon Fusion and drew a Thunder Dragonmatrix monster. "I set two, cards, and that ends, my turn."

-TURN 03-

"Power? You know I heard a lot of reasons from a lot of people why someone would want to join Millennium." Scura spoke up suddenly. "Cherry just wanted to be part of a family she liked. Lorelei wanted to be a princess. Even that Kremlore guy I can sorta almost get. Also there's Ulysses, who I guess sees this as a good way to escape from whatever bad stuff he did before... Like hell I am gonna ask. But you. All I get from you is a lot of big words and ego. Power? Did you just join Ezra because you wanted to be stronger and better than anyone else!?" Of all the voiced she met in paradise, his frustrated her the most. "I bet that is the case!" Donna nodded along with Scura's words. "I see a man who likes being what he is too much to let it go. And now you want to to drag everyone else down here so you can lord all over them too! You didn't ask them, just like you didn't ask Giga to be a part of your plan! You could have used anyone, but you used him? Why!?" She angrily drew her next card, but waited for the answer.

"Why? Simply because, I could. Because he did not, even notice the card, that we added, for a whole day. And because I could tell, he would, never join us. Because he, and you, have gotten lazy. You are already, satisfied, with being pawns. I was a pawn, all my life. A poor man. No more. Never again."

"That was the reason? Because you don't like what we do?" Donna's boiling blood reached a peak. "You took all his freedom away from him! Just like... We'll see how much you like it, when someone overpowers you! I summon Gouki Suprex!" Now she could really kick things into overdrive. The saurian wrestler Suprex(4/1800/0) [Zone 1] used its ability to special summon one Gouki from Donna's hand. And she special summoned Gouki Tag Partner: a tagteam wrestler(5/1700/0) [Zone 2] decked out in crimson belted armor with silver spikes and horns. "A monster that uses Tagpartner as a link material gains 1000 attackpoints! Get out there, Master Ogre!" The Tagpartner linked up with the Great Ogre and its three markers, resulting in a fourway link summon for the regal and powered up ruler of all Ogres: Gouki the Master Ogre(3800/LINK 4) {Up/Downleft/Down/Downright} [Extra Zone 2]. Unfortunately this caused the fused Titan(3200/3200) and Colossus(8/2600/2400) to regain the attackpoints they had lost to the Great Ogre before. But Donna was ready to make that concession.

"Master Ogre! Negate Thunder Dragon Colossus' effect!" Her Master had his own qualities. By returning Gouki Suprex to the hand, he blocked out the powers of the lesser Thunder Dragon fusion. "Ah. Now you can add cards to your hand again?" Therese realized why she did it. "My bread and butter." Donna grinned and activated the Gouki Rematch spell card next, special summoning Gouki Twistcobra(4/1600/0) and Gouki Bearhug(6/2400/0) from the graveyard in defense mode. Bearhug's effect reduced Thunder Dragon Titan(1600/3200)'s attackpower by half. "Your time to shine, Jet Ogre!" She used both as materials, and opened a smaller circuit for her redhaired fencing ogre(2000/LINK 2) {Left/Down} [Zone 3], and this naturally meant that Twistcobra and Bearhug would be adding two new Gouki cards to her waiting hands. She claimed her third and final Gouki Rematch spell and a spell called Gouki Cage Match.

"Jet Ogre destroys himself, to switch your monsters to attack position! And then all my Goukis gain 500 attackpoints!" The Ogre took off with his jetpack and made a daring crashlanding in the middle of the four Thunder Dragons. "Heh" The Colossus and Titan went back to attack mode. Just the way Donna and her Master Ogre(4300 atk) liked it. "When you play with thunder, you are gonna get shocked!" Donna yelled and played her new Gouki card: the Cage Match continuous spell. "This card gets three counters when it activates!" An electrified cage surrounded the dragons and wrestlers from every possible side, giving them no way out of the coming brutal confronation. "Master Ogre can can attack all monsters on the field in one battle phase, but he has to attack the strongest one first! So let's take down the names! The Stormech, Thunder Dragonduo, Colossus and Titan!" Her Master, now boosted by Jet Ogre's selfdestructive effect, would piledrive through the opposition in descending order.

"Feh." Prospero saw why too. The Colossus could not activate its effects this turn. The Titan would need two banishings to prevent its own destruction. Thunder Dragon Thunder Stormech demanded as much as three cards to save another thunder monster. And he did not even have one card in the graveyard, yet. "This power, is still nothing! I activate, Thunder Dragonmatrix!" Prospero activated the monster in his hand, which could be discarded during either turn to add 500 attackpoints to another monster. He gave it to Thunder Dragon Duo(3300/0) in this case, and that twinheaded dragon himself(3600/0) also gained 300 attackpoints each time a Thunder Dragon activated from the hand. "The Titan destroys, one card, when a Thunder Dragon, activates from my hand! And I destroy, Master Ogre!" The black bolt of lightning raced from the deck back into the cosmic battlefield to power up the Titan.

"Yeah except when I interrupt that chain! Buddy!" Donna retaliated with her skill card, Fighting Spirit, special summoning the destroyed Jet Ogre[Zone 4] back to the field. "What!? That worked?" Scura stared in disbelief as the chain of lightning got cut in half before it could activate the Titans effect. The fusion did not get the chance to chain to the discarded Matrix. "Always keep the whens and the ifs in mind." Therese smirked. That statement applied to her kind of work just as easily to duels.

"So I missed, my timing. Nevertheless, you, must attack the strongest, monster." The queue of targets had changed. Now Thunder Dragon Duo has to be killed first by the Master Ogre. "Yeah I figured you were gonna say that. But that's why I turned the Titan into your weakest monster!" The Master Ogre threw himself against the cage walls so he could bounce back into the fighting ring and slam down into the two-headed dragon. "But each time my monster destroys one of yours, I can remove one counter from Cage Match!" One wall of the electric fence charged down. "Two counters left!"

Prospero's LP: 7300

"Master Ogre, attack Stormech and then the Colossus!" Two more times the Master plowed into his enemies, smashing through the lightning rod Stormech dragon and also tearing through the body of the Colossus. Each impact shook another counter off the Cage spell, until none remained. "One to go! I attack the Titan!

Prospero's LP: 4100

"Then Thunder Dragon, Titan activates, its effect! It banishes two monsters from the graveyard, and prevents its destruction!" Prospero raised his hand and produced another flash paired with thunderous noise. The Three-headed titan absorbed energy by banishing Thunder Dragonduo and Thunder Stormech; giving itself a protective electric barrier. Titan survived, though Prospero still took damage. "Your attempt, to silence me, has failed." The battle had ended, the Jet Ogre could not attack during the turn it got summoned by Donna's skill

Prospero's LP: 1800

"Maybe. But now the bets are really off! At the end of the battle phase, when my Cage Match has no more counters, I can summon as many Goukis from my deck as I want!" Donna could not wait. "Get him guys!" In one fell swoop she called out a second Gouki Suprex(4/1800/0) [Zone 1] and the wrestlers Gouki Riscorpio(5/2300/0) [Zone 2], Gouki Octostretch(1/0/0) [Zone 3] and Gouki Moonsault(61900/0) [Zone 5]. Afterwards Gouki Cage Match regenerated all three counters. "I link summon Gouki the Solid Ogre!" Suprex, Riscorpio and Octostretch all formed a defensive pattern, to become link materials for a defending warrior(2400/LINK 3) {Left/Up/Down} [Zone 3] in blue armor. Mirror-like shields were strapped to his arms and legs like bracers. "Once per turn, the Solid Ogre can move a Gouki to his link marker. And he cannot be destroyed while he is linked!" Donna said as she moved the Jet Ogre[Zone 2] to the left of the Solid Ogre. And of course thanks to the graveyard effects of the three link material Goukis: she could add three new Gouki cards(Gouki Headbatt, Gouki Ringtrainer, Gouki Riscorpio) from the deck to her hand.

"And Gooki Moonsault can return a link Gouki to the extra deck, to move a downed Gouki monster back to my hand!" Donna declared as she withdrew the first Gouki Octostretch from her graveyard. And the link monster she returned would be her trusty old Great Ogre. "Headbatt!" Even more power entered the ring, once the headbutting bat wrestler(2/800/0) [Zone 1] discarded Gouki Riscorpio in order to special summon himself. "Here he is again! Gouki the Great Ogre!" The Jet Ogre linked up with Headbatt, and recreated the powerdraining Great one(2600/LINK 3) [Zone 2]. Even though Thunder Dragon Titan would regain the attack it lost to Bearhug during the endphase, it(0/0) still would have no attackpoints overall. "Geez. Ten links worth of materials. How did I ever win against you?" Therese voiced her awe. After all of that, Donna still had five cards in her hand. Six, in fact. When Headbatt left the field, Donna added another Gouki Octostretch from the deck to her hand. "You had a great partner. I wish I had mine. But you people keep breaking us up!" Finally she ended her turn.

-TURN 04-

"If your strength, comes from others, you have none at, all. People are unreliable." Prospero scoffed and quickly his spell card: the Allure of Darkness. He drew two cards and banished one DARK monster (Thunder Dragondark) from his hand. "When Dragondark, is banished, I add one Thunder Dragon, monster from the, deck to my hand!" That monster created a new explosion of black voltage that entered the deck. "I add, Thunder Dragonhawk!"

"Didn't your strength come from others!? Where you even anything special before Ezra and Melyria met you?" Scura hissed. "I made them, give it to me. I convinced them. Endured them. Evolved beyond them. They never even considered, becoming as free, as me." Prospero responded by filling the whole void with his electric body, splitting up into multiple bodies at once. "I discard, Dragonhawk, to special, summon a banished, Thunder Dragon!" The lightning coursed through the Titan before reaching into the graveyard and bringing back Thunder Dragon Duo(8/2800/0) [Zone 4], one of few monsters that could not be affected by the Great Ogre. But if Prospero had his way, Thunder Dragon Titan would destroy it regardless.

"So power should be taken, not given eh? Doesn't sound like paradise to me! Instead of being ordered around by corporations, we are tormented by monsters like you!" Donna clenched her fist. "I will not allow it! Master Ogre!" She activated her ultimate Oge's power one more time, returning Gouki Moonsault to her hand to block the effects of the Titan Thunder Dragon.

"You do not, have a choice. Not while you, are still human." Prospero revealed his first trap card: Thunder Dragon's Discharge. "Once a turn, as a Thunder Dragon, is special summoned. Your spell is, destroyed! And one thunder monster, is banished!" The continuous trap got triggered by Dragonduo's summoning and released its destructive electricity into the Gouki Cage Match spell. Simultaneously, Prospero banished a Voltester monster from his deck. He also normal summoned a new monster: a brownhaired young man(4/1700/200) [Zone 5] in tunic and cape. He was the Thunderclap Monk Frayleigh, the man who could summon lightning with his staff. But Prospero removed him swiftly to special summon another Thunder Dragon Colossus(8/200/2400) [Extra Zone 1] from his extra deck. "Thunder Dragonduo, attacks, the Great Ogre!" Of the six dragon heads on the field, the twinheaded one made the first strike. It blasted the Great Ogre into nothingness, ending its powerhold over the Titan(3200/3200) and Colossus(2600/2400). And since Dragonduo had destroyed a monster, Prospero could add a second Thunder Dragondark from the deck to his hand. "Yea? Now what?"

Donna's LP: 6000

"Now. This! I activate Dragnstorm's Return! And special summon Voltester!" The other trap flipped upwards to bring back one more banished monster. It chose Voltester: an elegantly armored and crest-helmeted thunder knight(7/2500/1000) [Zone 4], wielding two lanced connected by an electric cord. "Oh no!" Therese realized what would soon happen. "Yes! Voltester destroys, one monster that, it linked with! Then all monsters, that were marked, by that link monster, are destroyed as well! And their linked monsters, will be destroyed too!" A series of shocks traveled from the lancer's weapons into the Master Ogre, causing him to violently burst into pieces. "My linked monsters?!" Voltester's effect jumped over to the next marked zone, killing Gouki the Solid Ogre as well. Without links, its shields were useless. "Now, you are, wide open! That is the weakness, of bonds! One weak chain, unravels it all! While I, continue to evolve!" Prospero reassembled into one form. "Titan! Direct attack!" He unloaded everything in his arsenal on the defenseless Donna. Thunder rained and thunder reigned.

Donna's LP: 4400

"Tcheh!" But Donna withstood less damage than what Prospero gave her. "Gouki, Octostretch?!" Because Donna had discarded the octopus wrestler from her hand, in order to halve the battle damage she took from one attack. She could use this effect with or without Gouki monsters on her field. "Immortal or not. I can keep doing this all day too, pal." She grunted as her body smoldered from the first shock. "Fool. Your life is still, too small! Thunder Dragon, Colossus attacks!" So he gave her a second dose with the lesser fusion dragon. "Not that small when I can do as many Octostretches in a turn as I want!" Donna discarded the second Gouki Octostretch as well, halving the damage from Colossus. "Gah!" Still hurt like hell though. Donna could not even feel her legs anymore.

Donna's LP: 3100

"Ridiculous, that you, would choose this world of pain, and struggle." Prospero declared the final attack. Voltester impaled the ground around Donna with his two spears and created a current that shocked her from bottom to top. "Gyaaahhh!"

Donna's LP: 600

"Donna! Hang in there!" Therese screamed. Donna clearly did not look alright. "Don't go counting... me out yet." The wrestler woman clutched her own chest to calm her heart. "There is no, point in resisting. Your time, is almost up." Prospero moved to his second main phase and removed Voltester along with Thunder Dragon Colossus to give his extra zone to a new link monster. Two thunder monsters for the link summon of Some Summer Summoner(1600/LINK 2) {Downleft/Downright} [Extra Zone 2] "The hell?" Scura raised an eyebrow at the thundergod on his cloudy vacation. "My power is endless. If only you, could feel it too. Perhaps then, you would not want, to fight for your limited, existence." He even used Voltester as a material for the special summon of his third and final Thunder Dragon Colossus [Zone 3] in defense mode, so that Donna could still not add any cards from the deck to her hand. "Now, you can only do, one thing. Make peace, with my future." More and more stars in the server space turned red.

-TURN 05-

"Peace? You think you're getting peace out of this? You think you can force this on everyone? You really have lost your mind! You're so far above us and all... It's time to bring you down to our level! HROAAAH!" Donna let out a roar to psyche herself back up. She drew her card and released her warriors. "Since you got rid of all my monsters, I can special summon Gouki Ringtrainer instead! And he will revive the Master Ogre!" With the help of the redshaded trainer(1/0/0) [Zone 1], she could face any challenge. "No matter what, you cannot make me fall!" But Prospero floated higher and higher and countered her immediately. "Some Summer Summoner, summons one thunder, monster, from my graveyard!" He discarded his Thunder Dragondark monster to cause a storm inside the summer cloud. "I summon Thunderclap Monk! While, he is special summoned, I can negate one, monster's effect!" A lightning bolt came crashing all the way down. It was the Thundermonk(4/1900/0) summoned by Summer. It immediately tributed itself to smite the Ringtrainer and cancel its power.

"You're not getting away that easily!" Donna growled and normal summoned Gouki Suprex [Zone 1], using its effect to special summon Gouki Moonsault[Zone 2] from her hand. "Go, the last Gouki Rematch!" She also played her spell to resurrect Gouki Bearhug[Zone 3] and Gouki Twistcobra [Zone 4] at the same time. The bear wrestler in turn halved the Titan(1600/3200)'s attackpower. "Summon as many, warriors, as you would like. It matters not! Thunder Titan will destroy, anything you create!" Prospero's taunts were not hollow. Neither Giant, Master or Great Ogre would make any difference now. "You're right, that fusion has got me pinned. But I know a way he can help me instead. I activate the spell, Cross Over! It takes your monster and equips it to my warrior: to Gouki Suprex!" Donna played her spell on the Thunder Dragon Titan.

"Preposterous! You want, to contain my power?" Prospero reacted while he still could, discarding Thunder Dragondark from his hand to trigger the Titan's destruction ability. Only he used the destruction on his own Summer Summoner and killed it. "He's getting rid of his weaknesses!" Therese cried out. With the Titan now equipped to Gouki Bearhug and the link thunder monster destroyed, Donna could only attack the defending Thunder Dragon Colossus. "The Colossus will never die, as long as there are cards to banish in my graveyard!" And Prospero had eight cards he could banish.

"Too bad I only need one!" Donna linked Suprex with Moonsault to link summon another Jet Ogre(2000/LINK 2) {Left/Down} [Extra Zone 2]. "Twistcobra sacrifices Bearhug to give its attackpower to Jet Ogre! And Jet Ogre can destroy Twistcobra to switch your monsters to attack position!" Now more powerful than ever, the Jetpack fencer(4400 atk) jabbed the defending Colossus and forced it to accept its challenge in an attack position.

"What? That means.. But I cannot, lose again! I am, superior!" Prospero stammered. Everything fell apart because of that one spell. "Everyone loses once, pal. Even me. But not this time. But hey.. nobody is perfect!" Donna declared the final attack, and drove Jet Ogre's sword into the heart of the Colossal Dragon with a single attack. "No. No. No!" And as soon as she did, Prospero went berserk. "I! AM! PROSPERO! I AM... NOT YOUR FUTURE, BUT MY ... OWN!" He refused to die even as his lifepoints dropped one by one. "What now!? He better not be doing that selfdestruct thing again!" Scura freaked out, the thunder got louder and louder. "No. This is different.." Therese did not know what he was doing, but it did not cause any damage to the database room. "Donna, look out!" Instead it seemed like the lord of thunder wanted to take his opponent out with her as he grew to an immense size. "!?"

Prospero's LP: 0

Only for his own cybernetic appendages to split him apart and scatter his avatar to the wind. "Wha? I could have sworn he was about to electrocute me." Donna opened her eyes again and exhaled to calm her nerves. "Scarlet must have done it. Those metallic parts were not on his body before, only after Scarlet put him back together." Therese concluded. "So she activated a killswitch? In case Prospero decided to go nuts? Is he like.. dead now?" Scura shuddered. "I think not. I believe he was normalized and ejected by the network. All of his pent up energy ran free... But I am affraid the worst is not over yet." Therese pointed at all the stars still lit up in the darkness, 90 % of them were red now. "Prospero still managed to reach almost the entire network. We only stopped him from spreading it to everyone"

"Damn. So he wasn't bluffing about that!" Donna punched the floor. They could deliver 'an antidote' now, but first they would need to get their hands on it...

...

"It is so.. cold." Crescent shivered. She did not ever expect to feel like this anywhere inside STHEREA. "Does that mean its working?" Blanche did not want to sound impatient, but they had been standing in a grassy meadow for some time now. "We are in the right spot." Zettai insisted. She and Void could describe what it looked like, and that was enough for Crescent to see the place in her mind. Now all she needed to do was to repaint it with her World Shield. "!?" And to Blanche's surprise. Walls began to appear slowly but surely: coffins and pillars rose from the soil which itself turned to stone. All light disappeared, leaving them in a dark shadow-rich tomb. "This is the right spot indeed." Void shuddered. "But where is she?" The place looked large enough to hide several people in. It could take forever to find her. "I know." Unless they had someone like Crescent on her side. "She took steps that way." She pointed towards a stairwell. "That leads to her main lab." Zettai recognized that the layout had not changed, and it made sense for the doctor to be there.

"So it is true. You came back from the dream."

It made less sense for Melyria Cister to be here. "What? You?" Void heard her voice. "You're here? Are you helping Scarlet after all?" He could not see her because of how tiny she was, but she was certainly near them. "Yes, yes. And we can either talk about that, or fight about it. But you should remember.." She hummed from place to place. "That your nerves and mind.. still belong to me and my World Armor."

(To Be Continued in Line 109: Viral Warfare)

**New Cards used by Grand Donna the Monday Smasher  
**Gouki Tag Partner

-  
Gouki the Solid Ogre  
Gouki Destroy Ogre

-  
Gouki Cage Match  
The Warrior Returning Alive

**New Cards used by Prospero  
**Thunder Dragonduo  
Thunderclap Monk  
Voltester

-  
Thunder Dragon's Discharge


	109. Viral Warfare

**Line 109: Viral Warfare**

"There is nothing to talk about. What you want cannot be allowed!" Zettai snarled as she and the others came face to face, somewhat, with Melyria Cister. "No. What they want cannot be allowed. They want to turn our paradise into a weapon, they would force us out of eden and make us forget about it. Yes. Is that what you want, Crescent? Is that what you desire, Void? Dont you miss the people you left behind?" The tiny wielder of the World Armor intercepted them before they could get to Scarlet, as she too wished to see her project come to completion. "Wagner.." And she chose her words well, since Crescent started to waver when she remembered who should have been here with her. "Just because I would like to see my own family again, does not mean that I would want them to live in here forever. They have a life of their own too! You cannot sweet talk us into this plan, Melyria. Nor can you threaten us! Crescent and I cannot be banished like Alpha was!" On the other end there was Void, who had spent enough time being influenced.

"Oh? I do sense something new about you, yeah. An items power. Did you win the crown back from Static? That might keep you in STHEREA. But it wont save you from my power, Void. You let me inside your mind, I can get inside of it again.. Do not make me turn my blessing into a curse, hmm." She flew very close to Void, landing on his hand.

He was ready "Wrong item, Melyria." Void reached into his inventory with his other hand and pulled out the World Chalice. "Hss!" Melyria flew back to avoid the water that spilled from the edge. "You took that from Hansen?" She grew back to her normal size, landing on the floor. "Yes. And I presume if I use this, I can sever my nerves from your armor." Void smirked. "That will not stop me for long!" Melyria insisted, though she knew she could not fight back now that Void had his guard up. "But wait.. if you are here. Then Prospero has already lost. Which means.." Instead she stared into the distance. "Yes." And she disappeared again, completely this time. "Where did she.. go?"

"I can.. see her.. The Palace! That's where she went!" Crescent realized. "She might go after the server room to finish what Prospero started! We cannot let her do that!" Zettai cursed. "Yeah but we just got here." Blanche moaned. "You're both right. Zettai, Blanche. Find Scarlet. Crescent and me will go after Melyria." Void trusted them with this task, as he and Crescent could better handle a threat like Melyria. "Good idea boss! Lets go Zettai!" Blanche nodded and rushed up the stairs. "I do not follow!" The ace duelist rushed after. "Will they be okay?" Crescent wondered. "I hope so."

...

At the end of the stairwell, they came across a wide open laboratory surrounded by dungeon walls and lit by ominous red lamps. "Ah. This must be it." Blanche saw digital screens in every corner, and a large machine at the center. "Doctor!" Zettai glared at the swivel chair in front of the machine, which turned around to reveal the labs hostess.

"Welcome back, Zettai. And welcome for the first time, Madam Blanche. I think I know why you are here." She spoke pretty jovially for someone hunted by everyone. "No more jokes, Scarlet. Just give us the cure for your virus, Scarlet." Blanche grumbled. "Oh? You mean my reversal program? Yes I can see why you'd like that. Right now my 'virus' has infected about 90.46 % of every STHEREA connection. You will be happy to learn that the spreading has stagnated. However.. I could still start the attack on that 90 percent with just a push of a button." She dangled her finger over her the keypad behind her. "Then why haven't you?" Blanche realized that they could not have stopped Scarlet even if they wanted too. "Because despite what you may think, I am not insane, Blanche. I was never going to unleash it unless they forced me too. Prospero was only meant to deliver the program, not activate it. He did not get that, so I had to discipline him."

"You only intended to use it as a threat then? Why do I not believe you?" Zettai activated her dueldisk. "You know that Exeter will find a countermeasure on their own eventually. You are stalling. And even if this is all, I do not condone it! You cannot hold a world hostage just to make demands for yourself! We will have that cure, Doctor! And I will fight you to get it!" She could not stomach seeing the world under the constant threat of a single person. "Well alright, I shall admit that I do need a little more finetuning to maximize the radius of the barrier. The company might try to evacuate to a safe distance, but their network is everywhere.. even in the skies. There is no safe distance. And it's them I need to target. But I doubt you would let me do things my way, would you?" The doctor dismissed her screens, her seat and summoned her own deck of cards. "No I wouldn't." The ace duelist engaged the viral doctor.

"Sooooo what do I do?" Blanche asked as she tilted her head. "Oh. Feel free to rummage around. You might find something interesting." The doctor chuckled. "I do not require your assistance. You would just be a distraction." Zettai basically went with Scarlet's suggestion. "Well, this feels like a trap. But okay." Blanche shrugged and headed of, inspecting the area beyond the two duelists.

Scarlet's LP: 8000 Zettai's LP: 8000 -TURN 01-

"Now then. It seems I have the first turn. How unlucky for you, Zettai." Scarlet said with a mischievous smile and proceeded to activate her spell: Card Destruction. All the cards in their hand were destroyed and replaced with new traps. "I don't lose much, how about you?" The doctor asked her opponent as she discarded three cards, with the Lord of the Lair Darkest Diabolos being among those cards. "You can see it for yourself." Zettai grunted and sent four spells (Sky Striker Mobilize Engage, Sky Striker Airspace Area Zero, Sky Striker Maneuver Hornet Drones, Scapegoat) to her grave. The more cards were in her graveyard, the better.

"Excellent. Then let me refresh a little." Scarlet said as she activated the Pot of Extravagance spell card, drawing two cards by banishing six random monsters from her extra deck. She hardly used the cards in her extra deck anyway. "Good. I summon the Tour Guide from the Underworld, which can summon one level 3 fiend from my deck!" Said monster, the redhaired imp guide(3/1000/600) [Zone 4] came in very handy. Her effect called out the tour bus' first passenger: the three-eyed demon critter Sangan(3/1000/600) [Zone 5]. "And then I activate Monster Gate! I sacrifice one monster to excavate cards from my deck until I find another monster that can be summoned! I choose to tribute Sangan!" Her drawn spell opened up a portal into the future, after it consumed the life energy of the unfortunate Sangan. "And when Sangan leaves my field, I can add one monster with 1500 or less attackpoints to my hand. But that monster cannot use its effect this turn." She further explained as she added the 0 ATK Capshell monster to her hand.

"You do not have to tell me what you are doing. I can see it as plainly as the sky." Zettai grunted, not wanting to be lectured like a child. "I do apologize. I did not mean to treat you as anything less than an equal." Scarlet went on to resolve the Monster Gate, excavating several cards before settling on her old favorite. "Welcome, Lilith." The demoness Lady of Torment(3/2000/0) [Zone 3] emerged from the deck at full power. The other excavated cards (Crush Card Virus, Darklight) were sent to the graveyard. "And let's welcome Diabolos as well." Since a monster had been tributed on Scarlet's side of the field, she could resurrect the lord of the lair: Darkest Diabolos(3/3000/2000) [Zone 1], in attack position. "Lady Lilith activates her effect!" The next step came as no surprise either. By tributing one dark monster, Tour Guide from the Underworld, Lilith could prepare one of three traps from the deck. "Here is where you come in, Zettai. You may be serious, but even you can play a little game can't you?" She revealed her choices: Traptrick, Epidemic Eradicator Virus... and Epidemic Eradicator Virus.

"What?!" Zettai had no choice at all. Either she picked the virus Scarlet wanted to have, or a trap that could activate the virus from the deck. "Are _you_ even serious!?" Zettai snarled as she selected one random card, hoping that Scarlet would at least not be able to activate it yet this turn. "It depends.." Scarlet accepted her choice, and returned the other two trap cards. "That is just another half-measure! Either you are all in, or you are not in it at all!"

"And that is a cognitive flaw, Zettai. The mind is not so simple." Zettai played one more spell card, Allure of Darkness. It let her draw two cards and banished another DARK monster (Capshell) from her hand. "In fact we still do not understand the mind at all. But I feel like I have come closer than anyone else.. Heheh. Certainly I have come close to understanding yours!" One of her two new cards was exactly what she needed. "I activate the Temple of the Kings! Now I can activate one set trap card each turn!" Her divine shrine rose behind her, giving the dungeon a more Egyptian flavor. A black statue of Anubis now rested on top of every coffin. "Gah! Then your virus is.." Zettai dreaded this moment. "Yes. I activate Traptrick, to banish one Epidemic Eradicator Virus from my deck and activate another!" The pseudo-trap led to the activation of the real E Virus. It turned Darkest Diabolos, a DARK monster with 2500 attackpoints, into a carrier for its own plague. "I choose to destroy all spells in your hand, and all spells you draw for the next three turns!"

"Damn you." The virus acted instantly, revealing Zettai's cards and sending two more spell cards (Sky Striker Mecha Hornet Drones & Foolish Burial Goods) to the graveyard. "That must have hurt. But then your deck is largely composed of spells, isn't it? I am honestly surprised I only managed to get two cards." Besides Zettai's skill card, the ace duelist still had a trap (Metaverse) and a monster (Sky Striker Ace - Raye). The doctor placed two more trap cards down on the field.

-TURN 02-

"Ah there is number three." As soon as she ended her turn, Zettai had to draw her next doomed card. She claimed the Sky Striker Maneuver Widow Anchor, and the virus immediately shattered it. The quickplay spell could not even be activated. "Still, your monster could be a problem. So I activate Escape from the Dark Dimension!" Nor would the standby phase end while Scarlet still had traps to play. Her first would special summon one banished DARK monster: Capshell(1/0/0) [Zone 1]. "And Lilith tributes it!" The ball juggler demon suffered the torturous dark energy of the Lady Lilith, who drained his vital spirit to set another one of three random traps on the field. "Tch." Zettai had to choose between two Deck Devastation Viruses or another Traptrick. Either one would not be good for her. And either way Scarlet could draw a card when Capshell left the field because of its own sacrifice.

"You think you know me, because you know my deck's weaknesses?" She made her choice again, resulting in the placement of the D-Virus. And, once again, Darkest Diabolos [Zone 1] returned from its grave as soon as one of Scarlet's monsters got tributed. "No. That information came freely. I often have to adjust my deck slightly for specific opponents. But for you.. I felt my standard strategy would be more than sufficient!" Thanks to the Temple of the Kings, Scarlet could use her new trap in this very turn. "Deck Devastation Virus is activated! I sacrifice Diabolos and destroy all monsters in your hand with 1500 attackpoints or less!" For the second time her statements proved to be deadly accurate, as Zettai did not even have any monsters in her main deck with more than 1500 attackpoints. The Devastating Virus claimed Sky Striker Ace Raye and buried her deep underneath the tombs. "Even without monsters or spells, I can still fight! If you think you can break my resolve, than you don't know me at all!" Zettai placed her last card face-down. The only move she could make right now.

-TURN 03-

"Oh. But I can get to know you better. I can try to get more from you, from your life. I already have glimpses, of a stern mother.. of a troubled and constrained upbringing, of a girl who sees this world as just an outlet for pent up emotions."

"What did you say!?" Zettai gasped. Those sentences were too true to be mere guesses. "Just the results of my research." The woman smiled as she tapped the side of her mask. "I came across a fascinating project inside Exeter's network. Project Flute: the power to store memories. I'd been working on a similar device myself, and today I could integrate their work into my own, doubling its effectiveness. The minute you stepped into my domain, your past became public knowledge to me. And now I know what you are thinking, without having to use any instruments. Unfortunately it is far from perfect yet. I cannot even read your recent thoughts or see what you can see." Then again, she did not need to do anything special to see into Zettai's hand right now. Nevertheless the ace duelist was outraged. "How dare you... That is the kind of work you do? How long have you been working on this?"

"Not long enough." Scarlet summoned a new monster: Psychic Ace the four-eyed psychic astronaut(2/1000/0) [Zone 4] flying on his space drone. "When Psychic Ace is tributed, I can destroy one card on the field! So I sacrifice him of course..." Out of Scarlet's own shadow, a large claw arose. It grabbed the Psychic Ace and dragged it into the underworld. "To special summon Duke Shade, the Sinister Shadow Lord. This fiend will get 500 attackpoints for each Dark monster he tributed for his own summon!" The shadowclaw returned to his true master: the pale hell duke(4/500/2000) [Zone 4] in his devil armor with horns and tail. Duke Shade(1000/2000) feasted on the soul of Psychic Ace as he smugly sat on his black spiked throne. "And there is only one card to destroy." Scarlet picked her target: the face-down trap. Psychic Ace's drone vehicle stayed behind to dive down into the card with explosive desires.

"Then you will fail! I activate Metaverse, to activate Mystic Mine from my deck!" Nothing could actually stop Zettai from using the trap before its intended destruction. And if she could set the Mystic Mine in her field zone, Scarlet would not be able to attack or activate monster effects.

"I figured you would have a trap like that, in case of desperation. But..." Scarlet flipped her second trap card: Dark Bribe. "I can stop that too." The countertrap bribed Zettai into negating her own Metaverse card, by giving her a new draw from the deck. "Argh." She did not get to enjoy the bribe for long however, as the Epidemic Virus destroyed her spell (Sky Striker Maneuver Vector Cannon) as soon as she drew it. "It looks like I covered almost every avenue, doesn't it?" Scarlet smirked behind her mask. For the third time this duel she would be reviving the Darkest Diabolos(3000/2000) [Zone 1] from her graveyard due to the successful tribute of the Psychic Ace. "But still, I wonder just how many of these will reach you." With no more monsters to summon or traps to spring, the doctor entered the battle phase. "Lilith, Duke Shade, Diabolos! Direct attack!" Each demon charged their unholy power and channeled it into wave of shadows that took on the form of claws and teeth. Three times did the wave pass through Zettai.

Zettai's LP: 2000

"Ngh! Was that your best shot?" The ace duelist cringed. She had dealt with drones that could hurt a lot more. "Part of it. Let me show you the complete course." Scarlet responded with a snap of her fingers and a quick monster effect. "I sacrifice Diabolos! To activate Lilith's effect!" The Lady of Lament took the life of her own lord in order to set another one of three random traps (Dark Spirit Art of Greed, Ballista Squad and Grinning Grave Virus). "And then I activate my skill card: The Forbidden Surgical Operation! I can special summon one monster that was sent to the graveyard this turn! But the operation will leave his attack and defense points switched around!" She operated on her Lord of course, reviving the fallen Darkest Diabolos(2000/3000) at two-thirds of his initial power. "There we are." New life meant new opportunities... for attack. "Darkest Diabolos, attack Scarlet directly!" One powerful punch would bring the ace down, erasing all of her lifepoints in one neat turn.

However.. the ace had an ace up her sleeve. "Did you imagine that it would be this easy? I am no fool, Scarlet. And neither are you!" Her skill card. "I activate The Goddess of the Earth! When a monster is special summoned from the graveyard, I can special summon one as well!" Zettai punched the ground and made the temple floor crumble underneath her feet. "Oh?" Scarlet had to take a few steps back to avoid the pits that led to the graveyards. Zettai's skill broke the coffin of Sky Striker Ace Raye and special summoned her(4/1500/1000) [Zone 2] to the field.

_Goddess of Earth, Skill Card_  
_When a monster is special summon from your Opponent's Graveyard: _  
_Target 1 monster in your Graveyard with ATK less than or equal to the special summoned monster; Special Summon that target._

"Earth? I see, you do not just one of the four elemental god skills." Scarlet recovered from the upset quickly enough, but she also quickly realized that this skill thwarted her one turn victory plans. "As I said, either you master all elements or you master none at all! The wind destroys, the earth restores, the water heals and the fire burns! I have all four skills! You would have known this if you had observed all my duels!" Now Zettai could activate the effect of Sky Striker Ace Raye to use it as a link material for another Sky Striker. "You had the earth, now comes the sea! I special summon Sky Striker Ace Shizuku!" Zettai merged her avatar with that of Raye, letting the blue hue overtake her body along with the winged metal armor of Shizuku(1500/LINK 1) {Upright} [Extra Zone 1]. "For each spell you made me lose, your monsters hall lose 100 attackpoints! There are eight spells in my graveyard!" Zettai/Shizuku swept her hand across the field to push Diabolos(1200/3000), Lilith(1200/0) and Duke Shade(200/2000) back. "You have failed again! You cannot keep me pinned down, doctor!"

"Impressive. But the lesson has not ended yet, Zettai." The doctor called off her attack and turned back to her traps. "I tribute Darkest Diabolos to activate Dark Spirit Art of Greed!" The dark lord returned to the graveyard. And through the greedy art, Scarlet could drew two new cards. One of them she placed face-down in the spell/trap zones. "That ends my turn. Which means your monster's effect activates." During the endphase, Shizuku could add one Sky Striker spell from the deck to Zettai's hand. Scarlet Fever was well aware of the fact that the virus did not destroy spells 'added to the hand'. "And that mean your games are over." Zettai added the spell Sky Striker Mecha Modules Multirole.

-TURN 04-

Of course, the virus still affected her draws. The card she drew this turn, Skystriker Maneuver Jamming Waves, got claimed by the Eradicator plague as well. "That does not matter to me!" Zettai moved on and activated the Mecha Modules continuous spell. The hexagonal portal opened up behind the ace duelist, in anticipation of the following Sky Striker series. "I Link summon, Kagari!" Zettai did not want to delay, she wanted to feel the heat of the eight bladed wings. Shizuku became a link material for the fire-based Striker Kagari(1500/LINK 1) {Upright} [Extra Zone 1], coating Zettai's armor in crimson and flames. "Kagari adds one Sky Striker Maneuver back to my hand: Mobilize Engage! And I activate it!" Her resources were slowly increasing, as the Mobilizer spell added one more Sky Striker card to Zettai's hand: Sky Striker Maneuver Afterburners. "And It draws a card, since there are three spells in the graveyard!" Mobilize Engage resolved by drawing a Metalfoes Fusion spell. Unfortunately the Virus destroyed that as well.

"Yes, adding is not something I can stop. But I can copy it. I activate What's the Catch! You added a card from your deck, this trap then lets me add one of mine!" Zettai claimed none other than the field spell: Lair of Darkness. "You cannot use that against me in this turn!" Zettai roared and activated the Afterburners. "Yes now you can destroy one monster and one set card." Scarlet watched as Zettai blasted straight towards her. "But what if I activate Lilith's effect, and sacrifice her?" The doctor did not have much a choice either. She made the Lady of Lament destroy herself, just to set another random trap from a trio of traps (Ballista Squad, Fuhma Wave, Darklight). It went without saying that Scarlet resurrected Darkest Diabolos(3000/2000) [Zone 1] right afterwards. "None of your effects can target Diabolos. since you failed to destroy my monster, you cannot destroy my set trap card either." The streak of flames passed her by without marking even one of her cards. "Tch, I have nothing to fear from Diabolos!" Zettai snarled as she placed herself behind the doctor to continue the duel.

"No. But you have plenty of other things to fear." Scarlet mused as she placed her hand against the side of her mask. "More of your mental games? You do not have the right to look into my mind!" Zettai shouted. Nevertheless the doctor continued. "But you are such a fascinating subject, Zettai. A solidified train of thought molded and warped by a rigid upbringing. I see it now. Your father as a former dueling champion, your mother as a devout woman. A matrimony that could only end in separation, and a little girl whose life got torn apart as well. The mother always wins these battles of custody, don't they? But you take more after your father. And that is why you are afraid of her." Scarlet clapped her hands and opened up one of her coffins. "!?" To Zettai's utter shock and dismay, a woman with the face of her mother crawled out. "How? She is not.." She never told anyone about her, and yet Scarlet managed to create a perfect replica in the span of minutes. "No she is not real. But she looks real, doesn't she?

"HOW DARE YOU!" Though Kagari/Zettai gained 100 attackpoints for each of the eleven spells in the graveyard: she(2600 atk) lacked the power required to vanquish the lord of the lair. Instead Zettai/Kagari unleashed her wrath upon the Sinister Duke as he sat in his throne and fired a sharp blast of fire in his face. She maximized the output, so she could damage the doctor and her 'mother' at the same time. Nothing remained of that disgusting display, and the blast also damaged Scarlet's gasmask.

Scarlet's LP: 6400

"Oh that is alright. I can make many more as long as I have the code." She smirked as she tore of the damaged part of her mask and exposed her wicked grin. "Why? Why did you make that? Do you even know? Do you even know why you are doing any of this? Is it hate? Is it anger?" Zettai just did not understand. "None of that. I am doing it simply.. to prove that I can, Zettai. To show the world what can be done, in a place like this. Exeter was the one who made it personal, by trying to shut us all down."

...

Halfway during her search of the dungeon, Madam Blanche came to a troublesome realization. She had no idea how to work any of the machines she saw. Mostly because there did not seem to be any buttons to push anywhere. She could understand buttons, not these fancy flatscreens with their always changing numbers and bars. Vigionaire's hideout made more sense than this. "Okay. Think outside the box. Scarlet clearly can't just be doing experiments with just monitors. She must have controls hidden somewhere. Or data stored in.." The white-haired girl tapped the floor with her foot and soon noticed what was all around her. ".. the coffins?!" Just because something looked like storage for dead bodies, did not mean that they could not carry anything else!

"Aha!" Blanche started removing lid after lid, hoping to find something interesting that they could use against Scarlet. Unfortunately, each opened coffin still remained sealed with an extra barrier. She could only look inside, not touch anything. "Wh..what?" And she saw... a very familiar face. "Sundown?"

(To Be Continued in Line 110: Waiting to be Recognized)

**New Cards used by Doctor Scarlet Fever  
**Sangan  
Psychic Ace  
Duke Shade, the Sinister Shadow Lord

-  
Pot of Extravagance  
Monster Gate

-  
Traptrick  
Dark Bribe  
What's the Catch?

**New Cards used by Zettai  
**_GOD OF EARTH_

-  
Metaverse


	110. Waiting to be Recognized

**Line 110: Waiting to be Recognized**

Scarlet's LP: 6500 Zettai's LP: 2000

"You must be stopped. No matter what you believe or what you say, your work cannot be allowed. It is evil!" Zettai clenched her fist. "And who decides what is evil, what is right and wrong? The companies? The governments? God? We've evolved beyond such ancient dogmas, Zettai." The doctor retorted. "Be quiet! Your words will not win me over or even slow me down! I Link summon Shizuku once again!" Zettai switched back from red to blue, as Kagari became a link material for the sea warrior lady Shizuku(1500/LINK 1) {Upright} [Extra Zone 1]. "Your monsters lose 100 attackpoints for each of my eleven spells in the graveyard!" The waves of the sea dragged the Darkest Diabolos(1900/2000) down further and further into the abyss. "I end my turn! Which means Shizuki can add one Sky Striker Maneuver from the deck to my hand, whose name differs from my other spells!" She could only pick a few at this point, but a certain quickplay spell was one of them now. "I add Shark cannon and activate it! Doctor, now I can special summon one monster from your graveyard!"

The quickplay Maneuver spell resurrected Lilith the Lady of Lament(3/2000/0) [Zone 2]. "I still have three traps in my deck. That is enough for this demon's ability!" Zettai made Lilith sacrifice herself, and chose three random traps (Evenly Matched, Evenly Matched, Metaverse) from her deck. "Oh?" That the doctor had not counted on this. "Are you not fond of your own mindgames, doctor?" Zettai smirked. "You surprised me, but that is all.. You wont get in my head so easily, Zettai." Scarlet poked at one of the three traps, letting the others return to the deck. "Maybe. But the tides are turning for the battle at the very least! During the endphase, Mecha Modules Multirole sets one Sky Striker down on my field, for each Sky Striker Maneuver card I used this turn! I used three!" Zettai hid three spells down in the waters: the Maneuver Shark Cannon, Mobilize Engage and Mecha Modules Hornet Drones cards.

-TURN 06-

"Hmm. I do find it amusing that you would still shout out your own moves, while chastising me for my explanations. You are enjoying yourself as a duelist very much, aren't you?" Scarlet smirked as she activated Recurring Nightmare to retake two DARK monsters with zero defense from her graveyard: Psychic Ace and Capshell. "This is not entertainment to me, Scarlet. This is my true self!" The ace duelist retorted.

"And is that how you think of me? Do you believe I do everything for my own pleasure? My work is necessary, Zettai. And therefor this world is necessary. My world. My _domain_. My joy of life." Scarlet emphasized her words and punctuated them with the activation of her new field spell. "This is the Lair of Darkness! All monsters on the field become dark-type! And I can sacrifice one of your dark monsters for my effects each turn!" The dark rot spread from her Kings Temple to the empty floor around Zettai, corrupting her and her Shizuku avatar into a blackened colorless version of herself. "Now if you had any cards left in your hand, I could have turned your Striker into a tribute for the Dark Lord's power. But there are other ways to turn you into a proper tribute!" Scarlet normal summoned Capshell(1/0/0) [Zone 4]. "I link summon the Beat Cop from the Underworld with Capshell and Darkest Diabolos as the materials!"

"The underworld?" Two monsters were required, and if those link materials were dark monsters with different names, the link monster would also unlock its effect. A demon police lady(1000/LINK 2) {Downleft/Downright} [Extra Zone 2], wearing a skull-capped hat on her blue hair, drove in straight from hell with her patrol car made of infernal flames. "Since I used Capshell as a link material, I can draw one card. And the Beat Cop can tribute one monster each turn, to create a Patrol counter. Obviously I will sacrifice yours." The hellish cop used her cuffs to apprehend Shizuku and to send her to the graveyard. "Rgh!" Zettai lost the armor of the Sky Striker Ace, returning to her black and white form. Raye could not revive herself if the Sky Striker Aces were removed as a cost. "A monster with a patrol counter cannot be destroyed by battle or effects if it removes the counter instead! Though I imagine you have no need for such facts." The doctor placed one trap card down and entered the battle phase. The Underworld Cop stepped into her hellfire car to run Zettai down.

"You won't get a free hit, doctor!" Zettai flipped her other set spell cards. "I activate my Shark Cannon again! This time I will resurrect your own lord!" The ace duelist fired another shot into the ground with her twin finned cannon. The spell resolved and pulled out the Darkest Diabolos(8/3000/2000) [Zone 1] to the field in defense mode. "A defense and a counterattack at the same time. Most impressive. And yet..." Scarlet Fever revealed her counter: a trap called Fuhma Wave. "I will target my monster, and destroy a monster with the same attribute on your field. And we're all of one color here." A wave of demonic winds traveled through the dark lair, targeting the DARK Beatcop first and then lingering around the Darkest Diabolos. "Also this effect does not target." Her lord perished, leaving only a shadow of his demonic energy on the rotten field. Beatcop's vehicular attack burned right through the shadows and slammed directly into Zettai. "Strange, I know you had another defense set. Why didn't you activate that one?"

Zettai's LP: 1000

"Because this is not about fighting for me now, it is about survival." Zettai would not waste her resources unless the doctor forced her to. "Oh in that case.. Through my Temple, I can activate my trap: Ballista Squad! I tribute my monster to destroy one of your cards!" The doctor flung her own Hellcop from a ballista and flung her hard enough to shatter the hexagonal portal of the Multirole spell. "I knew it.." Zettai saw the next move coming too. The sacrifice of the Beatcop brough the Darkest Lord(3000/2000) [Zone 3] back in attack position. "Diabolos.. your target is Zettai."

"I activate Sky Striker Mecha Hornet Drones!" The second quickplay spell flipped face-up, creating a token of defensive drones(1/1500/1500). Though that failed to provide enough defense against the attack of Diabolos, who smashed the flying hornets into a fine powder. At least Zettai herself avoided defeat. "Closer and closer, Zettai." The doctor ended her turn afterwards. The Lair of Darkness created two Torment Tokens(3/1000/1000), as two monsters had been tributed this turn. Between that, the destruction of Mecha Modules Multirole and the untargetable Darkest Diabolos, things were looking dire.

-TURN 06-

"Closer, but not finished. You have one turn left, doctor." Zettai drew another card, another spell (Sky Striker Maneuver - Vector Cannon) lost to the Epidemic Virus. This would be the last drawphase that the condemn-able trap would haunt her draws. On the other hand she could activate her face-down Sky Striker Mobilize Engage spell. "I add Sky Striker Maneuver Shark Cannon to my hand again!" Unfortunately nothing in the striker's arsenal would put a dent in the untargetable Dark Lord. Afterburners and Widow Anchor also targeted, and none of the link monsters were strong enough yet. Additionally the extra draw of the Mobilizer spell gave Zettai the Effect Veiler monster card, which the Devastation Virus destroyed. Then again, the ace did not plan to let one of her monsters do the attacking for her this time. "One." Zettai took a step forward. "One ?" Scarlet got little warning, before her opponent opened the battle phase with her empty field.

"One card... Just like me" Zettai jumped into the air with a simple airbooster mod. "I activate Evenly Matched at the end of the battle phase! Scarlet, you must banish cards from your field face-down, until you have as many as I do!" The outcome of Lilith's effect took hold of the duel. "Except you have no choice what you can banish, do you?" Zettai came crashing down, with her hands wrapped together to hammer punch Diabolos straight in the face. "Ah!?" Scarlet's Temple of the Kings, face-down Trap of Darkness, Lair of Darkness and Diabolos the Lair Lord shattered into atoms and vanished to another dimension. She had to remove those three cards to even the numbers... Because tokens could not be banished face-down. "So this is how you deal with a threat. If this were another time and place, I would have asked you who gave you those wonderful mods, but I know now that you are selftaught in the art of programming. In a way I see parts of myself in you." Not many duelists were this customized after all. "I am nothing like you!" Zettai cursed as she placed her spell face-down.

"I should hope not." Blanche stumbled into the scene. "Oh hello, Madam Blanche. Did you find anything you like?" Scarlet said with a little laugh at the end. "Ehr.. you could say that."

"What? What did you find? The antiprogram?" Zettai could hope, but the look on Blanche's face did not allow for much of it. "Uhm.. No. Scarlet, is that the real Sundown in your coffin back there?" Blanche just came out with it, as she could make little sense of it herself. "Why yes. It is." The answer stunned them both. "Sundown? He is here? Why?" Zettai could not believe it. "Because he needed my help. More than ever in fact. You see, he found out what we all wanted to find out. Who the unique one was. It was him."

"Him? What do you mean? Like.. he was the insider?" Blanche flinched. "Not by choice. It is a fascinating story really. Somehow Static managed to copy Hieronymus' consciousness data and overlay it with an ADI. Sundown Mephistar is the endresult of that merger. In comparison, forging an online account is the easy part. Now I do not know why he made Sundown, to spy on us perhaps? But you cannot deny it works." The doctor chuckled to herself. "So wait, he is an artificial intelligence? Like Static and Echo? That doesn't explain why he is here though!" Blanche at least now knew why Echo reacted to oddly to him before, and what Void had been hinting at. "To study him. He came to me, he gave me permission. Make no mistake, he is a conscious entity like you and me. So in a way I am doing this for him too. What would happen to Sundown if the network is shut down? A complex creation like him cannot survive on a closed system."

"Maybe, but that does not give you a justification for your plans. Doctor. Enough about this, Blanche stand back. Scarlet, continue the duel!" Zettai would not waver. She would deal with the Sundown issue later.

-TURN 07-

"Very well." The doctor drew her card "Hm. So this is what it's like to live one moment at a time." Scarlet's best cards were already spent, she had little left. At the very least her Pot of Extravagance from before had not banished every link monster... "Two dark monsters can turn into the Wee Witch Apprentice!" The extra deck would be her only way forward. She combined the tokens of Torment into the happy redhaired witch(1400/LINK 2) {Downleft/Downright} [Extra Zone 2]. Her presence added 500 attack points to all creatures of the Darkness... like the Witch(1900 atk) herself, and also 400 defense points for the Giant Germ(3/1500/500) she normal summoned. "And they will attack directly!" She flew in on her broom, and waved her wand of magic. "You know this will not succeed!" Zettai responded by flipping her second Shark Cannon and special summoning the Sinister Shade Duke(4/500/2500) in defense mode. "Hmph." The doctor grew just a slightly bit annoyed and canceled her attack. She placed one trap card face down and ended her turn. "If it is any consolation, doctor. There was nothing you could have done."

-TURN 08-

"And now I am free. You are going to wish things were different." Zettai looked at the spell in her hand. Nothing could take that away from her. "It is time!" Zettai activated her own field spell: the Sky Striker Airspace Area Zero. "Area Zero, destroy Duke Shade to add one Sky Striker card to my hand!" A digital wave traveled across the dungeon, and tore away the tiles beneath Zettai to reveal a grid of green energy displayed above a blue screen. The wave also consumed the sinister lord and excavated the next three cards from Zettai's deck. One of them could be added to her hand: Sky Striker Mecharmory Hercules Base! "Next, I activate Metalfoes Fusion from my graveyard! I can send this spell back to my deck, in order to draw one card! That is a little trick I learned from my past opponents!" She had been waiting all this time to get around to using the fusion spell. As she shuffled it into the deck, Zettai gained another spell from the deck. "Though I have failed in that past, I have come back stronger like the rising phoenix! And in my fire and your diseases you will burn! Until nothing remains of the rot! Monster Reborn! I special summon Sky Striker Ace Kagari!" She slammed the spell down: the spell that made the Striker of flames return to the field,

"Seems like everyone is using that spell nowadays." Blanche smirked. It reminded her of the good old times. Of course everything else about Zettai came from the modern dueling trends. Zettai merged with the warrior maiden in red(1500/LINK 1) {Upleft} [Zone 3], and used Kagari's effect to retake the Sky Striker Mobilize Engage card back from the graveyard.

"Kagari, your work is done. Now we return to the earth!" Zettai transformed her fire armor into a link material, as she needed to empty her main zones. Instead she link summoned the densely armored Earth-maiden and Ace Kaina(1500/LINK 1) {Downright} [Extra Zone 1]. "Kaina restores 100 of my lifepoints for each resolved Sky Striker spell or spell effect!" Zettai declared as she played the Sky Striker Mobilize Engage spell from her hand, adding another Sky Striker (Widow Anchor) spell to her hand. And since she had more than three spells in the graveyard still, Zettai could draw an extra card. "..." This one avoided the virus too, being another spell (Sky Striker Maneuver Hornet Drones).

Zettai's LP: 1100

"I activate Sky Striker Mecharmory - Hercules Base! I can equip it to my monster, while there are no other monsters in my main zone!" The Sky Strikers visual influences took on a quite larger role, once the equip spell of the Mecharmory landed on the field. "Whoa!" Blanche had to take a step back as Kaina/Zettai disappeared inside a massive white spacecruiser, with a pointed nose, five-finned body and four cannons. "Then I activate Sky Striker Maneuver Widow Anchor and Hornet Drones!" Zettai's voice came in through the ship's speakers, just as two spells resolved in the same chain before there were any new monsters in the main zone. The Widow Anchor took control of the Wee Witch Apprentice, while the Drone tokens(1/1500/1500) [Zone 3] started buzzing around her main vessel in defense mode. All three activated spells triggered the latent ability of Kaina as well.

Zettai's LP: 1400

"Link summon! Shizuku!" Zettai took it another step further and used the drones as a link material for the last copy of her sea maiden Shizuku(1500/LINK 1) {Upright} [Zone 3]. She linked with Kaina, but the hologram did not merge with Zettai's avatar. Shizuku's efforts would be appreciated in the battle nonetheless. Since there were now fourteen spells buried in the tomb, all of Scarlets monsters lost 1400 attackpoints. (Giant Germ: 100 atk). "Scarlet! When my Hercules Base attacks and destroys a monster, I can draw one card! My targets are your link monster and your face-down monster!" Two of the ships cannons took aim, incinerating the Giant Germ with blasts from above. "Ah!" While Scarlet took the battle damage, the Mecharmory drew its first card. And the resolved effect of the equip spell allowed Kaina to restore another 100 lifepoint for its pilot. However the destruction resulted in a loss of life as well.

Scarlet's LP: 5100 Zettai's LP: 1000

"When the Giant Germ is destroyed, you lose 500 lifepoints, and I special summon two more from my deck in attack position." The Germ(3/1000/100) split up into two copies(3/1000/100) [Zones 2 & 4] of itself. They(100/500) also lost nearly all their attackpower to the effect of Shizuku, but killing either of them would also result in the loss of 500 lifepoints. "If both of them die.. " Zettai barely had enough points for a complete purge. "I know that." The ace duelist scowled. "But I do not flinch!"' Zettai entered the fight again, giving the second Germ another round of Hercules cannonfire. Another Kaina-approved shot of lifepoints entered her system while the Hercules Base drew another card. "Ngh!" Zettai's spaceship got infected by another cloud of viral spores.

Zettai's LP: 600 Scarlet's LP: 3700

She ordered the widowed Wee Witch and Ace Shizuku to strike whatever remained, blasting the last Giant Germ away and delivering a direct attack towards Scarlet. One more germ infection sapped her life energy, but at least she had cleared the field. "The difference between victory and defeat can be as small as a single lifepoint! And I intend to keep fighting til I die!"

Zettai's LP: 100 Scarlet's LP: 800

And so Zettai moved to the second main phase to reveal one of the cards drawn by the Mecharmory: Mecha Modules Multirole. "Again!?" Scarlet flinched slightly when she realized the Multirole madness would start all over. "Yes. I can use Multirole's second effect to destroy one of my cards!" The Mecha Module continuous spell came in and salvaged the Airspace field spell. Another fortune for her, as a destroyed Area Zero would and did special summon the Ace Raye(4/1500/1500) [Zone 1] from the deck.

"And then I will use all four of my monsters for a link summon!" Raye, Shizuku, Kaina and the Wee Witch Apprentice combined into one fourway linking grid. "A link 4 monster?" The doctor gasped. She did not have any data that could explain this. "Someone once told me that the world was not black and white. That I limited myself. I did not agree then, and I still refuse to compromise my ideals now. But.. for the sake of victory, I _am_ willing to draw power from new sources! This is Appalousa the Bow of the Goddess! She gains 800 attackpoints for each of her unique link materials!" A whitehaired goddess(3200/LINK 4) {Downleft/Up/Down/Downright} [Extra Zone 1] descended down a path of heavenly light, and mounted a majestic polar bear. Appalousa wore a black and green hunting dress and had ears like that of a wolf. "Each time you try to activate a monster's effect, I can negate its effect by removing 800 of her attackpoints!" Zettai placed one card down on the field afterwards and ended her turn.

-TURN 09-

"How could this.. I prepared this duel so carefully. How did it all get away from me?" Scarlet shook her head. "No. 100 lifepoints is nothing. I only need to make one more attack." She still had her trap card, she still had.. "I activate Metaverse! To play the Lair of Darkness from my deck!" ...plenty of her field spells. With the Metaverse trap, she could turn the world back into what she preferred. The endless decay took over once more. "And then.. I summon Ahrima the Wicked Warden!" And its jailer hellhound(4/1700/0) [Zone 3] came with it, drawn at the start of this new turn. "You can see.. that Ahrima may sacrifice one monster on the field to draw one card. I will sacrifice yours, Zettai. Thanks to my Lair. Appalousa certainly is a powerful monster. But her effect is useless if she is already absorbed as a cost for my effect." A mind like hers could weed out the weak points in any new ace monster with just a few mental deliberations. The only thing she could not enter into her calculations was whatever trap Zettai had prepared.

"You are still afraid, aren't you?" And Zettai caught her glaring. "What else are you afraid of, doctor?" So she helped Scarlet see the shape of the fear and activated the quickplay spell. "Sky Striker Maneuver, Eagle Boosters! Since there are no monsters in my main zone, I can make The Goddess of the Bow immune to your card's effects!" Her spells did not just work on the Sky Striker maidens. Any monster in the extra zone could use the magical boosters. Appalousa and her polar bear darted across the Lair of Darkness with such light steps, that they could not even be turned into DARK monsters. "Ah.." Scarlet Fever had lost her chance. Ahrima did tribute itself, but Appalousa simply negated the effect activation and killed Ahrima. Darkest Diabolos had already been banished face-down and the doctor could not draw any card. "Incredible. You outsmarted me." She could only resign herself to her fate, letting her field spell create a Torment token(1/1000/1000) [Zone 3] during the endphase: knowing fully well it would not save her forever. "What.. am I afraid of?"

"That all my hard work, will have been for nothing.."

-TURN 10-

"What? You realize there is like a lot of crazy **** you can do with all the stuff in here? Crazy non-evil ****?" Blanche cried out in exasperation. "It is impossible. If they bring us down, I will be.. I am nothing outside there. I am a nobody. Static was right about me too, I cannot let go of this world. You did stop the first attempt, Blanche. I am thankful for that, but you cannot keep them away forever. They have begun to realize that STHEREA is too much to contain. So my mind is unchanged. I wont turn back from it. I am sure you do not think I can be redeemed either way."

"Redemption is not for everyone. But maybe you still have a chance. If you give us what we need." Zettai would win the duel either way. As she had drawn Reinforcement of the Army. With that spell she added her last Sky Striker Raye to the hand, normal summoned her(4/1500/1500) [Zone 3] and linked her up into the Sky Striker Ace Hayate(1500/LINK 1) {Downleft}, the maiden of the wind. "Hayate, direct attack." Her maiden of the wind used her special effect to land a direct hit to the doctor, disabling her avatar...

Scarlet's LP: 0

"I suppose we both earned this, and this..." Scarlet cradled the wound in her torso. "This will give me a chance to study my own scars.. But the tools you need to reverse my virus are in here, in folder V." She took off her mask and tossed it over to Madam Blanche.. "Along with a little something extra. My research about the Legacy Items." She grinned. "Come again?" Blanche blinked and verified that she had indeed received a new file. "Is this another bribe?" Zettai sneered. "No. I am offering it to you freely. I know where the sixth item is hiding now. But I lack the sense to find it, since I never joined Millennium. I guess you are right, I was too afraid. Not confident enough to change myself even more. Now you forced my hand.. Heheh. However... I will be taking the rest.. with me. And you wont be able to find me again like this. I have to... reinvent myself"

"What!? Doctor! What about Sundown?!..." Zettai's eyes widened as the whole place around them went up in smoke. Like mist Scarlet had disappeared with the wind, and the two duelists were left behind with just the doctors plague mask. "Damn it! How do we know if her information is even legitimate?"Zettai stomped on the ground. "Only one way to find out." Blanche looked at the mask. "Let's bring this back to Exeter HQ. Lets just hope it's still in one piece."

...

"They aren't here yet." Void concluded as he and Crescent guarded the palace from the outside. "Maybe she was just distracting us?" Void did not like the quiet. "She will be. She is close by. Millennium will attack us soon." The silence did not fool the wielder of the shield however. "But_ how_ will they attack? Prospero was the only one who could spread Scarlets virus. And he is gone now.." He assumed that Melyria would not be satisfied with capturing just 90 % of earths population. He soon got his answer on how she could get the remaining 10 %. "Oh no." Bolts of lightning slammed into the tower, the forest and the ground. Lightning that turned into duelists.

"She made more!?" He should have realized it sooner. If Prospero could use his freedom to evolve into pure energy, so could the other members of Millennium.

(To Be Continued in Line 111: Exceptions into Rules)

**New Cards used by Doctor Scarlet Fever  
**Beatcop of the Underworld

-  
Fuhma Wave

**New Cards used by Zettai  
**Apollousa, Bow of the Goddess

-  
Metalfoes Fusion  
Monster Reborn  
Sky Striker Mecharmory - Hercules Base


	111. Exceptions into Rules

**Line 111: Rules Into Exceptions**

Neo knew where he had to go to locate her: Paradise. And he knew how to get there. "Echo!" He expected a long dangerous journey into enemy territory. Instead he came across the girl in the wheelchair as soon as the Millennium skill card transported him there. "How long.. have you been here? And where is Midsummer?" Last time he saw him, she had teleported them both away. He did not see the masked duelist anymore. "He went where I could not go." The girl said with a forlorn expression. "Where.. Oh." The real world. Neo guessed Midsummer retreated to recover from Static's attack. Though she sounded like he had missed an intense conversation between the two. "It's not fair!" Echo still had some leftover tension as well. 'You all have another place you can go to! But I only have this! And everyone is destroying it!"

Neo could see what she meant there too, Paradise had been turned into a scorched desert. Where had everyone gone? He only saw some activity in the distance, near a great black tower. No way he would come close to that. "Hey uhm.. We dont mean to wreck things. It's just that Millennium.. wants to do something bad. And we have to stop them." Neo tried to explain it. By now he had seen Bionis' warnings on the forums. "Bad? They just want to bring more friends here. Is it that bad if everyone gets to visit? You have friends like that too, dont you?" And Echo knew about the plan as well, seemingly. "Echo. I do things they like, I dont force them to like me. People should want to visit STHEREA on their own." Neo nearly forgot what she was.. a thought given life. "Look. I can take you away from all the fighting at least. You'll like that, maybe?" He figured she would be better off with Vigionaire and Asterisk.

"Maybe." Echo sighed. "But I am worried. There is a lot more fighting coming soon.."

...

"What the hell did we miss?" Blanche and Zettai could only make it to the front of the palace, where a full on war took place. "Millennium!" Zettai saw dozens of electric duelists fighting against Crescent and her shield, Void and his chalice. Other duelists from Millennium were busy fighting against Giganoto, Donna, Bionis and Scura. "What do you think you missed? Did you get the antidote!?" If you have it, get it to Therese! These bozos are trying to finish what Prospero started!" Donna growled. "You heard her. I will fight with them, you do what must be done!" Zettai commanded as she quickly intercepted one duelist that tried to ambush them. "Yeah okay." Blanche held on to Scarlet's mask and fled inside.

"Well. Maybe things are gonna go better now." Scura dared to say. "Uh.." But that was when Giganoto saw what else loomed on the horizon: a massive fleet of tanks and rail cannons plowing through the forest. "Aww no. Not that doofus again." Scura recognized the machines as Gustav Max and Juggernaut Liebe: favorites of Ulysses. "..I will take care of him!" At that point Void suddenly shot by, flying through the air with his speedboard. "What? He kept that?" Zettai found herself pleasantly surprised: the cyberse sped off towards the incoming armada. "Since when he get so confident?"

...

"Ahoy! I see you got our message!" Ulysses did not make himself hard to find. He, in his silverized avatar, stood on top of his giant machine, waving at Void as he raced by on the speed board. "I was hoping it'd be you, Void! Your friends are all tied up, but you.. I will challenge to a duel!"

Void's LP: 8000 Ulysses' LP: 8000 -TURN 01-

"You are not beating around the bush I see." Void muttered. "I take it that Melyria sent you to help your new electric friends." He asked as he stepped of the board to land on top of the battlefield: the barrel of Gustav Max. "Oh yeah she sure did. I am all she's got left in the management and firepower department. Said something about threatening you to not undo Scarlet's work or something. I didn't ask. The fact that you apparently have your own Legacy item now is far more interesting.." The conductor drew his cards but gave the first turn to Void. "Well, you got me. I hope you are happy." Void did not want to waste time either, so he normal summoned the Balancer Lord(4/1700/1200) [Zone 1] of the cybersword and cybershield. And he payed 1000 lifepoints to use its effect and get a second normal summon of a the four-armed Flick Clown(4/1000/1400) [Zone 2]. "Ha! That card reminds me of Melyria! But are you sure you wanna pay lifepoints already?" Ulysses laughed.

Void's LP: 7000

"I am sure. And I am serious too." Void activated a spell card next. "Cynet Backdoor! The Balancer Lord will be banished for one turn! But in return I can add a Cyberse to my hands with less attackpoints than him! I add Datacorn!" The backdoor portal swallowed the Balancer whole. Though that triggered its secondary effect. "When Balancer Lord is banished, I can special summon one Cyberse from my hand! Datacorn!" The dangle-tailed acorn robot(1/0/0) [Zone 3] dropped to the ground and, since Datacorn had been special summoned, created a Data Acorn token(1/0/0) [Zone 4] in defense mode. "Then I set one card face down and activate the spell, Cynet Recovery. And, since I have no more cards in my hand now.. and I control three cyberse monsters, I can activate Flick Clown's effect!" The network clown took another thousand lifepoints from Void. A steep cost, but now his master could draw one card.

Void's LP: 6000

"You must be pretty confident to be so wasteful." The silverfaced duelist grew more and more amused. "I think I earned that right when I defeated Mister Static." Void smirked back at his opponent. "You don't say? You brought down the boogeyman? Is that how you got that fancy chalice of yours?" Ulysses took the news well. "He took it from Hansen. It is a long story. The story you are here for I reckon." Void clenched his hand. "I link summon two monsters, IP Masquerena! And Linkuriboh!" Two non-link monsters were required for a link summon of Void's newest cyberse: a longhaired IP girl(800/LINK 2) {Downleft/Downright} [Extra Zone 2] with a cat ear-helmet, catlike cord-tail and rollerblades on her feet. A little way down, the level 1 monster like acorn token would be perfect as a link material for his powerdraining cyberse Kuriboh(300/LINK 1) {Down} [Zone 3]. "That should do." Afterwards Void ended the turn.

-TURN 02-

"Oh, so instead you try to woo me with once of you prettiest ladies eh? I am sorry, I am not that kind of man anymore!" Ulysses yelled as he drew his card while the Balancer Lord[Zone 1] returned to the field. "Then what kind of man are you? Why are you still with Millennium?" Void asked. Of the top five, Ulysses had always been the loudest yet most reserved member. "Didn't Scura tell you? Heh, I am the kind that is not really interested in the real world anymore. Prospero put it best, here the food chain no longer matters!" He started off with his most dangerous spell right of the bat. "Urgent Schedule!" Because Void controlled more monsters, he could special summon one Earth-machines with a level lower than 4, Infinitrack Harvester(2/0/1000) [Zone 1] and a machine with a level above 5, one Infinitrack Trencher(5/500/2400) [Zone 5], from his deck at the same time. "Your link monsters are nice, now look at mine! The link materials are two machines of the earth! For Double-Headed Anger Knuckle!"

The trench digging Infinitrack collided with the Harvester truck in a spectacularly crashing fashion, creating a link portal at the heart of the blast that released a bronze steamtrain(1500/LINK 2) {Down/Right} [Extra zone 2] with a massive plower and two giant robotic arms at its side. "Now I'll be honest. This thing is just a placeholder. What I really needed was a few machines for the junkyard! Because of this salvaging beauty! Flying Pegasus Railroad Stampede!" The next train came into town, the silver express pulled by the mechanical Pegasus(4/1800/1000) [Zone 3]. "I think you saw this one before!" Behind the silver carriages, another earth machine could be coupled. The Flying Pegasus brought Infinitrack Trencher back into business and made that machine's(4/500/2400) level match that of the Railroad Stampeder. "Of course, before there were link summons. The black border was king! Get in here, Number 27! Dreadnought Dreadnoid!" One long line of silver Railroad carriages and a single Trencher machine drove up into the sky, into an overlaying portal. A large pure metallic warship(R4/2200/1000) [Zone 4] emerged, with a bow sharp enough to shatter any dam or fortress.

"Numbers?" Void had not counted on seeing those used by anyone but a champion. "Why yes, Void. Acrates was not the only one to grow up on that show! Also you aint fooling anyone. I've seen your duels too! I know what you are planning to summon with that IP girl! So you might as well do it now!" Ulysses had been aware of IP Masquerena's effect from the first second. The cybergirl could perform an immediate link summon, during his main phase. "I suppose that explains why you didn't go for rank ten right away. In that case, IP Masquerena will use herself as a material to link summon Secure Gardna!" And one particular link monster could block all effect damage for the rest of his turn. That being the shoulder-shielded Security Guard droid(1000/LINK 1) {Right} [Extra zone 1]. "There we go, you and your little link ones and me and my slowest vehicles." Ulysses rubbed his steel knuckles. "_An attack_ will still hurt, I reckon. Anger Knuckle! Attack Linkuriboh!"

"Linkuriboh's effect activates! I tribute it, to reduce your monsters attackpoints to zero!" Despite its size, the tiny Linkuriboh managed to stop the punching anger train(0 atk) in its tracks. "I know you would. But since your Gardna can block battle damage too, I feel like smashing it now. Dreadnought Dreadnoid attacks Secure Gardna!" The 27th number pointed all of its cannons at the Security cyberse, and gave it hell in the form of an endless barrage. Though Secure Gardna negated battle damage once a turn, it could not negate its own destruction. "Aw yes, and now that Dreadnoid has destroyed a monster.. I can use it as an XYZ-material for a rank ten plus machine, at the end of my battlephase! Meanwhile, I suppose you get your cyberse again!" Ulysses noted that the continuous Cynet Recovery spell would 'recover' one cyberse from the graveyard if another got cyberse got destroyed. "You seem to know a lot about my cards." Void let his spell resummon Datacorn(1/0/0) [Zone 4] in defense mode, which allowed him to create another Acorn token(1/0/0) [Zone 5]

"It pays off to study ones opponent. That's what Cherry always likes to lecture me about." Ulysses smirked as he initiated the sequence of the 27th Number. Dreadnought Dreadnoid turned to pure energy and orbited around a new incoming train along with its three attachments. "XYZ-Change! SuperDreadnought Rail Cannon Juggernaut Liebe!" His choice did not come as a large surprise. Its immense stature was large enough on its own, the Juggernaut cannon tank(R11/4000/4000) [Zone 4] took up the entire area. And it somehow surpassed those limits by detaching one of its XYZ-materials, which added 2000 more attack and defense points to the SuperDreadnought(6000/6000). "Now anyway. Here is your chance to attack me. You better bring me something good, Static-slayer. Because I wont be raising my firepower until you do!"

-TURN 03-

"I see. Well I hate to disappoint." Void surprisingly found himself enjoying the battle so far. It felt exhilarating to duel, and he could not quite explain why. "I summon Flame Bufferlo, and use it to link summon Restoration Point Guard!" Maybe it was the fact that everything fell in place so neatly every turn. How Flame Bufferlo and Datacorn could be used as link materials for the legless yellow Point Guard(1000/LINK 2) {Left/Downleft} [Extra zone 1]. Or how Flame Bufferlo could activate its hand exchange effect when it left the field, letting Void discard Sea Archiver to draw two new cards. Or how there would always be a good link in the extra deck to answer every situation. "Sea Archiver can summon itself when another monster is special summoned to a marked zone. Which means.. it's time for Linkuriboh to come back." One level 1 monster had to be tributed to return Linkuriboh back to the field, and Void happened to have a sacrifice-able token. The acorn transformed back into a proper Kuriboh[Zone 2]. And in the next chain, Void could revive the cyber seahorse Sea Archiver(3/300/2100) [Zone 3]. "And now, I link summon Transcode Talker!"

"Fighting earth with earth huh?" Ulysses clapped. Linkuriboh combined with the Restoration Guard, and formed a new whole inside the bronze armored code gunner Transcode(2300/LINK 3) {Up/Down/Right} [Extra zone 1]. Each turn it could bring back one link 3 or lower cyberse monster from the graveyard and link with it. And Transcode chose IP Masquerena[Zone 2]. "I don't stick to just one element, so yes and no! I will also link summon Detonate Deleter!" Balancer Lord and IP Masquerena combined themselves and were replaced with a helmetfaced crimson android(2100/LINK 3) {Left/Downleft/Right} [Zone 2] carrying a vest of explosive sticks. "Deleting and Detonating... What's the difference? Let's find out, Ulysses! Detonate Deleter tributes one monster to destroy one of yours!" The Deleter grabbed the Sea Archiver, gave it a stick of cyberTNT and lobbed it over to the giant Rail Cannon Juggernaut.

"Now that's funny..." The seahorse burst upon impact, and started a chain of blasts across the entire Dreadnought. "I am glad you did that, Void!" Ulysses smirked and proceeded to spring his normal trap. "Because I can activate Crusher Run when you destroy my machine! Now I get to destroy one of your cards! Quid pro quo!" He aimed his silver finger at Transcode Talker. The destruction blaze of the Dreadnought consumed Earth Coder as well. "After all, Transcode can't do anything as long as it's not co-linked!" Though this did have the added effect of returning Restoration Point Guard [Zone 3] back to the field, as the monster that used it as a link material had been destroyed by a card effect. And Cynet Recovery could also resummon Datacorn[Zone 2] to the field and letting it create its third acorn token(1/0/0) [Zone 1].

"Well put. There is still the deletion part: Detonate Deleter can automatically destroy any monster he battles with if it is not a Link 3 or higher monster. But I see you did not fear that. Meaning.." Void turned Balancer Lord into a link material, as well as the Detonate Deleter with his three markers. "I will skip it to link summon Firewall Dragon! The materials are two plus monsters!" Four streams slammed into the circuit, and created the ultimate protective cyberse: the Dragon(2500/LINK 4) {Left/Up/Down/Right} [Extra zone 1] of firewalls. "Then I activate Link Back! This spell sends cards from the deck to my graveyard, for each marker on my link monster. And I move that link monster to one of the zones he has pointed to!" The Firewall Dragon[Zone 2] took a vertical step down, and dragged four cards (Cynet Regression, Prohibit Snake, Mind Control and Cyberse Gadget) along to toss into the graveyard. "This I can work with! Battle!" And so Void sent his dragon after the Double Headed Anger Knuckle. He dodged the train's punch and turned it into scrapmetal with a well placed fireblast.

Ulysses' LP: 7000

"Guess which effect activates! Since I destroyed your monster, Prohibit Snake can add one Cyberse back to my hand from the graveyard! And it has to banish one other cyberse from my graveyard to do so!" He picked two targets that would combine rather well: Flame Bufferlo got added to the hand and Balancer Lord took the banishment. "When Balancer Lord is banished, I can special summon one cyberse from my hand! Flick Clown!" The handy clown(4/1000/1400) [Zone 4] made his way back to the stage in the same chain. And there were no more obstacles in between him and Ulysses. "Flick Clown! Restoration Guard! Direct attack!" The fire buffalo and the yellow restorer pelted the conductor with balls of flame and energy. To push Ulysses back ever so slightly. "Hah. That's not the best a wielder of an item has got, is it? Gimme something to shout about, Void!"

Ulysses' LP: 4600

"I do not feel like using the power that I have, Ulysses. Unless something like it is used against me. For instance, when Melyria tried to send me to a realm of nothing but pain. Did she tell you about that?" Void wondered while he let the battle phase transition into the second main phase. "She told me a lot of things. Things I happen to agree with. People are ruining their world, their nature spoils the nature of the smaller folk and of nature itself! There's have a nice word for that... Greed. At first I thought, why not let them keep going? Not our problem.. greed cannot permanently destroy anything here. But no, now they showed us that they will keep going to corrupt things around them. Virtual or not. So yes, she told me.. and I think it is a great idea! If we bring the powerful here, they will become powerless and the rest of the world can become better!"

"Is that what you think? Or what she thinks?" Void still did not feel like he heard a completely genuine answer from his opponent. "Either way. If you go through with it, you are just as harmful as the ones you hate. So I have to keep defending!" Before the turn moved over to the next one, Void paid 1000 lifepoints to have Flick Clown draw another card.

Void's LP: 5000 -TURN -04-

After the turn ended Void could tribute the acorn token yet again to special summon Linkuriboh[Zone 5] form the graveyard. Void would need it. "What do I think? Eh it's not that important." Ulyssed shrugged again. "But if you aint using that chalice for anything, I will gladly take it off your hands... Come on out, Infinitrack Harvester!" He started with a bang, banishing Infinitrack Trencher from the graveyard allowed him to special summon the Harvester machine[Zone 5] back with its effects unsealed. "Harvester lets me add any old Infinitrack to my hand. And I take this one right here! Infinitrack Anchor Drill! I normal summon you!" A blue and yellow drilling machine(4/1800/500) [Zone 4] on treads rolled in to the battlefield, and started breaking open the zone next to it.

"Even better, Anchor Drill will special summon one Infinitrack monster from my hand! I choose the Brutal Dozer!" At the end of its drill run, the Anchor had carved out a nice space for the massive pink/black bulldozer machine(5/1900/2100) [Zone 3] with its wide girth. "And best of all! Infinitrack Brutal Dozer can special summon one Infinitrack from my deck! Though its effects will be negated on my field." The fourth machine, Infinitrack Tunneller(5/2200/500) [Zone 2] appeared in the path bulldozed flat by the Brutal one. "Beyond best! I discard one card, and special summon Double Headed Anger Knuckle!" Finally he activated the effect of the streamtrain from the graveyard: discarding an Infinitrack Crab Crane to reassemble the Anger Knuckle[Zone 1]. "I am starting to see what you mean." Void stated. These machines alone leveled miles of the forest with their effects. And unlike their realistic counterparts, their damage could always be undone.

"I can go even bigger, partner! When I activate Crusher Run from my graveyard, I can set Outrigger Extension!" Especially after he banished the crusher trap, and moved one of the two other Infinitrack support cards from the deck to the field. Once Outrigger Extension flipped face-up, Void could not target his XYZ-machines with effects anymore. "Coming in hot! I XYZ-summon Infinitrack River Stormer!" And so the silver duelist went big: placing Infinitrack Tunneler and Brutal Dozer together as attachments for a fifth rank XYZ-summon. The next machine could carve out entire rivers with its gigantic three cannons. That gave the crimson tank(R5/2500/500) [Zone 2] the name of River Stormer. "You should have hit hard when you had the chance, Void! River Stormer adds an Infinitrack to my hand!" He yelled as he detached the Tunneler from the XYZ-machine and added an Infinitrack Drag Shovel card. "I can special summon my new Infinitrack, if I tribute one machine of the earth persuasion. And I have plenty to pick from." In this case he let Anchor Drill go back into the ground, repurposing its parts for an orange backhoe vehicle(5/2100/1500) [Zone 1].

"But I choose this one, just in case you survive this turn somehow. Which I noticed you heroes have a tendency to do! Drag Shovel can banish one machine give me the trap card: Spin Turn!" The shovel machine scooped up a part of the graveyard with its metallic mouth and swallowed the Number 27: Dreadnoid. Ulysses in turn eagerly retrieved his trap from the deck afterwards. "Isn't it the same for you? For Millennium? You have to constantly survive as well. If you lose even one duel, you lose everything." Void pointed out.

"I like those odss myself. Heh." Ulysses responded with his trademark nonchalance and subsequently activated the effect of the Harvester on Dragshovel. "Harvester combines the levels of my two Infinitracks! And so I XYZ-summon the Mountain Smasher!" Another mighty crash occurred between the Harvester(7/0/1000) and the Shoveler(7/2100/1500), bringing in a machine even larger than the one that could shape rivers. The Mountain Smasher(R7/2100/3100) [Extra zone 2] towered over the distant hills and flattened the fields. "One more stop! Time for an Rank-up! Outrigger Extension uses the Mountain Smasher as a Material for the Earth Slicer!" At long last they arrived at the ultimate XYZ: the city-sized excavator(R9/3100/2100) [Extra zone 2]. Void was starting to wonder how many people could see the duel now from far away. "Earth Slicer destroys one card for each of its materials! How convenient, that you have that many targets on your field, Void!"

"Yes, convenient. But it would inconvenient if I could protect them, right?" Void flipped his trap card in advance. "I activate Parallel Port Armor! I equip it to Restoration Point Guard! Now my monster cannot be targeted by your card's effects, or destroyed as a result of battle! I also activate the effect of Firewall Dragon!" Void countered from two angles. "Say what now?" The Firewall Dragon **{right}** had a co-link with Restoration Point Guard **{left}**, so Void could move one monster back to a players hand. And if all of Ulysses' heavy hitters could not be targeted, he could send one card from the graveyard back instead. "I take back Prohibit Snake!" A card that did not have to target to remove a monster from the field. "Ah. So that's your angle." Ulysses slapped on the side of his giant earth scooper and detached all three of its materials. "Well I will destroy whatever I can!" The mighty machine crushed Cynet Recovery, Linkuriboh and Firewall Dragon.

"Besides. I have an angle too. It's called, who gets to be the strongest. See, I can resummon my Infinitraxck XYZs by removing one machine link monster from my field!" Suddenly and with a lot of noise, the Double Headed Anger train collapsed into a pile of metal. The metal expanded and melted outwards into the massive destroyer: Mountain Smasher [Zone 3]. "And then I have to use three XYZ-monsters as materials for the ultimate Infinitrack! Fortress Megaclops!" Ulysses had already shown he could change the landscape around them. This time he changed the battlefield itself into a gigantic machine. The fortress rose up underneath their feet, with claws and arms of every constructive kind growling at its side. "What on.." Void looked below him, and he could see the Fortress(4000/LINK 3) {Downleft/Right/Downright} [Extra zone 2] drive on treads the size of a freeway. The whole of STHEREA trembled with its every movement, and he could see every sector from the top.

"Impressive, wouldn't you say?" Ulysses lowered his head and laughed to himself. "See this? This is why I joined Millennium.. Not because I am addicted to it, because I love or hate people or because some god is showing me the way. I just love that I can do anything I want to do without feeling guilty about it! And what I want to do now.. is take your item.. Ex-wielder of the Chalice!"

(To Be Continued in Line 112: Justice Made Obsolete)

**New Cards used by Void**  
I:P Masquerena  
Detonate Deleter

-  
Link Back

**New Cards used by Ulysses  
**Infinitrack Anchor Drill  
Infinitrack Brutal Dozer  
Infinitrack Drag Shovel

-  
Double Headed Anger Knuckle  
Number 27: Dreadnaught Dreadnoid  
Infinitrack Megaclops

-  
Crusher Run


	112. Justice Made Obsolete

**Line 112: Justice Made Obsolete**

"So when do we know if the antidote works?" Blanche, Therese and Asterisk waited at the heart of Exeter HQ. "It is not an antidote. It is a removal program." Therese sighed as she administered the 'cure' downloaded from Scarlets mask. "Okay. Okay. So when does the antidote work though?" Blanche inquired once more. "Ugh. We will know when it is fully uploaded. It has to spread across a million access-points. That will take a while." At the very least it seemed to not make things worse, some of the red stars were turning blue.

"Great! And what about the other info?" Blanche asked as she juggled Scarlets mask with her hands. "Uh. V will know what to do with it, he will be waiting at the area with Himiko and Neo. I plan to stay here and help These guard the servers, in case someone breaks through.. It is the least I could do.."Asterisk shook his head. "I should have been there when you went after Scarlet. I might have been able to keep her from running away, or save Sundown." He sighed. "Eh. Don't beat yourself up over it. She is a slippery woman. But I don't think she wants to harm Mephistar. Whatever his deal is." Blanche said. "But you do have a point. The ones we have to worry about.. are right out side."

...

Void's LP: 5000 Ulysses' LP: 5000

"I am gonna need your item.. Ex-wielder of the Chalice!" Ulysses clenched his fist. "Megaclops can take one of your monsters! And attach it to one of mine! After it revives one of course! Allow me to bring back my Lovely Juggernaut!" The shovel claw of his Mega link monster(4000/LINK 4) [Extra Zone 2] dug deep into the forest's earth and pulled the previously dismantled Dreadnought Rail Cannon(4000/4000) [Zone 4] up to put it back together. "Ah!" Void's Flick Clown(4/1000/1400) [Zone 4] disappeared into the barrel of the Juggernaut, forced to become an XYZ-material against its will. All battle damage would be halved in a turn in which Megaclops used its effect, but Ulysses had his way to get back to the top. "I banish Infinitrack Tunneller from the graveyard, and return five Earth Machines to my deck to draw two cards!" Once he picked the five cards (Infinitrack Harvester, Drag Shovel, Brutal Dozer, Earth Slicer and River Stormer), he was rewarded with two spells. "And that's a bingo! I activate Limiter Removal!"

"!" Void nearly fell of the fortress due to the shock. The shock of the energy pulse caused by Limiter Removal as it doubled the attackpoints of every machine on the field (Megaclops & Juggernaut Liebe: 8000 atk) "See, it doesn't really care if your monster cannot die, Void! Your lifepoints are the ones on the line now!" Megaclops led the charge, pointing its cannons up to bombard Restoration Point Guard(1000/LINK 1) [Zone 3]. The restorer could not be destroyed during a turn in which a link summon took place, but Ulysses did not need to kill it. He only needed to activate a quickplay spell. "And then I also activate this beaut! Star Power! During the damage step, my Link machine gets 400 attackpoints for each rank on my linked XYZ-monster! I am sure you like to count.." Instantly the power of the already immense Fortress(12400 atk) went by eleven times. "But I do believe half of 12400 minus 1000 is still more than 5000! So this is the last stop,. Void!"

"Not yet, Ulysses!" Void shouted as he activated a card from his hand. "What? Your Prohibit Snake? Hate to break it to ya, but my Megaclops cannot be touched by any monster that doesn't have a rank!" Though the conditions were correct, the Snake would not be able to stop this attacker. But Void was not discarding that card. "But Megaclops damage _can_ be stopped! I activate Rescue Interlacer! It reduces the damage, from a battle with my cyberse, to nothing!" A red and white racing robot with hair of cords dashed across the giant fortress with siren lights flashing on its arms. It stepped in between the attacker and the point Guard, and absorbed the explosion that occurred as a result of the battle. "I am still your passenger, Ulysses!"

"Well well well, aren't we clever?" Ulysses grunted. While the Infinitrack Fortress(8000 atk) lost its Star Power, Juggernaut Liebe made its own attack on Restoration Point Guard with an earshattering cannon blast. Void could barely hear himself. "Then this time I will discard Prohibit Snake!" The Super Dreadnought only had defenses against targeted removal. When one monster battled a link monster, that link monster could use the power of the Prohibitor to push the attacker back into a players hand. Or, in this case, to send the XYZ-monster back into the extra deck, while the attached Flick Clown fell into the graveyard. "Figured as much." Ulysses moved on to his second main phase to place two traps face-down on the field.

"So the turn is over? Then now, Rescue Interlacer can special summon itself back to my field. Since its effect was used!" The red rescuer(3/1000/1200) [Zone 4] jumped back on the top of the mechanical battlefield. "Yes the turn is over. But that does not change the fact that there is nothing in your arsenal that can stop the Megaclops!" At the very end of the turn, Ulysses activated his skill: Legacy of Millennium. Megaclops could still be destroyed by spells or traps, which made it vulnerable to Limiter Removal's selfdestruct effect. But now the Mega machine(4000 atk) only dropped back down to its base attackpower.

-TURN 05-

"Every monster has a weakness, Ulysses!" Void started his turn. "I activate Monster Reborn Reborn! I special summon one of three monsters from my graveyard!" His spell would recreate his cyberse, and Ulysses could choose which one of the three (Lady Debug, Flame Bufferlo, Flick Clown) would return to the field. "Heh, if you're going that way, why not just use the regular Monster Reborn?" Ulysses settled on Flick Clown. All three monsters would give Void new resources, but the Clown would ask for the most in return. "Old Habits, I suppose." The reborn four-armed clown(4/1000/1400) [Zone 2] took another 1000 lifepoints and allowed his master to draw one card. "!?" And just as he drew that card, he felt a pulse of energy. The same kind of pulse that hit him when he dueled Dyzanthium and Static. "What was... that?"

Void's LP: 4000

Inexplicably, he felt drawn towards his extra deck by a strange hollow sensation. Why.. were there only 14 cards in there in total?

The card he drew was nothing spectacular, just a Link Streamer. But.. he somehow knew that he had drawn this card for a purpose. "I.. I normal summon Link Streamer! Who will make one token per turn, when a cyberse is summoned to my field!" The satellite-winged cyberbird(4/1600/1800) [Zone 1] waited to be satisfied, and it would be in the very next instant as Restoration Point Guard and Rescue Interlacer became link materials. "I link summon Encode Talker!" Two plus cyberse worth of materials handed him access to the powers of the divine shield-code knight(2300/LINK 3) {Up/Down/Downright} [Extra Zone 1] and to the holographic Data Token(1/0/0) [Zone 3] created by the Link Streamer. "Encode? Heh, going for pure power would have worked. Except Megaclops cannot be destroyed by link monsters either!" Ulysses laughed out loud.

"But it can be destroyed by XYZ-monsters, right?" Void smirked. "Pardon?" Ulysses stopped his laughter. "What.. the hell?!" And he stopped smiling alltogether when he saw Flick Clown and Link Streamer disappear... Not into a linking circuit, but into an overlay network portal. "An XYZ Summon!?"

Void knew how to do it. The card appeared in his extra deck at the exact moment he needed it. Though as far as his dueldisk could tell, it had always been there and Void had just not noticed it until now. The empty spot in the extra deck turned into Rank 4 XYZ-monster, which required two level 4 cyberse materials. "I XYZ-summon Firewall Exceed Dragon!" A darker version(R4/2500/2000) [Zone 2] of the firewall dragon with cross-shaped horns broke through the cosmic portal, orbited by two XYZ-materials. Exceed's body was black with steel scales of white, strong blue armor and wide wings made of blue electricity. "Firewall Exceed gets 500 attackpoints for each marker on a link monster that points towards him! And he can use both his XYZ-materials to special summon one Link 4 monster from my graveyard and link with it! So I special summon Firewall Dragon!" Both attached cards shot into the graveyard to open a portal to the world below. The original Firewall(2500/LINK 4) {Left/Up/Down/Right} [Zone 3] linked up with its reviver. And Firewall Exceed(6000/2000) gained seven powerboosts from both its counterpart and from Encode Talker.

"Where in the hell did that come from? Cyberse don't have XYZ-monsters! Heck, they only started getting ritual monsters just this month!" Needless to say, Ulysses refused to accept this reality. "What's the problem? You used a card that does not exist just a few minutes ago! Now I have a Legacy item, so I guess I can make my own cards too!" Void answered with a wry grin. He could not explain it better than that himself. "Firewall Dragon! Attack Megaclops!" And he would not let this golden opportunity go to waste. "Since Encode points at both my dragons! He can negate the damage your Megaclops does to one of them, and transfer his attackpower to the other!" Encode joined the Firewall cyberse in his selfdestructive charge, absorbing the counterblow of the Fortress with his shield until that shield began to glow with blue energy. Afterwards Encode flew back to Firewall Exceed Dragon and bathed the XYZ-dragon(10000/2000) in the blue light. "And now, firewall Exceed Dragon! Destroy Infinitrack Fortress Megaclops!"

"Ten thousand attackpoints!?" Ulysses never thought he would see that kind of power on a cyberse. Let alone one that could destroy his Megaclops. "I activate Shrink! And halve your monsters attack!" Saving his monster was out of the question now, but he could still rescue himself. "Shrink?" Turned out that Ulysses could halve attackpoints just as easily as he could double them. The quickplay spell shrunk the Firewall Exceed Dragon(5000/2500) just before it crashed into Megaclops. The attack still destroyed the monster, causing the two duelists to land on solid ground in between miles and miles of scrapmetal. "Close call, Void. But I already know your monsters weakness! You can't attack directly during the turn you use its effect!"

Ulysses' LP: 4000

"You have your way with power I see. But now you have finally seen mine. Now you know what I can do with the World Chalice." Void could still at least activate Prohibit Snake from his graveyard again, and used the snake's effect to banish Link Streamer and recover Rescue Interlacer from the graveyard. "Yeah that's nice and all, but what makes you so special? I've been with Millennium from the start. Why do you deserve to have an item more than me?" Ulysses countered.

"Aren't we all special, Ulysses? Or is that just a slogan Millennium tells people to recruit them? I wouldn't say anything made me better than others, besides circumstances. Besides the actions I took myself. I think I understand now why I never felt at home with Millennium. Because I had claimed the Crown beforehand. Even though I gave it too Static, its power must have made my mind more guarded against other items." Void remembered seeing through some of Ezra's illusions better than others, particularly whenever he 'converted' people with the Lance. "Ulysses. Millennium was doomed from the beginning. I have seen both sides now, and I know how it feels. It feels great, like an addiction. But that is it, it's a lie. The World Armor has influenced your mind... everyone's mind. It fooled everyone into thinking that they could never be stopped. That they could not be wrong." Void finally ended his turn. "Heh. And what's wrong with that eh?" And from the sound of things, his words had no effect on his opponent.

-TURN 06-

"I can think of a few things!" The voice of another changed his expression a lot more. "Spitfire! You came after all!" Ulysses removed his silver mask to greet the approaching Scura with a happy smile.

"Yeah to watch you lose." Scura grunted. "What the hell are you babbling about? You know you're being brainwashed? And you like it? That's even dumber than not knowing about it!" The subterror duelist snarled. "I would rather be a fool than know too much, Scura. You already heard. Melyria told you that I did some bad stuff, that I hurt a lot of people. Sure I still do that here, but here none of that matters! The pain can all be wished away! So why should I stop? Why should I stop feeling like this, when I don't have to? I can be as destructive and dangerous as I want to be! If I go back, all of those feelings come back too. The guilt, the memories: I want them to stay as just a distant memory. And don't you tell me you wouldn't like to forget some of your own worst moments!" Ulysses shouted as he drew his next card. "You don't know me at all, if you think I would wanna forget... How are you supposed to learn anything that way?!" Scura disagreed loudly as well.

"Sometimes, a clean slate is the only way to exceed your own limits... Void, lets continue! I summon Scrap Recycler!" Even with nothing but trash, Ulysses could find a way to crawl back to the top. His Recycler robot(3/900/1200) [Zone 5] took one machine from the deck, Infinitrack Trencher, and sent it to the graveyard. "Lets recycle!" The Scrapper also took two level 4 EARTH machines (Flying Pegasus, Infinitrack Anchro Drill) and returned them to the deck: recycling their parts to draw one new card. "Alright! I can banish Infinitrack Trencher, to special summon one level 5 or lower Infinitrack monster from my graveyard!" The only one he could revive right now was the four-wheeler Infinitrack Crab Crane(5/2100/500) [Zone 4]. But he only needed it as a stopgap between the graveyard and the extra deck. "I link summon Infinitrack Goliath, with one Infinitrack as the link material!" Instead of a crane and claw, the Infinite machines grabbed an excavator and jackhammer as the Crab truck transformed into the Goliath(1000/LINK 1) {Downright} [Extra Zone 1].

"And there I have it! Infinitrack Mountain Smasher can be summoned from the scrapheap, if I sacrifice my link monster! And Goliath turns into an XYZ-material when it leaves the field!" And the Goliath transformed further, attaching itself to the mountain destroyer Infinitrack(R7/2100/3100) [Zone 2]. "Having power is all about choosing the right things to get rid of. I see your token there, and if I destroy it. You will just special summon your Linkuriboh again. If I destroy Encode, Restoration Point Guard comes back to co-link with Firewall Dragon. Which means you can sneak Prohibit Snake back into your hand. But as long as I leave Encode alone, I cannot kill the monsters he points at. Ergo.." With a nasty smile he finally played the trap: Spin Turn. "I will break the Firewall! Spin Turn switches my XYZ-monster to defense mode, and destroys your monster!" The massive Smasher started to spin around wildly, making large swings with its shovel mouth. "!" One such swing knocked Firewall Dragon into the stratosphere. He would not be coming back down.

"Heh! And now I will destroy two more with Infinitrack Earth Slicer! XYZ-Change!" Ulysses reactivated Outrigger Extension to rank the Mountain Smasher up. The XYZ-monster and its one material became new attachments for the mechanical Slicer(R9/3100/2100) [Extra Zone 2] of the planet. It detached both those materials to fire a double shot that blasted Encode Talker and Firewall Exceed Dragon in a single go. "But if you attack now!" Void retaliated by sacrificing his datacorn token to revive Linkuriboh(300/LINK 1) [Zone 5] to the field. And the destruction of Encode Talker brought Restoration Point Guard(1000/LINK 2) [Zone 4] back one final time. "Yeah I know, you're gonna drop my attackpower to zero. But. Maybe you shouldn't!" Ulysses tossed the last card out of his hand to activate the effect of Double Headed Anger Knuckle. The anger steamtrain(1500/LINK 2) [Zone 2] punched its way out of the graveyard. "Because I am gonna summon a mouthful! I link summon Amphibious Swarmship Amblowhale!"

"Amblowhat?" Scura shouted. Steam covered the entire area, swallowing Anger Knuckle, Scrap Recycler and Earth Slicer all at once. Four materials worth of linking energy converged inside the heatcloud, and expanded inside a metal chassis. What came out looked like a giant whale(2600/LINK 4) {Left/Down/Right/Downright} [Extra Zone 2] made of the toughest steel, with red light glowing through the segments and a large selection of cannons and turrets strapped to the body and fins. It lifted the three duelists back in the air. "The Amblowhale yes. Each link monster in the graveyard will give it 200 attackpoints extra! That's sure to leave a mark on your Protector!" Nine link monsters in the graveyard (Infinitrack Goliath & Fortress Megaclops, Double Headed Anger Knuckle, Secure Gardna, IP Masquerena, Detonate Deleter, Transcode Talker, Encode Talker and Firewall Dragon) unwillingly and willingly relinquished their power to the whale warship(4400 atk) that plowed through the lands.

"Then I...I discard Rescue Interlacer!" Void negated the damage instead, discarding Interlacer one more time. Restoration Point Guard could not be destroyed this turn anyway, not since the Amblowhale showed up. Void stood securely behind the Interlaced barrier. "Wait? Why didn't you use Linkuriboh?" Scura had to ask, since that effect would have destroyed the Swarmship easily. "Because if Amblowhale is destroyed. He can revive one link 3 monster in the graveyard!" Counter-attacking now would only bring Megaclops back to the field, along with all of its effects. "Correct! But you're gonna have to face the music one way or another!" Ulysses shouted as he let the battle and the turn end. "You have a responsibility now. Everyone is gonna come for you and your shiny cup! If you cannot handle the heat, just let it go!"

-TURN 07-

"You are not even the first person to tell me that. Ulysses. But I am done listening to demands. Everyone has always asked me to bend my path for their sake. For me to give something up... A lot of the time I did it without even thinking about it, because it made them happier. But I don't think I want to make you happy. You think there are no consequences in here. But there are.. Ulysses." Void drew his next card. "I summon Stack Reviver! And then I link summon Raster Liger!" At once, Stack Reviver(2/100/600) [Zone 2] combined with Rescue Interlacer and Restoration Point Guard. Four link materials opened a roaring portal to the extra deck. A hybrid white tiger/lion cyborg(2000/LINK 4) {Left/Up/Down/Right} [Extra Zone 1] leaped out. Two cameras were attached to its neck via a mechanical brace. Simultaneously the dematerialized Stack Reviver could special summon one of RasterLiger's lowlevel link materials, Rescue Interlacer [Zone 2], back to the field. On the other hand Amblowhale(4800 atk) gained 200 attackpoints from the two new link monsters in the grave.

"Raster? You had another link four monster?" Ulysses expected only the Firewall Dragon. "There are a lot of cyberse, Ulysses. And I collected them all. That is my addiction. Not a habit I am proud of either, but I had to focus on something less harmful." Void pointed at his field. "Raster Liger can take one link monster in the graveyard and copy its attackpower! And the strongest one.. is yours, Ulysses!" The Liger aimed its cameras at the graveyard, scanning the casualties until it saw the Megaclops card. "But that means it gets 4000 attackpoints!" Ulysses protested as the Liger(6000 atk)'s power shot way up. "And when I banish Parallel Port Armor from my graveyard, it can attack twice in one turn as well!" Void declared and banished two link monsters as well, IP Masquerena and Secure Gardna, to activate the Parallel trap from the graveyard. Losing two link monsters dropped the Amblowhale(4400)'s attackpower back down to what it was before. "And then I link summon Link Bumper!"

"The Bumper? You prepared that link monster? Of all link monsters?" The crimson pinball robot(1400/LINK 2) {Left/Up} [Zone 2] linked up with the RasterLiger, which meant Void's Link 4 monster could make one more attack against another link monster this turn. "It helped me defeat the Crown. And I saw a lot of duels against indestructible Link monsters in my near future. So yeah, I guess I made a good call!" Void entered the battle phase and sent the cyber Liger to tear down the Amphibious Swarmship with its first Parallel attack. RasterLiger tore off Amblowhale's metal scales piece by piece.

Ulysses' LP: 2200

"But.." The destruction of Amblowhale did allow Ulysses to bring back any one link 3 monster. But no matter what he summoned, RasterLiger would be stronger. "This is not.." He special summoned the Fortress Megaclops(4000/LINK 3) [Zone 2] anyway, changing the battlefield back into the massive ground tank. "!" The Liger used up its second Parallel attack to slam into the gigantic Infinitrack. The impact failed to cause a single dent, but the shock tremors pushed Ulysses closer and closer to the edge of the machine and his own lifepoints. And Link Bumper now activated to give RasterLiger his third attack. "I guess... the last stop is meant for me instead."

Ulysses' LP: 200

"Ulysses. You idiot, you didn't have to go back. You could have helped us instead!" Scura hissed. "She is right. You know that what Melyria is doing, is not for the good of anyone." If nothing else, Void just wanted to stop the spread of destruction. "Heh. Now you want to recruit me for your club? Oh if only Cherry could have seen this. But I am not as lucky as you. They still have Cherry.. they still have me. Just one thought, and they could shut me down." He said as mimicked a gun pointing at his head. "And to be honest, outside of a few people, I don't care how this all ends. And I can't help them anymore. Thanks to you. But you, you might have a shot at beating them. So just end it, Void. Because I don't know how to stop." The machine kept moving, crushing parts of STHEREA underneath its wheels.

"So be it." Void cast his mercy aside and ordered the final attack. The RasterLiger swept his claws across the fortress and across Ulysses. "Ha.. I wonder what I will see now." The duelist stumbled backwards and fell of his own infinite machine. "!" Void followed his movements, but his avatar disappeared in the middle of his descent. The real world had taken him back.

Ulysses' LP: 0

"Ugh. How many times are we going to have to do this?" Scura enjoyed it the first time, but anymore. By now all the Prospero-lites had also been defeated and sent back to the real world as they cried out in distress. She could not see them as enemies anymore. "No more. I have had enough too." Void stared into the distance. "It's time we confront the ones responsible.."

...

"Ezra. Please. You have to come out." Cherry pleased as she knocked on the gate of the black spire. The tower was not usually closed off to her, but the wielder of the lance accepted no visitors anymore. "They're all going! You have to say something. Give them one of your speeches!" She alone lingered in Paradise.. what remained of Paradise. The magic had worn off, their wondrous homes nothing more than illusions. Only a dozen or so remained loyal enough to follow Melyria and Ulysses in their latest insane attack, and Ezra allowed it all. The wielder of the lancer sat silently on his throne, unresponsive to his family. "Anise. Be silent!" And violent with his most trusted friends. "I have to hear him! The Creator! He has not come yet, but he will! So I must focus!" His angered voice broke through the black walls, scaring Cherry away. "What is wrong, Ezra?" She wanted to help him, but she also wanted to help Millennium. These two desires used to always follow the same line.

But she could not get him to listen. Only the wielder of the armor could. "There is news, Ezra. We have found another Item" Suddenly, Melyria Cister arrived, the tower gate opened and the few Millennium duelists that remained became paralyzed with fear. Ezra finally stepped out into the light. "Where?" He glared at Cister with his hollow eyes. "!?" Cherry gasped again. She never saw him like this. She always saw the real man behind the skull facade. Not anymore. "To be more specific. The heroes found it for us. And if we play our cards right." Melyria stared at Cherry as well. "We may be able to get all six."

(To be Continued in Line 113: Weakness of the Human Mind)

**New Cards used by Void**  
Rescue Interlacer

-  
Firewall Exceed Dragon  
RasterLiger

**New Cards used by Ulysses  
**Amphibious Swarmship Amblowhale

-  
Limiter Removal  
Star! Power!  
Shrink

-  
Spin Turn


	113. Weakness of the Human Mind

**Line 113: Weakness of the Human Mind**

"You know I could get used to this place. Having an open roof is different, but I am up to the challenge of making it work!" Vigionair was in a good mood. He did not have to move around so much anymore, he could peacefully study the World Crown in the arena beyond, and the data Blanche handed him through Scarlets bizarre mask helped him make a wonderful new discovery. And he even had the company of the mysterious Echo now, whom he desperately wanted to analyze. "Are you sure though? This place is kinda creepy." But his peace ended whenever Neo decided to send Vigionair one of endless questions. The kid had the occasional good point though. "Yes. The purpose of this place is still unknown. You say you saw the planet earth above us. But my scanners pick up nothing beyond the clouds now." Vigionair saw no signs that connected this arena to reality. Though perhaps that was what Static wanted to achieve: a door into the physical world. "It could take me forever to understand.. Some days I feel like people don't live long enough."

"That too can change."

"Ezra!" Neo flipped out. The wielder of the lance stood inside the arena! "I was correct. Static cannot keep us out anymore." Cherry Anise and Melyria Cister were with him: visiting for the first and second time. "What do you want?" Vigionair quickly got up and stepped in front of the Crown on the floor. "The items, what else?" Melyria could clearly see the crown in front of them and she knew Ulysses was keeping Void busy. That left one.

"Well you're too late!" Neo started to say. "No! Do not say a word!" Vigionair quickly shouted. "It's alright. We already know about the sixth item. Neo, you might as well tell us." Cherry looked at the cyborg with a reputation for blabbering. "Melyria cannot sense Himiko's presence anymore, so she must be close to another item. We're too late you say? So did you send her and a few of your friends ahead to check out the area where the sixth item is? Just say it and nobody will get hurt. You don't want that, do you?" With their numbers they could easily take the forceful route. "Neo? Cherry? What is going on?" Echo could not help them after all, she did not even seem to understand what they were saying.

"Nothing you have to worry about. Leave this to us." Vigionair grunted. "So you want our information? Then what? And what about the Crown? You cant take it! You will have to duel Void for it!" He stubbornly held his position. "When the items are ours, the creator will let us know what their true purpose is. We will see him, touch him, live him! Our destiny will be as clear as the light of day!" Ezra began to speak in his holy tone. "The Creator? He was just a man. An inventor like me!" Vigionair retorted, angering the lance wielder. "Silence! You are of such limited understanding! You never saw what I saw! The same visions that guided me must have guided the man you believe to be a creator. He was a prophet for the true lord, the one to shepherd us to this new realm of wonders! And now I will take over his role!" He pointed the lance at the encrypter. "You can keep justifying it. But there is nothing mystical about those items, sir Ezra! Everything is a part of a collective network of thoughts! Those visions were likely just random images. There is no meaning. There is no such thing as destiny!"

"Gwaghah!" Vigionair recoiled immediately. "What the heck!?" Neo yelled and Echo stared mystified as they saw the encrypter go into a seizure. "Ezra? What did you do?" Cherry had never seen him lash out like that either. Meanwhile Melyria just stood there silently and watched it all happen. "I showed him.. some random images." Ezra stated bitterly. With his lance he could easily overload a humans perception with all kinds of psychedelic illusions. "Neo. You are the last one standing. Will you tell us what we need?" Ezra pointed his lance at the cyborg next.

"Not like this!" So Neo responded like any warmblooded duelist would. He activated his dueldisk and challenged Ezra on the spot. "Ezra!" Cherry moved too late to intercept the challenge. "Oh? It worked." Even Neo expected the challenge to fail, like it had done in the past. But he caught the real wielder of the lance. "Cherry, Melyria. This is my fight. Guard this arena." Ezra walked away from his companions and stepped forward. "You willed this, duelist Neo." A sweep of the lance covered the battlefield in total darkness. "Echo!? V?" Neo could only see himself now. "Hey! Am I supposed to duel you when I cannot see you?" Ezra hid somewhere in the shadows.

-TURN 01-

"You will see soon enough..." The darkness started with a spell: Danger! Excitement! Mystery! "Disappear, Monster of Loch Ness! And come to me, Chupacabra!" The spell discarded one Danger! monster of a high level to draw a lowlevel Danger! from the deck. And the discarded monster, Danger! Nessie!, had the added benefit of adding a Danger! Monster of its own to Ezra's hand whenever it got discarded. "I choose you as well, the legend of the Bigfoot!" Ezra took in his dangerous manbeast. Afterwards he placed a trap card face down, and only that card. "Wait that's it?" Neo could not tell what kind of sign this was. Either Ezra drew a bad hand, or he was underestimating him. "The creator has not shown his blessing to me yet. So I will not summon the Knightmares in this turn, duelist Neo." Ezra, still a voice only, made it sound like the latter. "Perhaps this is a test he wants me to endure."

-TURN 02-

"I dont know about any of that. But it will take more than one trap to stop me!" Neo drew his card and smirked. "I normal summon Cyber Dragon Core, which lets me add a Cyber spell card to my hand once a turn!" He would start out small too, with the spinal serpent core(2/400/1500) [Zone 3] of every Cyberdragon. "I add Cyberload Fusion! And then.. I activate Machine Duplication! To summon two more Cyber Dragon Cores!" The number of machines with 500 attackpoints or less would triple before his eyes, summoning two more Core Cyberdragons(Zone 2 & 4] from the deck in defense mode. "How is that for a magic trick?" Neo quickly used the middle and right Core as link materials for his electric blue metal Cyber Dragon Sieger(2100/LINK) {Left/Down} [Extra Zone 2]. "And since we counted three, we can go up to four! I special summon Cyber Dragon Vier!" Having special summoned a Cyber Dragon allowed Neo to summon the sleek silver dragon(4/1100/1600) [Zone 4] bathed in purple light. That purple light was the powerboost it gave to itself(1600/2000) and any other Cyber Dragon (Sieger: 2600 atk).

"That is only as good as you can do. It is nothing." Ezra flipped his one trap card: Mamekami. "Huh? That is.." Neo recognized it as a trap that would discard all of a players cards, draw new ones and then bounce one monster whose level equaled the amount of traded cards. 'Four?" Mamekami chose Cyber Dragon Vier and forced it off the field, while Ezra tossed four cards away: including three Danger! Monsters. "When discarded, Bigfoot destroys one monster on the field! When severed, Jackalope will summon one Danger! from my deck! When thrown away, Chupacabra shall resurrect what already died!" One destruction and three creations happened all in short order. The Bigfooted beast smashed Cyber Dragon Sieger to pieces. While the pink serpent Danger! Tsuchiniko(3/1300/0) [Zone 2], the red-feathered Thunderbird(8/2800/2400) [Zone 3] and the ferocious blackhaired Bigfoot(8/3000/0) [Zone 4] all arrived from the hand, deck and graveyard respectively. Meanwhile Ezra drew four new cards. "Do you fear now?"

"A little surprised. But no way I am quitting on turn one! I still have plenty of dragons! I activate Overload Fusion and summon Chimeratech Rampage Dragon!" As Overload Fusion could banish the materials from the graveyard as well, it removed the two 'Cyber Dragon' Cores to create the two-headed cyberchimera dragon(5/2100/2100) [Zone 3] and link it with Sieger. "I activate the effect of Rampage Dragon to give it two more attacks this turn!" Neo sent two LIGHT machines (Cyber Dragon Herz, Cyber Dragon Nachster) from his deck to the graveyard. Consequently, Neo could activate the effect of Cyber Dragon Herz to return one Cyber Dragon from the graveyard to his hand. And Nachster counted itself as one of those while it rested in the grave. "I add Cyber Dragon Nachster to my hand! And I can special summon it by discarding a card from my hand! " Even smaller than the Core or the Heart, a black and blue-spotted cybersnake(1/200/200) [Zone 5] with triple-segmented wings plopped down on the arena floor.

"Guess I could use Vier for something after all. And anyway, when Nachster appears, I can summon one machine with 2100 attackpoints from my graveyard! So lets welcome Cyber Dragon Sieger back everyone!" The Cyber Dragon demanded a neighbor, and called back the Link dragon(2100 atk) [Zone 1] to do so. "Are you starting to get worried?" Neo entered the battle phase, sending Sieger out first to destroy the defending Big Foot. "Another monster, another servant. The dragon is an old myth, and the stars a misunderstood source of life. Yet I have nothing to despair about. My future is clear, illuminated by a golden sun." Ezra responded coldly while he lit up the area around him with his special skill. "The Legacy of Millennium makes my monsters as immortal as the creator!" Sieger's laserblast bounced right back as it came near Danger Bigfoot. None of Neo's other monsters could destroy Ezra's Danger cards either.

"Whoa! That was quick?! Guess I am stronger than you thought!" Neo placed one card face-down and then activated a quickplay spell from his hand: Cyberload Fusion. "But I can still summon one more monster if I return the fusion materials from the field or from the banished zone to the deck!" Neo fused Chimeratech Rampage Dragon and the two banished Cores to create a fusion made from three Cyber Dragons. "And I also activate my skill Samsara Ascension! So that all my materials are treated as Cyber Dragons! Which means I can dust of a classic! I fusion summon Cyber End Dragon and link him with Sieger!"

_Samsara Ascension, Skill Card._  
_Declare 1 card name. Any monster's name can be treated as the targeted monster's, if it is used for a Fusion summon this turn._

"The End?" The Danger monsters fell under the shadow of a new even bigger three-headed machine: Cyber End(10/4000/2800) [Zone 2] the fusion of three Cyber Dragons. "Your monsters can't be destroyed, but they still take some good old battle damage! And Cyber End pierces through any defense!" Cyber Dragon Sieger could amp his attackpower up by another 2100 points, as Cyber End Dragon(6100/3300) already started with more than 2100 original attackpoints. "Cyber End! Attack Danger Bigfoot!" The bigfooted beastman had the least defense out of all the defending Dangers. So Neo hit him the hardest. "Ngh. You are strong..." Ezra apparently felt that.

Ezra's LP: 1900

"Why thank you." Neo nodded. "I also link summon Hip Hoshiningen!" Nachster and the third Cyber Dragon Core were both machines of the Light, which meant they could be combined into the hypersmug and hip starman(1400/LINK 2) {Downleft/Downright} [Extra Zone 2]. "Now all my light monsters will gain 500 attackpoints and all dark monsters lose 400.." The glow was both immense and intense, aiding Sieger(2600 atk) and Cyber End Dragon(4500/3300) greatly, while it depowered the Dangers Bigfoot(2600/0) and Thunderbird(2400/2000). That ended the cyberduelist's turn as well.

-TURN 03-

"Strong...but not infinitely so. You will break, duelist Neo." Ezra revealed the first of his new cards: Dark Eruption. "You may have forced me to use the Millenniums legacy. But the power of the Knightmares is still not yet necessary." With it he could add Danger Chupacabra! from the graveyard back to his hand; a DARK monster with 1500 attackpoints. "Because your eyes are still young." Ezra then placed two cards face-down and activated the effect of the Chupacabra, revealing it in his hand and then hiding it among the two other cards in his hand. "Oh! Right. This game. I have to randomly guess which one it is huh? But.." Neo considered the consequences. He could only pick one of three cards. Getting Chupacabra itself would discard the card and special summon one more Danger monster from the graveyard. Getting it wrong would discard the actual chosen card and special summon the Chupacabra. He had no idea which result Ezra wanted, since the lancer kept the sample size not too big or small. "I know. I will let my audience decide!"

"What did you say?" Ezra's eyes flickered intensely.

"Oh? This is allowed! I don;t know how you do it exactly, but I know you can somehow influence the result of this game with some little rule bending. So instead I will let my followers will vote on which card to pick randomly. I have an app for that." Neo shined a light on the three cards, and waited for his streamchat to settle on a majority vote. In the end the left card won and got flipped around. It was Danger Mothman. "You avoided it?" Ezra had to discard Mothman now and special summon the Danger! Chupacabra(4/1100/0) [Zone 5] from his hand in defense mode. "I guess so! Void told me that you use a lot of illusions. But I don't think you are only manipulating what I see directly, or else my fans would not say the same things. You can also create holograms, just like a dueldisk or this whole game. But even then they aren't real. Heck, I guess that's why nobody could challenge you. Because every time they tried, you weren't really there!" From the way Ezra stayed silent, Neo guessed that he hit the nail on its head. "Aha! I got ya! Well I cant take full credit. I stole that theory from one of Khans forums."

"When Mothman is discarded, we both draw one card from our hands to discard a new card." Ezra showed no patience for Neo's insights. Danger! Mothman forced Neo to discard the Cybernetic Overflow trap card that he also drew, while Ezra himself discarded another Danger! member: Danger! Dogman. "The Dogman will reduce your monsters attackpoints by one thousand!" His werewolf like beast released a howl to inspire fear within the Cyber Dragon Sieger(1600 atk), Cyber End Dragon(3000/3300) and Hip Hoshiningen(900 atk). Ezra also drew another card due to the resolved effect of the Chupacabra. "Oh I don't have a good feeling about this." Neo moaned.

"And now, the field spell of Danger Realm! This card targets one creature of Danger! And it may attack directly this turn!" Ezra changed the landscape again, sending the duelists to a virtual monster island full of mist and twisted mountains. The fog clouded the Thunderbird's appearance, making it the chosen one to strike directly from places unknown. "And my face-down card! Danger! Feets of Strength! My Danger! Bigfoot uses it as an equipment, to gain attackpower and another attack against a monster!" The Bigfooted beast let out a roar of a more primal nature, and beat his(3800/0) own chest to ramp up his attackpoints. At this point Ezra switched all his monsters to attack position, except for Tsuchinoko. "The battle begins here! Danger Bigfoot attacks Hoshiningen!" The beast dove into the sea surrounding Danger island and resurfaced in front of the Hyperstar. With its sharp claws and sharp teeth, it dragged the Hip Star down into the depths and ended its luminescence. As a result Cyber End Dragon(3000/2800) and Sieger(1100 atk) lost even more power and Bigfoot regained his(3800/0).

Neo's LP: 5500

"Aha..." At the very least Neo could reclaim Cyber Dragon Core from the graveyard. A destroyed Hip Hoshiningen returned a monster of LIGHT to its owner's hand. "Then I guess I have to save the one who matters the most!" Neo retaliated with the help of Cyber Dragon Sieger. "Cyber End Dragon!" The Link cyber targeted the fusion dragon with its powerboost effect. This turn no Danger could threaten Cyber End Dragon(5100/2800). "And I also activate Cybernetic Revolution! I can tribute one Cyber Dragon to special summon a fusion monster from my extra deck! I choose Cyber Eternity Dragon, and summon her in defense mode!" As Sieger could call itself a 'Cyber Dragon', Neo had no trouble getting rid of that defenseless machine and trade it in for something with far more defense. The Eternal Cyber Dragon(10/2800/4000) [Extra Zone 2] had a serpent-like body that seemed to go on forever. And each segment had silver spines and golden plates. "Eternity Dragon cannot be targeted or destroyed by your card effects, not while I have a fusion in my graveyard!" Neo explained. So Ezra would not destroying it either this turn.

"Clinging to small hopes will not save you." Ezra intoned. Neo had nearly forgotten about her, but now the Danger Thunderbird(2800/2400) made her move. The bird emerged from the thick fog, right behind the cyborg duelist, and bombarded him with burning feathers. "Argh! Not again." Just like the duel with Lorelei, each attack stripped more and more of his cyborg avatar to reveal the normal human clothes and skin underneath. "Clinging to technology will not save you." Ezra placed his last two cards face down and ended the turn.

Neo's LP: 2700 -TURN 04-

"Dude! We are surrounded by technology! What more do you want?" Neo cried out. "Technology that limits the imagination, technology that hides the true beauty of STHEREA and imprisons it! Those people you fight for, o they know you or do they just live through you? They have brought you closer together, but also separated them from their own kind. You cannot live in two worlds at once. And I will always choose the world made by the creator." Ezra replied with his holy tone. "Okay I may not know my fans or my friends that well, but at least I remember them! I dueled someone from your family a while ago, and she could barely remember her own family! How is that fair?" To Neo it seemed like Millennium was doing the separating, not the other way around. "Heck. You didn't want anyone else to see you duel? That does not seem like you're together either. More like.. you're completely alone." He could almost pity the wielder of the lance. Having such power had to detach a man from his friends somewhat.

"Ezra!" So they were brought back to the world of the many. "Void?" By a voice that Neo instantly recognized.

The dark skies disappeared and left only the island and the arena. Neo could see Ezra, Echo, Cherry and Melyria again. And he also spotted Void, Crescent, Scura, Asterisk and Bionis. Crescent had banished the cloud of shadows with her legacy item. "You came. Just as I thought you would." Ezra stared ravenously at the wielders of the chalice and the shield. "What have you done, Ezra?" Void grunted as he looked at Vigionair. Asterisk rushed to his side, but the encrypter had not fully recovered yet and could not respond. "I have made my claims. They resisted." The lance wielder did not even bother to make an excuse. "But why? I could have helped you." Crescent did not feel that way anymore now. "You cannot help me see my future. Only I can.."

"Wait. if they are here. Then where is Ulysses? Where are the others?" Meanwhile Cherry had been hoping to see her friend again. "You mean the Prospero-lites? They lost. He lost. Where do you think they went?" Scura replied. Feeling some but not a lot of sympathy. "What!? But then.. why didn't you tell me?" She looked desperately at Melyria and Ezra. But they ignored her.

"Then Scarlets plan has failed. Only the items remain as our hope. Void. Crescent. The time to fight will come. But first, I will prove myself against your friend. I will show you the difference between us and them." Ezra flipped his continuous trap card, Skill Drain at the cost of a 1000 lifepoints. "What!?" The effects of all face-up monsters were negated.

Ezra's LP: 900

"Gah. I can't get rid of that!" Neo had planned to normal summon his Cyber Dragon Core to lead up to another Chimeratech Rampage. The other card in his hand, Power Bond, would have let him fusion summon one. But now he could not even use its spell destruction power, let alone find another 'Cyber Dragon' to make Rampage Dragon with. "So what? You can get him! Come on, he is like almost dead!" Scura cursed. Depleting that amount of life seemed like a cinch for any duelist. "Don't choke now, Neo. I know you can do it!" Bionis even cheered him on, in his own way. "Maybe..." Ezra still had left all of his monsters in attack position. Simply attacking the Thunderbird with Cyber End Dragon would do the trick. "But.." Neo could not overlook Ezra's other set card. He could defend against it, but only if he could send Eternity Dragon to the graveyard.

"..I will fusion summon Chimeratech Megafleet Dragon!" Luckily he knew of a way. He normal summoned the Cyber Dragon Core [Zone 1] and fused it with Cyber Eternity Dragon. "I can take one Cyber Dragon-monster and a monster in the extra zone, to perform the contact fusion between them!" As a result the winged metallic chimera dragon(10/2400/2400) [Extra Zone 1] flew out of the extra deck; gaining 1200 attackpoints for each of its materials. "And now I can banish Eternity Dragon from my graveyard, to make Cyber End Dragon immune to destruction and targeting effects!" The final power of the eternal Cyber Dragon would certainly nullify the effects of Ezra's other card. If only Neo could have used it sooner.

"You made me use my power again after all." Ezra flipped a quickplay spell card: World Legacy Clash. "Huh?" The Thunderbird suddenly disappeared from the field. "World Legacy Clash takes the power of my monster by removing it for one turn. And then that power, offense and defense, is taken away from your monster!" The clash resolved first, bringing down the attackpoints of Cyber End Dragon to such a degree that it(1200/400) could only pick fights with the weakest of Ezra's monsters. "Oh no..." Neo could take out Chupacabra. But the Thunderbird and Bigfoot monsters would continue to terrorize the field. Either one could attack directly on the next turn if Ezra willed it. "Is that.. Is that it?"

-TURN 05-

"It is. You have lost." Melyria raised her hand. She considered the remainder of the duel to just be a formality at this point. "Stop! Don't!" Crescent yelled and raised her Legacy shield. "Wait! Calm down! She is just going to give him the choice!" Cherry yelled back. "A choice? You mean, if I have to become one of you or leave the network forever?" Neo understood the stakes. But that did not mean he could decide his own fate. He imagined joining them would be the same as telling them what they wanted to know.

"Choice? There is no choice. Not the one you are used to." But Ezra had something else in mind. "What do you mean?" Void snapped. "The choice is yours as well. You can tell us where the sixth item is. Or we pry the information from his head." Ezra explained without a hint of remorse in his voice. "Pry? You mean you are going to force him to become one of us? Isn't that dangerous?!" Cherry really freaked out now. Because she had always been told that only a willing mind could accept the power of the Legacy Armor. "Only if he resists it. Or if they do not tell us what we need to know." Ezra did not back down. Neither did Melyria, she activated her armor and waited for Ezra to make the final attack. "Neo! No! If you want to know then.."

"Void! Stop!" Neo yelled. "Don't let them use me to get what they want!" He had already decided what he would do. "Neo! They might fry your brain! Don't be a hero now!" Bionis cursed him out. "Guys. He's going to do it anyway. He wants the item more than anything! But the more time I buy, the sooner Himiko and Blanche can find it! I already said too much, and I am not going to say more!" He turned to his opponent. "Go ahead! Try to read my mind! I wont let anything through!" He would face the end with a brave face. "Fool. All of this pain, is on them.. and on you." Ezra declared a direct attack with the Realm of Danger and Danger Bigfoot. And at the same time Melyria stabbed Neo in the back of his nervous system. "Gaaaahh!" His mind faded from the worlds around him.

Neo's LP: 0

(To Be Continued in Line 114: One Small Thing To Make Tomorrow Better)

**New Cards used by Neo  
**Cyber Dragon Nachster

-  
Cyber Eternity Dragon  
Cyber End Dragon

-  
Machine Duplication  
Cyberload Fusion

-  
Cybernetic Revolution

**New Cards used by Ezra  
**Danger! Dogman!

-  
Realm of Danger!  
Danger! Feets of Strength!

-  
Mamekami  
Skill Drain


	114. One Small Thing to Make Tomorrow Better

**Line 114: One Small Thing to Make Tomorrow Better**

"Neo?" The kid unceremoniously dropped to the ground. "Neo!?" His body vanished bit by bit. "What?! Did you do to him?" The sight drove Vigionair into a frenzy, breaking him out of his seizure. "He did not endure." Ezra gave his answer with a mixture of regret but also overpowering confidence. The scene had left everyone else speechless, including Cherry Anise.

"You son of a.. did you really have to do that!?" Bionis snapped, struggling to accept that what just happened had actually happened. "Just like what the Crown did. You're just like him!" Void yelled. "It's all my fault. I shouldn't have been so hard on the kid." Vigionair despaired. He had been the one who told Neo to not say a word. "You could not have known that this would happen." Asterisk tried to reassure his friend. "No. You couldn't. But Neo thought he was doing the right thing. You made him suffer for that. So I will make you suffer!" Crescent herself exploded with anger.

Yet Ezra stood calmly in the middle of Neo's enraged friends. "But did he have to resist? He refused to tell me what I wanted to hear. It was brave, but foolish. His mind would have stayed intact if he had just let me inside. Nevertheless his actions were pointless. Now he has entered a dreamless sleep, and he may never wake up. All because of his choice. And I found what I needed regardless."

"What how?" Vigionair's eyes widened. "As I dove into his mind, the creator Himself helped me see the truth. In a vision He showed me where his sixth AND seventh powers reside. Commands, thought, vision, physical interaction, purification: each voice governs an aspect of this new world. Two aspects remain.. sound and space... What you discovered was the latter. The sixth item hides in hyperspace, the dimension underneath dimensions that avatars cross when they quickjump from one location to another. I can sense it now; Yoro-Himiko and Madam Blanche trying to find his legacy. They will not succeed. We will." Ezra turned away from the heroes. While Vigionair had to invent a new program to let a duelist cancel out of a quickjump and get into hyperspace itself, a member of Millennium could do that with their own power of freedom. "I will not endanger this mission anymore. I have to finish it."

"Ezra!? What are you doing? Don't you want the Crown? And the Chalice? You will have to fight me for it!" Void rose to challenge Ezra. "Gah!" His body immediately shut down, paralyzed by a painless agony. "Melyria! Eeyah!" Crescent suffered the same fate, at the many hands of Melyria Cister.

"Hey hey? What is going on?" Scura freaked out. "Are you using your her armor against them!?" They could not answer her. The four-armed woman was not giving him any chance to reach for their items either. "Ezra. I will hold them off here. You know what you must do." The woman shared a look with her partner, who in turn beckoned Cherry Anise to come to him. "Is this the right thing to do?" Even the trickstar duelist seemed troubled. She had never seen Melyria use her powers in this way on anyone. "It is the only thing_ to_ do. Come." He dragged her underneath his shadowy cloak and whisked them away to the hyper dimension. _"Damn it! No!"_ Void cursed.

"Hey!" Not all Duelists were affected by the World Armor however, but Melyria payed them no attention. "You are till not used to your power, are you?" The woman cackled as she kept focusing on Void and Crescent. "Why are you doing this? Aren't they your friends too?" That became a little harder when Echo appeared in between her and them. "I wish that were true, miss Echo. But they abandoned Millennium, so I am keeping them quiet until Ezra is done. It doesn't hurt them..." She did not let the blue haired girl stop her either though. "But they are not happy." Echo still tried. Pain could be more than physical to her. "They could have been. We could have been, we could created the promised land together. You do not understand, Echo. I know what you are now, I know you cannot see.. that not everyone can be happy at the same time.. at all times. There is always someone who needs to learn a lesson!"

"HEY!"

Finally Melyria turned to face the girl who tried to get her attention with her shouting. "What about me?!" Scura growled, giving the woman a determined glare. "What _about_ you? Yeah? Do you think you can make a difference here, Chiaroscura?" Melyria showed no concern, which managed to tick Scura off even more. "I don't know! Lets find out!" The cloaked duelist extended her arm and activated her dueldisk. "Neo gave it his all, and he got all that crap for it! But he still tried and he still managed to slow you down! I am pretty sure I can also be annoying as &*^&% to you either way! Cister! Consider yourself challenged!" The moment the words passed her lips, Melyria lowered her arms. "I do not believe this." She rolled her eyes. But she had to accept. The World Armor would not let her ignore another duelist who had the potential to wield it.

Melyria's LP: 8000 Scura's LP: 8000

"Guh!" Void and Crescent snapped out of their paralysis. Melyria could not focus on them and on a duel at the same time. "Scura!?" Crescent felt relieved but concerned that Scura took the risk to free them. "Dont stand around gawking at me now! You have old boneface to chase! Don't you?" Scura grunted. The more time they wasted, the more danger Himiko and Blanche were in. Void realized that too. "Yes. I will go. Asterisk, V! Can you tell me how they got there?" But he did not exactly know how to reach hyperspace himself. "Use this.." Vigionaire groaned as he handed Void a special code for his dueldisk. "I'd suggest you.. use a speedboard too. It can get crazy in there. Ow!" Despite his tenacity, he clearly had not gotten over Ezra's nausea attack yet. "I got you, V. Void, I'll take him back to the real world so he can get better. Follow Ezra. End this." Asterisk concerned himself with the encrypter and handed Void a strange program before logging off with Vigionair.

"Void? Can I come with you?" Echo spoke up again, trying her best to not stare at the spot where Neo once stood. "Is that what you want? It might be dangerous." Void would not say no, but he did not know if she could do well in an area like that when she still could not walk on her own. "It is what I want." But to her, any place would be better than this one. "I understand... Crescent? Are you coming too?" Void would feel a lot more confident if he had the Shield wielder with him. "No. I want to stay... I have to know how this ends." But she only had eyes for Melyria and Scura right now. "Yeah that makes sense. A shield against armor and a cup against a spear." Scura herself saw this duel as a lost cause already. "Right. Okay. Enough standing around. Miss Echo, let's go. Scura, don't you dare lose." Void placed his hand on the girl's wheelchair and activated the program Vigionaire gave him. It forced a quickjump and took them away to the space between spaces.

-TURN 01-

"Oh yeah thanks. That jinxed everything." Scura let out a loud moan. Not only would she not be getting the first turn this duel, the cards in her hand would not be impressing her opponent much either. "It is too late to change your mind, Scura. The best you can do is fall quickly. You do not have to suffer like Neo did." Melyria instead started off by placing three of her cards face-down: two in the spell/trap zone and one monster [Zone 1]. "But it's not too late for you to change our minds, right? Like you did with Neo? You *****!" Bionis yelled back. He wished he had been quicker to react, so he could duel Melyria himself. "Khan, chill. At this rate you'll get your turn soon enough anyway." Scura hissed. Except to her surprise, she got her turn sooner than she expected. The Armored duelist had already relinquished control.

-TURN 02-

"Wait. Only face-down cards?" Bionis did not understand. According to intel, this woman favored Battlewasps. And those insects did not favor defensive tactics. "Tch. She's using her real cards now. Krawlers. Creepy crawly things that all have flip effects." Scura saw this as another good reason for her to challenge Melyria specifically, she knew the most about the womans World Legacy cards. "Mrghh." If only she could profit of of that knowledge. But she only had one monster card in her hand. "Figures that my deck chokes now of all times." Scura muttered to herself and placed three cards face-down in the spell/trap zone. And at the same time she summoned Subterror Fiendess, a black-skinned devil girl(1/800/500) [Zone 5] with long pink hair and glowing blue claws. "What the? Are you not attacking?" Bionis grumbled. "Hey. I am not falling for her maneater-like traps! If she wants to fight me,_ she_ can start! I have more set cards so I should have a slight edge!"

"Should you, hm? I activate Subterror Succession." Quickly, Melyria sprung her continuous traps during the endphase. "Each turn I can sacrifice one flip monster on my field or in my hand, to add a monster with the same attribute to my hand!" The trap of a rather familiar terror took Krawler Receptor from her hand and 'succeeded' it with a Krawler Ranvier. Both Krawlers belonged to the Earth element. "Hey! I have one of those too! Which smartaleck names a trap like that when it can be used on any flip monster!?" Then again so did Scura's Subterrors. "If those are the questions you concern yourself with, than you must truly have had a pure lifestyle. I activate World Legacy Pawns!" Once the woman added her card, the second continuous trap switched on. "Each turn, I can flip one monster up or down!" The time came to reveal the Krawlers to the heroes. "I flip Krawler Glial!" A one-eyed insect(2/700/1500) with nerval tentacles and a ring-body of golden glial matter slithered across the field, and dug its tendrils deep into the graveyard. "Glial, when flipped, revives one Krawler monster in face-down defense position." Melyria turned her sacrifice around, setting Krawler Receptor [Zone 3] on the field instead.

-TURN 03-

"So that is your true power." Crescent noted. "Indeed, indeed. Which reminds me, we have yet to see your new power in a duel, Crescent Aurora. Hmm, I suppose I will find out soon enough." Melyria started her turn properly.. immediately reactivating the trap that gave Scura such grief. "Subterror Succession can also tribute one monster to add a flip monster with the same attribute to my hand." Melyria let the Succession pass on the Krawler Ranvier in her hand, claiming the flip monster: Krawler Axon from the deck. "I also flip summon the Receptor." Now a flying nerval insect(2/900/1200) leaped up from the floor, spreading its six wings and splitting each up into three armored tentacles. "When flipped, the Receptor adds one Krawler monster from my deck, yes. I choose Krawler Spine." The woman 'received' her new insect and placed it[Zone 3] face-down on the field. "And with World Legacy Pawns.." Her other continuous trap reactivated as well, flipping the spinal insect scuttler(2/300/2100) face-up. "I can.."

"Yeah yeah you can destroy my monster! I know!" Scura clapped her hands. Now she would be delivering the twists. "But there's a reason I didn't summon her in defense!" Scura happily revealed her own trap card: Subterror Succession. "This is what you get when you try to mess with a flip master! I sacrifice Fiendess, and add Subterror Behemoth Umastryx to my hand!" Right in the nick of time the knight avoided the deadly nerves of Krawler Spine. And Scura even got a new card out of it. "Flip master?" Crescent chimed in to admire the unusual title."You know what I mean!"

"Yeah, _I_ do... And it is true that you have seen me at my full power before. But I have yet to show you every trick in my armor. I link two Krawlers to create Krawler Qualiark!" Two of the Krawlers; Spine and Glial, connected their bloodred nerve endings on her command. Their union opened the link circuit into the extra deck and released the Krawler Qualiark(2000/LINK 2) {Downleft/Downright} [Extra Zone 2] "What on earth." Scura struggled to comprehend the nature of this new monster; with its crimson purple exoskeleton, split beaklike head, mechanical pincers and a halo on its back that was filled with nerves. "Qualiark adds 300 attack and defense points to all my monsters if two Krawlers exist on the field, hmm! And its powers will only increase for each set of Krawlers!" Slimy tendrils extended from Qualiark(2300 atk)'s six legs and connected with Krawler Receptor(1200 atk)'s receptors. "Now then, yes. A direct attack." Both insects set upon the flip master duelist, slashing her with their many sharp appendages. "Gack!"'

Scura's LP: 4500

"Yeach. I don't know what was worse. The sharp bits or the slime!" Scura touched her throbbing side, scraping unknown fluids from her robe. "At least you're still alive." Crescent tried to cheer her on. "Yeah. Surprising... Kinda feel like those wasps would have hurt a lot more." Not that Scura would have wanted to feel more pain than she already did. Her trap cards could have helped her out either way.

"For everything there is a reason, Aurora. You should know this too. You should. The Crown is right there besides us.. Its power calls us, even if we are not its master. In fact its power has already influenced me in many ways. Yeah." Melyria regained her bizarre fairy-like smile as she activated her spell card: World Legacy Survivor. "I shall excavate the next five cards of my deck, and add one of its Krawler of World Legacy cards to my hand. One." The wielder of the armor unveiled the selection: World Legacy Mind Meld, Witch's Strike, Worm Bait, Krawler Dendrite and Crusadia Krawler. "Crusadia!?" The last of those five cards drew particular attention from Scura and the other observers. "I told you, the Crown is right besides me, hmm. The parts of the creator want to reunite.." Melyria placed that card face down and sent the remaining four cards to the graveyard. "Now, I can banish World Legacy Mind Meld from the graveyard to link one Krawler from my deck with my link monster. But it will be set." The nerves in Melyria's arm flashed brightly as she drew another Krawler Spine from the deck and placed it [Zone 3] face down at Qualiark's left marker. "End turn."

-TURN 04-

"And in your turn however, yeah, I shall activate this trap! Crusadia Krawler becomes a monster, which I summon in defense mode!" The Crusadia influence glowed right in their face as a golden orb folded outward, the trapmonster became a shining mechanical four-legged insect(2/600/2400) [Zone 5] with cybernetic extensions that melded with the nerves of Qualiark. "And if it links with a link monster, I can add one World Legacy card from the deck to my hand, yes. I choose.. I choose World Legacy World Armor." Melyria wound up with the card of the armor itself.

"Friggin Crown. Even now it's a pain in the ass. Well, whatever. Now I get to play!" Scura activated her second trap. "I activate Metaverse! And play The Hidden City!" The Metaverse activated the field spell of the Subterrors directly from the deck, bringing all monsters to the dark gloomy depths of the underground city. "Hidden City can add a Subterror monster to my hand, any one I want! I think I'll take a Subterror Nemesis Archer!" And that would not be the only card she added to her hand this turn. "Of course I am also using Subterror Succession again! If I sacrifice my Umastryx, I can add a flip monster with the same attribute to my hand again. Let's go with Stalagmo!" The chains of succession never ended, one Behemoth left her hand and another left her deck to replace it. "Buried deep. Just the way I like it. But I don't think he likes it. Because I can hear him cry out!" And finally Scura revealed her third trap: Call of the Haunted. What died would live again; Call of the Haunted targeted the drill-nosed Subterror Behemoth Umastryx and summoned it(7/2000/2700) [Zone 1] in face-up defense position.

"Umastryx can switch himself to face-down defense position. I mean every Behemoth can do that, but.." The giant creature dug a hole for itself in the dimly lit ground and disappeared from sight. "...every Behemoth can also be special summoned from my hand, when my last face-up monster sets itself! I summon Stalagmo!" Oil seeped into the caves as a massive rock gargoyle(10/2800/2100) [Zone 2] burst through the ground. The black liquid came from the cracks in its body, as if it were bleeding. "I hope I am not boring you, Cister!" Scura let Subterror Stalagmo switch its position as well, hiding the behemoth under the ground. "When Stalagmo is flipped face-up, I can discard a Subterror monster to draw two cards!" Scura yelled and triggered her field spell's second effect. The Hidden City allowed one Subterror to flip itself face-up again: the Stalagmite Behemoth broke through the rockbed at the heart of the city. Scura discarded her Subterror Behemoth Phospheroglacier for a new hand.

"So, this time you're going to attack?" Bionis growled impatiently. "Bionis, stop backseat dueling. I know you're mad about Neo. Me too. But I am not going to go berserk and get myself killed too! First of all, I still have this guy to activate." Scura normal summoned the Nemesis Archer, the greenhaired cave elf(4/1600/1400) [Zone 4] with a bow and arrows that could instantly remove any face-down monster. "And sure Cister's still smiling. But she wont when I do this! I activate Subterror Cave Clash! All my Subterrors gain 500 attack and defense points for each face-down monster on the field!" Her continuous spell completed her offensive setup, channeling powerboosts through the face-down Krawler Spine and Umastryx, into Stalagmo(3800/3100) and the Archer(2600/2400). "So lets kill Qualiark first!.. I cant believe I got that name on the first try! Well, I wont have to say it again now!" With great pleasure, Scura declared the first attack and let Stalagmo bury the Krawler link monster to death with an avalanche of boulders.

Melyria's LP: 6300

"Well, this I do not mind either, do not mind it. When Qualiark leaves my field, even in battle, I can set two Krawlers from my graveyard back on the field again, hmm. But then you knew this, Scura." Melyria set both the first Krawler Spine [Zone 1] and Krawler Glial [Zone 2] back on the field. "Yeah yeah. Get those creeps. I am getting mine. Since I hit your lifepoints, Subterror Cave Clash will return a Subterror to my hand." Scura picked just the one: the Subterror Fiendess. "And now my monsters are even stronger." Two more face-down cards meant two more powerboosts for the Subterror Behemoth(4800/4100) and Archer(3600/3400). But.. it also meant more power for her face-down Umastryx(4100/4700). "I activate my skill card! Shadows Alive! Now Umastryx can attack directly, and it will use its defense points to do the damage!" The shadow on the left side of the battlefield started to move on its own, extending across the rocky pathways to crawl up behind Melyria. "Gotcha!"

"Yes. And no. Scura, did you not consider, the inverse? Your deck counters mine, but mine counters yours too, yeah." Melyria had her answer ready. The trap of World Legacy Pawns targeted the second face-down Krawler Spine(2/300/2100) and flipped it back face-up. "Nice try! But I already have my Fiendess in my hand! And she can negate your monsters effect if I discard her!" Cackling laughter echoed throughout the caves as the demon girl popped up from Scura's hand. With her tiny red wings she flew towards Krawler Spine to drain its powers. "I know. And I also know, yes, that you defeated Kremlore with the same skill that you are using now. That is why, I prepared myself. I prepared my own.. skill." Melyria activated the golden card: Judgment of Millennium.

"Huh? But that shouldn't.." Scura only knew about the Legacy skill, the one that did not protect against a monsters effects. This one on the other hand made all monsters immune to effect negation for the rest of the turn. "Since when did you have that!?" Scura protested. Because of the Judgment, Fiendess could not stop Krawler Spine from destroying Umastryx. "Scura. They had another millennium skill. Ezra used that one when he dueled Alpha." Crescent explained, a little too late for Scura's tastes. "Ugh. Typical. I wouldn't even have defeated you with that attack, but you still could not let me have some fun."

Scura did not have much else she could do now except declare an attack with the Nemesis Archer. "At least those damn bugs don't split up if they are removed while they're facedown. Come to think of it, cards sent to the deck don't get to activate effects anyway." The pale elf fired her arrow and impaled the second Krawler Spine, forcing it to disappear from the field. "Eh.. Guess I set this card then." A trap dropped down behind her behemoth and at the same Scura activated the effect of Subterror Behemoth Stalagmo, switching the giant monster to a face-down position once more.

"I could have let you have the world, Chiaroscura. You were the one who walked away, you." Melyria hissed. "Please! You only want pets to play with, not friends or family! Or did you already forget about Ulysses and Prospero? I mean you made them forget a lot of things too I bet, just so they would not feel unhappy in STHEREA! What would you have made me forget? My nagging parents? My perfect brother who gets away with everything? The fact that I have no friends in the real world? Frankly, that would make me wanna leave the network even more." Scura had plenty of things to say, even though her turn had already ended. "And what about Crescent? Would you have made her forget Wagner: the reason she even joined you? Well?"

-TURN 05-

"Nobody would have needed to be forgotten if they had all transcended to this world. That is why I allowed Prospero and Scarlet their little plan in the first place." Melyria said as she answered Scura's and Crescent's stare with her own wide cold eyes. She reactivated Subterror Succession and sent Krawler Spine to the graveyard to add a Krawler Ranvier card to her hand. "I flip summon Krawler Glial. I assume you realize what this means, what this does." Melyria dragged her nerve insect(2/700/1500) back to a face-up position. "That I can reclaim what you took." In the same breath, Melyria manifested her third arm which took a card from the graveyard. Glial stabbed the ground with its slimy tendrils, and channeled life energy back into the deceased: into X-Krawler Qualiark(2000 atk) {Downleft/Downright} [Zone 3]. Since Scura's opponent controlled more than two Krawlers at this point, Qualiark(2300 atk) would give all Krawlers (Glial: 1000/1800, Crusadia: 600/2400, Receptor: 1500/800) on the field 300 attack and defense points.

"And when a monster is flip summoned, the Armor of World Legacy itself can be summoned from my hand!" The cave began to rumble. "Huh?" Her special summon altered the landscape dramatically, beyond what Scura's own field spell could handle. Large chunks of metal broke the cave ceiling apart and exposed the duelists to a clear sky. The purple and red metal pieces themselves, which resembled parts of a giant's armor(7/2500/2500) [Zone 1], cast large shadows over the Krawlers and Subterrors. "When the World Armor is summoned, I can add one World Legacy card from the deck to my hand! I choose the World Legacy in Shadow!" Melyria manifested her fourth arm to draw the World Legacy in Shadow: a field spell for the Krawlers.

"The true form of her armor." Crescent realized she had never seen the actual item before, until now. Unlike her and her shield, Melyria had learned how to merge herself with her armor. And that power now exposed her entire nervous system by glowing from the inside of her body. "Yes, Crescent. I am not holding back against anyone anymore. I see now that the only way to save the world, is to force people to see things my way."

(To Be Continued in Line 115: As Far from Rapture as Possible)

**New Cards used by Chiaroscura001  
**Subterror Fiendess  
Subterror Behemoth Stalagmo

-  
Call of the Haunted

**New Cards used by Melyria Cister  
**_JUDGMENT OF MILLENNIUM_

-  
Krawler Receptor  
Krawler Glial  
World Legacy - World Armor

-  
World Legacy Survivor

-  
World Legacy Pawns  
Subterror Succession  
Crusadia Krawler


	115. As Far from Rapture as Possible

**Line 115: As Far from Rapture as Possible**

Hyperspace, the nickname for a section of STHEREA that only existed as a dimension for quicktravelers. Nobody ever saw it as anything more than a mask for loading times. But if you ever managed to stop yourself in the middle of a jump, you would instead see the endless soup of looping colors. As if the world had turned into a screensaver maze before their eyes. Once or twice a wave would bring a texture in or random light of colors, but nobody used this place anymore now. Even here the network had been turned into a desolate wasteland. Even so, its dimensions seemed infinite. "How are we supposed to find the Item again?" And Yoro-Himiko did not see how anyone could find anything in a limitless space.

"Hey, I am just going by what Ezra said. You're supposed to be able to feel these things. Crescent could, and now she has a pretty shield. The item wont look like an item yet." Madam Blanche could not exactly make the search go faster. At least with her fancy White Dragon speedboard they could fly anywhere they wanted too. "You mean, due to my new freedom. I did not do it by choice, I should remind you. Nor do I feel very different." The zombie princess tried closing her eyes, but still sensed nothing out of the ordinary. "You were forced too? Was it to get away from your parents? What about Zanbatou though?" Blanche imagined Zanbatou would never have let Himiko join Millennium. "Zanbatou?" Yet Himiko gave Blanche a look of utter confusion. "Zann..Batou! No!"

"What? What is it?" Blanche felt rather startled by her passenger's freak-out. "I.. I forgot about him? Until you said his name just now, I had no idea he even... How could I forget? Hoe does that happen!?" Himiko felt ashamed of herself, and troubled. "I don't know. But I guess Melyria had something to do with that. That Lorelei girl forgot about her own family too. Maybe we should have Void check if he can use that chalice on you after all." Blanche suggested. "No. Not yet." The princess refused. "Not until we have found the item." Because she could finally tell.. that they were getting closer to something strange...

...

Melyria's LP: 6300 Scura's LP: 4500 -TURN 05-

Strange was also the world Scura would soon find herself in. "I activate my field spell, World Legacy in Shadow!" Melyria changed the blue sky into that of a starfilled night. Moss to grew on the rocky floors of the Hidden City. Krawlers like Melyria's Qualiark(2600 atk), Glial(1300/2100), Receptor(1800/1100) and Crusadia Krawler(900/2700) thrived in this new dark environment. "Krawlers gain 300 attack and defense points. And while I control this card, I can special summon one Krawler from my hand in face-down defense position each turn!" The wielder of the shadowfield still had two Krawlers in her hand that she could set if she wanted too. "But your entire field is full of monsters now!" Bionis Khan protested as he counted five occupied main zones, the World Legacy Armor(7/2500/2500), occupied the last one.

"Yeah so? I link summon Inzektor Picofalena! Two insects will be the link materials, hm!" Glial and Receptor flew upwards as a double-marked link circuit opened above them. The endresult could not have looked more different. "Whuh? Now there's ladybugs too?" Scura muttered to herself as a long-haired blonde woman(1000/LINK 2) {Downleft/Downright} [Extra Zone 2] in a purple catsuit flew out of the link portal. The only insect-like thing about her were her moth antennae and wings. "Picofalena. She has her role too. She can discard one card to equip one insect from my deck to another insect on my field. And that monster gains 500 attack and defense points." Melyria discarded Krawler Ranvier and equipped a Krawler Dendrite on top of the X-Krawler Qualiark(3100 atk). Their many nerves and ganglia intertwined in a sickening fashion. "And she can draw one new card by sending three insects from the graveyard to my deck." Picofalena used her whip to strike the corpses of Krawlers Spine, Axon and the first Ranvier. Those three scattered back into the deck while Melyria drew her new card.

"But an Inzektor should not be the face of your defeat, yes. That fate belongs to the X-Krawlers." Through the power of World Legacy in Shadow, Melyria managed to set one monster. And through the power of the continuous World Legacy Pawns trap, she could flip it back into a face-up position. A stockier insect came krawling to the surface, the golden noded Ranvier(2/1700/1500) walking on tiny but sharp legs. "When Ranvier is flipped, I can take two Krawlers from my graveyard and add them to my hand! I choose Glial and Dendrite!" The insect duelists had not even used her normal summon of the turn yet, so she placed the Dendrite insect(2/1900/1200) [Zone 1] in front of her. "Oh great, not those two again." The next couple of summons would bring back no-longer-pleasant memories for Scura.

"Yes those two again! I link summon X-Krawler Synaphysis! Using two earth monsters as the materials! And then I link summon X-Krawler Neurogos! Using two insect monsters as the materials!" The Crusadia Krawler and Krawler Dendrite transformed into the synaptic scuttler Synaphysis(2400/LINK 2) {Left/Right} [Zone 5], claiming the other zone marked by Picofalena. Inzektor Picofalena herself then combined with Krawler Ranvier to create the neuron wired Neurogos(2500/LINK 2) {**Left/Right**} [Zone 4] who formed a co-link with Synaphysis and a link with Qualiark. "Neurogos doubles the damage inflicted by a linked monster to another monster! And Synaphysis allows a linked monster to attack two monsters in one turn! And they both add 300 attackpoints to any monster they point at! They cannot be destroyed by attacks anymore either!" The three X-Krawlers formed a strong network of nerves and veins, giving each other their respective powerboosts (Qualiark: 3400 atk, Neurogos: 2800 atk, Synaphysis: 2700 atk). "Nothing can resist the mind, Chiaroscura! The World Armor attacks Subterror Behemoth!"

Another tremor shook the battlefield. "Scura, behind you!" Crescent could not believe what she saw. The gauntlet of the giant legacy armor came to life and lowered its hand to flatten Scura's Stalagmo monster. "Gah! On it! I activate The Hidden City! Your attack is blocked and my monster is flipped!" At the last second, Scura's field spell performed a counter-attack by raising the Stalagmite Behemoth(10/2800/2100) from the ground in face-up defense mode. The World Legacy Armor stopped just as its shadow fell over the subterrors. Stalagmo's effect also discarded one Subterror card (Nemesis Warrior) to draw two new cards. "Hmm a close call, yes. But now you have no more face-down monsters." At this point Subterror Cave Clash no longer boosted Scura's Nemesis Archer(4/1600/1400), giving the Qualiark Krawler a perfect target. "Qualiark kill the Archer! Kill it twice over!" With its twice as lethal tendrils, the X-Krawler crushed the Subterror into a million pieces and inflicted its doubled damage to her master.

Scura's LP: 900

"Gyeeeeh!" Scura wheezed as she felt the Krawler suck the life out of her. "Screw... you." That did not stop her from activating the Archer's final effect. When the Archer died, Scura could special summon a new Subterror from her deck. "I summon Subterror Guru!" The demon dragon swordsman(4/1600/1800) [Zone 3] flew in out of the hole left behind by the Subterror Nemesis. "Pointless, Pointless. Neurogos, attack the Behemoth Stalagmo and the Guru!" The X-Krawler attacked both Subterrors at once. "You think? Guess I will activate Subterror Succession then!" And Scura reflipped her flipping trap and removed one target before it could be killed. The continuous trap sent the earth-attribute Stalagmo to the graveyard and drew the Earthen Subterror Behemoth Voltelluric card from the deck.

"What did you do?" Melyria seemed a bit perturbed. Granted, it made sense, as Neurogos could not use its second attack against Scura directly. But the cloaked duelist would now be defenseless sooner. "Well, two things. One... I am lucky enough to already control a Subterror card, Cave Clash that is. So Guru gets to switch himself face-down, along with one of your monsters." The Guru leaped up and slammed his blade against the World Armor of World Legacy. Both monsters were forced to hide back in the earth, switched to a set position. No longer did the giants shadow loom over Scura. "And when I switch a monster to face-down defense mode, I can special summon a Subterror Behemoth from my hand in face-up defense mode!" The blue thunder behemoth(9/2400/3500) [Zone 5] crossed into the realm of Krawlers, flying around Scura with its many wings. She had picked the one card with enough defense to withstand everything. "Looks like I bought myself another turn." The 'flip master' said with a grim smile.

"You are only postponing the inevitable. Both in this duel and in your world. I do not understand why you simply do not give up. No." Melyria continued her attacks anyway, and sent Neurogos to strangle the face-down Subterror Guru to death. "I think you mean, yeah." Scura had another reason to grin. Guru's flip effect added a new Subterror card, another Subterror Fiendess, to his master's hands. "And why don't I give up? Hell if I know. I figured I'd be dead by now. But.. it just feels great to know what I can do, to know that I can keep going!" Unlike Melyria who had to call off her remaining attacks. Scura's other monster also had too much defense power, and attacking it now would only cause it to flip up and destroy her monsters or spells and traps. Instead Melyria placed her town trap card face-down and passed the turn over.

-TURN 06-

"You got her! You can easily destroy all her monsters!" Bionis Khan cheered. "But if she does, they will just split up into face-down Krawlers again." Crescent pointed out the flaws in a direct approach. There was also the fact that any monster attacking a face-down Krawler would be sent to the graveyard by the World Legacy in Shadow field spell. "Well, she has to get rid of them one way or another!" The ritual duelist lamented.

"Tell me something I don't know. But I think.." Scura glanced at the cards in her hand. "..I can scramble together a plan. First, Voltelluric switched himself down to face-down defense mode! And since I did that, I can special summon another Subterror Behemoth from my hand! Remember this big guy?" Scura called out the drill dragon all over again: Subterror Behemoth Umastryx(7/3000/3700) [Zone 3], and she let that monster switch itself to face-down defense position too. "That's that. Let's go back to Volty! Since he was not summoned this turn, I can immediately flip him back face-up!" A great spark of electricity ran across the mossy ground as Voltelluric(2900/4000) shifted from a set to an attacking position. "And that lets me control one of your face-down monsters!" Scura reached out to the World Legacy World Armor. "My armor?" The woman twitched as she involuntarily released her great armor [Zone 2] to her opponent.

"Relax, you can have it back once I am done with it. I special summon Subterror Nemesis Warrior too!" Whenever a successful flip summon of a Subterror took place, the broadswordsman(4/2300/1700) [Zone 3] of the underworld would experience an immediate rebirth. "Nemesis Warrior sends one Subterror monster from the deck to my graveyard, and sacrifices himself and one other monster to special summon that monster! So thanks for the Armor, Cister!" Nemesis Warrior's 4 stars, combined with the World Armor's 7 stars, allowed her to bring back the card Scura sent: Subterror Behemoth Speleogeist the skeletal demon dragon(11/3500/1900) [Zone 2]. "And guess what else I learned myself? Something that starts with 2 flip monsters!" Scura sent the Behemoths Voltelluric and Speleogeist away. "I special summon. Ehr.. Link summon Subterror Behemoth Fiendess!" The fiendess was a small girl no more. The extra deck released her monstrous dragonwyrm form(2000/LINK 2) {Downleft/Downright} [Extra Zone 1], complete with spiked armor, a wild purple mane and violet wings.

"She is... different too." Crescent watched with awe. "Man, I can hear Void already. At this rate everyone is gonna have a link monster." Bionis finally started to think that Scura might actually stand a chance.

"Now.. What can this Fiendess do? Well, she gets 100 attackpoints for each level on the Behemoths that were used as her link materials." Twenty levels worth of souls were absorbed into her body, and the Cave Clash spell energized her(4500 atk) once as well. "Also she sends one flip monster to my graveyard to set one monster from my hand face-down. And once a turn, if a monster linked with her flips face-up, she can add one flip monster from the deck or graveyard to my hand!" Scura already had the Behemoths for the job. She discarded a Subterror Behemoth Ultramafus from the deck and placed an unknown card face-down [Zone 1]. "The Hidden City reactivates! I flip Subterror Behemoth Umastryx!" Even while surrounded by the darkness of the world legacy, her City could leave an impact great enough to awaken the buried drill dragon Umastryx(7/2500/3200). "A flipped Umastryx means a banished monster! I banish Krawler Neurogos! Which breaks your co-link effects too!"

The Behemoth's rampant drilling caused a large section of the earth to split open and swallow the neural X-Krawler whole. Without the creature in between them, Synaphysis(2400 atk) and Qualiark(3100 atk) lost their protection from destruction. Subterror Fiendess could then reclaim the first Subterror Guru from Scura's graveyard. "Such shortsighted thinking." Nevertheless, the increasingly irritated Melyria countered Neurogos' removal by setting Krawler Glial [Zone 5] and Krawler Spine [Zone 1] from the graveyard back face-down on the field. And while that did make all Subterrors stronger because of Subterror Cave Clash (Behemoth Fiendess: 5500 atk, Umastryx: 3500 atk), it also gave Melyria monsters to flip with World Legacy Pawns. "Spine, destroy her set card!" Her continuous trap chose the spinal krawler(900/2700), who subsequently targeted Scura's mysterious monster for destruction

"Oh you caught on eh? But you wont get away with it this time! Fiendess negates your monsters effect!" Scura countered swiftly by discarding the humanoid form of the Fiendess. The card blocked Spine's power and switched Umastryx to face-down defense position instead. "This time you get to sit down and watch me do my thing!" Scura yelled as she normal summoned Subterror Guru(3100/3300) [Zone 3], equally powered up by the Cave spell. "Time for you to die too, X-Krawlers!" The Behemoth Fiendess(5500 atk) incinerated Qualiark and reduced it to ashes. "I take the regular Subterror Fiendess back!" In between attacks, Scura made use of the inflicted damage and her Cave Clash spell to add one monster back to her hand.

Melyria's LP: 3900

At the same time the destroyed Qualiark split up into the Krawlers Dendrite and Ranvier. "You are being difficult.." Melyria in turn activated Subterror Succession and sacrificed the weakened X-Krawler Synaphysis to add an EARTH flip monster to her hand: SelfDestruct Ant. "What if you did win? I am the one chosen by the armor. You think you can control it as well as I do?"

"Dude. I don't even want that armor. Have you looked at yourself in the mirror? Why would I want my nerves to be glowing all the time, or have four arms?" Scura shrugged with the arms she had and activated Guru's effect to switch itself and Krawler Spine back to face-down defense position. "Actually, that does sound kinda neat now that I think about it. Yeah. I activate the Book of Taiyou! I can flip one monster face-up right now! So I flip the Pot the Forbidden!" A twisted black jar(9/2000/3000) rose from a cloud of smoke, and inside the jar one could see a great red eye and a tooth-filled maw. "The Forbidden?" It took everyone by surprise. "He destroys all your monsters, Cister!" The creature left the jar and swallowed all the face-down Krawlers with one big gulp. The Krawlers could not split up if they were face-down during their removal "This isn't about wanting your fancy powers! In fact all this stuff about Millennium and Ezra is giving me way too big of a headache! You cant control other people the way you want. Hell I can barely control myself!" Scura reactivated Subterror Succession sacrificed the Pot of the Forbidden to add the lower leveled Subterror Behemoth Dragossuary to Scura's hand. "But at least I can control this duel.. heheh."

-TURN 07-

"... You are right, Chiaroscura. This is not about anything fancy. I have been trying to do this the nice way, yes. The kind way. I wanted a family, but above all else, I wanted a world of my own. And I am so close to it, with only you standing in my way. Wasting my time, my everlasting time. So enough 'fancy' tricks." The woman clenched all her hands at once. "I will just crush you like a bug! With this card!" Melyria revealed the monster in her hand: the added Self-Destruct Ant. "When this card is flipped face-up, we both take 1000 points of damage! Even if this card is somehow destroyed, you still take 1000 points of damage. In either situation, I will live as I always do. And you will crumble to dust for your ruinous behavior!"

"Melyria, you cannot blame this all on her. Not on us! You are lying to yourself" Crescent yelled and pleaded. "Small things lead to great disasters. Your resistance started a fire, heroes. She wished for this, Aurora! Yes! You wished for this! Yes! We could have had a paradise together! All of us, every single human! But you threw it away! Yes! You ruined it! You could not leave your material world behind! That is why I had to make you forget! And I will make you forget!" The nerval duelist placed the monster face down on the field, and immediately activated World Legacy Pawns to flip it face-up.

"Ugh. I absolutely refuse to die to something like that!" But Scura's own trap could resolve first. "I activate Subterror Final Battle! Each turn it uses one effect and then flips face-down again! One of those lets me switch Umastryx back to face-up attack mode!" Her trap flipped the drill behemoth up once more, allowing Scura banish Melyria's monster. The Subterror Nemesis Warrior(4/2300/1700) [Zone 1] could also summon itself in defense mode again. "What?" The red Ant(3/1500/1000) with the bomb-shaped abdomen still flipped face-up to start a separate effect chain. But now..."Now I have a monster face-up again, Melyria! So I send Subterror Fiendess to my graveyard, one of them, and negate your monsters effect!" Umastryx switched back face-down, while the tiny fiend girl tormented the destructive ant. Melyria's explosion got defused and banished shortly afterwards.

"You.." In turn, Melyria flipped her trap card: Premature Return. It allowed her to banish a card (Krawler Receptor) from her hand to set the banished Self-Destruct Ant [Zone 4] back down on the field. "Agh. I knew that trap would bite me in the ass one day." Scura had seen every flip style duelist use that trap, except for her. "Well if you are gonna do that, I am gonna do this!" Scura reactivated the quick effect of the Subterror Warrior, sending another Subterror Nemesis Archer to the graveyard. The Warrior then sacrificed himself and Subterror Umastryx to summon a face-up defense monster with less than their combined levels: Subterror Behemoth Dragossuary the rock dragon(6/2400/3600) [Zone 3] covered in lava. "Build all the defenses you need. Everything ends sooner or later!" Melyria could just wait for the next turn and the SelfDestruct Ant would finish what she tried to begin. Even so she placed one more trap card face down and special summoned a monster face down, Krawler Glial [Zone 5], with the effect of her field spell. "I end my turn, and this duel."

-TURN 08-

"Why is she so confident? She knows you're just gonna shut her down again if she tries to explode you." Bionis Khan scratched his head. "Because.." Scura could not come up with an answer right away either. Not until she remembered how Melyria defeated Vitruvic. "...Ah nuts." She only got a second of her own epiphany before the enemy lashed out. "Pawns activates!" The continuous trap targeted the face-down Selfdestroying ant and flipped it upwards. "Argh. No wait.." As Scura did not want to lose, she countered by discarding her last Subterror Fiendess. "I negate your effect!" The enemy's flip monster got defused and her flipmonster, Dragossuary, switched to face-down defense mode at the same time. "Ha! Then I activate Witch's Strike!" And in the very next moment, Melyria revealed the trap that Scura feared. "A double trap?!" Crescent shuddered. The Witch's Strike destroyed all cards on the field and in an opponents hand, when that opponent negated the summon or effect of another card.

"I knew it!" Scura would lose her spells, her traps, her draws and her subterrors all in one fell swoop. "I knew it...and I prepared for it! Aha!" Scura reflipped Subterror Final Battle. "I switch Subterror Behemoth Dragossuary to attack mode! During a turn in which this card is flipped, none of my face-up Subterror cards can be destroyed!" The protection expanded across her field, covering the Behemoth Fiendess(5000 atk), itself, Cave Clash and the Nemesis Warrior(2800/2200) who summoned himself back to the field after Dragossuary flipped face-up. Only the face-down Subterror Guru, Hidden City, the cards in her hand and her two face-down traps were permanently removed by the trap of the witch. "But even that wouldn't have been enough. In fact I still dont think its enough. I only got a little lucky there, because of the card I drew." Scura sighed and placed her hand on the graveyard. "Because of this guy! A/D Changer! When I banish it from the graveyard, the position of one monster on the field is changed as well!" Scura figured that a red and blue-flag carrying ogre would be her final rescuer.

"A/D Changer? That was the card you drew this turn?" Melyria flinched. Krawler Receptor(2/1200/900) flipped face-up against its will. "Yep! And then I switch Dragossuary back facedown with his effect! Which means there will still be two set monsters on my field and Cave Clash still gives all my monsters 1000 attackpoints!" Scura pointed her finger at the opposing side. "Behemoth Fiendess! Kill Glial!" With her two powerboosts, the Fiendess of all Behemoths slayed the crawling nerve insect, splattering its golden matter all over the mossy rocks. "That was not enough! Chiaroscura!" But the wielder of the armor kept standing. "You keep saying my name like that. I am starting to think you like to make things complicated." Scura sneered.

Melyria's LP: 100

There was only one win possible now. "Scura!. Wait. Don't..." Crescent realized it before Melyria did, what Scura had planned this entire turn. "Wouldn't be the first time. Its the only way to do enough damage before she gets another turn." Scura sent Subterror Nemesis Warrior into battle, against the face-down Selfdestruct Ant. "You would end us both!?" The flip effect would inflict 1000 points of damage... to both of them at the same time. "I told you. I dont want your damn armor. Let someone else pick it up!" Bionis or Crescent, she did not care which. "Neo! This one is for you!" Finally the Warrior's blade connected, and the ant's abdomen blew to pieces, dragging both duelists into the flames of defeat.

Melyria's LP: 0

...

"This is the right spot eh?" Blanche looked down at the sea of hypercolor. "Yes." Himiko led them to a spot that looked just the same as any other. "Well, I've seen weirder stuff. So what form is taking now? Noise? Color? What is the test? Do we have to shout at it? Do we follow a certain path?" Blanche and Himiko on their dragon flew closer to the surface of the dimensional barrier. Any further and she would just be dumped back into STHEREA. But that was close enough... for it. "Whoa whoa whoa!" Blanche flew back as a beam of starlight shot into appearing portal to a sector in the network. The light came from the sea, which had now been cut in half to create two massively loud waterfalls. And at the center of the parted water lied a large ark-like structure, glistening with gold and strengthened with a green crystal. Its appearance heralded back to the style of the Crown and the items before it. "I told you so." Himiko smirked. They had found it, the sixth item.

(To Be Continued in Line 116: Destructive Inertia)

**New Cards used by Melyria Cister**  
Krawler Ranvier  
Selfdestruct-Ant

-  
World Legacy in Shadow

-  
Premature Return

**New Cards used by Chiaroscura001  
**Pot of the Forbidden  
Subterror Behemoth Dragossuary  
A/D Changer

-  
Subterror Behemoth Fiendess

-  
Book of Taiyou


	116. Destructive Inertia

**Line 116: Destructive Inertia **

Scura's LP: 0 Melyria's LP: 0

"Scura!" Once the smoke cleared from the arena, Crescent could see Scura lying on her back. "Ohhh.. Did I get her?" She groaned. Self destructing insects packed more of a wallop than she expected. "Yeah you did!" Bionis at least gave her the good news. The explosion had knocked Melyria down to the ground as well.

"You wretched girl. You have ruined.. everything." Melyria raised her head and started hissing with a raspy tone. "Ugh? You're still around?" Scura coughed. She expected her to start fading away like Ulysses and Kremlore. But apparently that took more than a draw. "She still has the blessing of her own armor. But.. she no longer has the armor." Crescent did not sense the item anymore. And Hansen had already proven that a Legacy item abandoned its master if their lifepoints ever reached zero. "Then where is the damn thing?" Bionis cursed. He did not see the krawler woman drop anything. "Hmm. Didn't you know? The Legacy returns to its resting spot when no duelist is holding it. Heh. And only Ezra and I know where that is.." Melyria mustered enough strength to get in one last laugh. "He will find it long before you can. Yes." And she activated her own golden skill to retreat from the arena beyond.

"What!? What a rip off!" If Scura had known that, she would have thought twice about suiciding against her. "We have to locate it. It and the other items. This cannot go on any longer!" Crescent hoped that Void and the others had found more success than they did.

...

The sixth item rose beneath Yorohimiko and Blance, a large golden ark with four spires arches that crossed in the middle. They landed on the surface, which felt farm and vibrated with power. "Didn't think it would be so big." Blanche could not even tell where it ended. "I would rather ask.. how are we intended to claim it?" Himiko wondered. "And what is the purpose of that path?" The flat beam of starlight spiraled all over the place and opened portals to physical sectors. It made one think of a racing course, one that traversed every area in STHEREA. And this World Ark acted as the axis. "I have no idea. The shield didn't take a solid form until Crescent proved herself or something."

"And we must prove ourselves as well, in a duel of speed." And then he appeared: Hydra. "Goodness gravy! What? How?!" Blanche would never have expected to meet the Black Baron riding a Red-Eyes Black Dragon as his own speedboard. "I apologize. I followed you here, because Ezra and Melyria already know that you are here too. The secret is out."

"Ezra? Melyria? And they're coming here?" Yoro-Himiko did not take the news well and frantically looked around.

"Ezra is indisposed, and Melyria may not be coming at all. There is still time to claim the item for ourselves." Hydra stated as he gazed down upon the golden ark. "What do you mean? We? How do we know we can trust you?" Blanche did not exactly feel like including him in any trials or tests right now. "You trust Yoro-Himiko, do you not? She now is a part of Millennium, just like me. In any case, I am not here on Ezra's behalf. If I am helping anyone right now.. it is Millennium itself." Hydra claimed. "What? But Millennium is done.. aint it?" Last thing Blanche heard was that paradise had been turned into a desert wasteland. "Just because the people have abandoned the dream, or tried to corrupt it, does not mean that the dream itself is dead, Madam Blanche. Millennium can still work. I know it. I have seen their world and their bonds." The baron stated passionately.

"I do not know if I can agree, Hydra. I too experienced the freedom of Millennium first hand. And it felt good at first, but.. those around me have made me realize that just living here is not enough. Not if it comes at the cost of losing who you really are." Himiko had nearly forgotten about Zanbatou. That was not something she wished to see happen again. "They said it themselves, the power is still imperfect. Only someone who has all seven legacy items can truly master existence in STHEREA. We may disagree on how we want to use that power, but we do not have the time to argue right now. Erza is closing in. The item demands to see which one us is most capable of wielding it. And so we have to duel.. just like how you had to duel Crescent. That is the only language it understands."

"And I take it.. it expects us to have a speed duel?" Blanche did not see any other way to follow the starlight road, plus the copycat Baron had his own speedboard to match her white dragon. "What if I just duel Himiko for it?" If it only took two challengers, she would rather duel someone she trusted. "I will have to pass, flying is awful enough without violence thrown in. And I do not know if you can rely on me. You are not compromised like me.. and him."

"Oh yeah I see your point. Okay. Well, I guess you can sit around here then. This might take a while!" Blanche ascended the white dragon and glared at Hydra. "It's you and me then, Hydra. Ready when you are!" The red-eyed and blue-eyed speedsters moved to the start of the starlight road. "I did not think we would fight each other again for another item, yet here we are. Last time we fought because I did not know if I could trust you. This time.. will be different." Hydra nodded and blasted off. "Yeah well, I wish i could say the same. But seeing your face hasn't helped much" Blanche responded as she flew forward as well. She and her dragon quickly gained the lead as they jumped through the first portal. "WOO!" Already she could not see Himiko anymore, the starlight path took them the blue sky above the wide ocean.

Blanche's LP: 8000 Hydra's LP: 8000 -TURN 01-

"Me first! I activate the Mausoleum of White!" Blanche started with a new field spell. Due to the bizarre nature of their battleground, the white pillar monument became her new speed board, floating at the same speed as Hydra's Redeyes. "Well this is weird." A large structure with three white dragon statues rose up at the center of the Mausoleum. "Anyway, with this card I can normal summon one more level 1 Light monster each turn!" Blanche said as she went on to normal summon her first tuner: a silverhaired sage(1/0/1500) [Zone 4] wearing white robes, blue sashes and golden armor. "I only have one right now, but the Sage with Eyes of Blue can fix that! He adds another Level 1 Light tuner to my hand!" The Sage waved his staff and drew forth the card: Maiden with Eyes of Blue. "So I summon her too!" The white-haired Maid(1/0/0) [Zone 5] walked into the Mausoleum through the second pillar gate.

"I see you are going for Blue-Eyes." Hydra smirked. "Tch, spoilers. But yes, the Mausoleum can also discard one normal dragon from my deck and target one of my monsters to give them 100 attackpoints for each level of that dragon!" Blanche tossed the Blue-Eyes White Dragon into her graveyard. An action that caused one of the dragon statues' eyes to light up and fire a beam down at the Maiden(800/0). "And you have seen this part already." Once targeted, the Blue eyed Maiden could special summon that same Blue-Eyes White Dragon(8/3000/2500) [Zone 3] from the graveyard. "But how about this? I synchro summon Blue-Eyes Spirit Dragon!" She let her blue-eyes tune with the Blue-eyed Sage, and recreated the dragon that once faced Crescent: the synchronic ghost Blue-Eyes Spirit(8/2500/3000) [Extra Zone 1]. "I have seen that too, Blanche. I watched you duel Aurora." Hydra remained tranquil. "Oh good for you. But I am not gonna make the same mistakes." Blanche placed one trap [Zone 1] down and passed the turn to the Black baron.

-TURN 02-

"Some mistakes you cannot avoid, Blanche." Schwarzwald stated as they headed through the second portal. Now they were flying above a rain-forest sector. Here Hydra summoned Soldier Dragons(2/700/800) [Zone 4]: the first card he ever revealed. "Huh? You're still using that deck?" Blanche had expected the baron to go back to Red-Eyes in this state. "I lost my proxy. Not my cards. And in the end, I favor this set. After all, you defeated me as Schwarzwald. But never as Hydra." Hydra also placed a trap card [Zone 4] face-down, which gave away his next move. Three cards were in the same column now. "I special summon Iron Dragon Tiamation, and destroy all cards in its column!" The conditions were right for the destructive dragon(4/2000/0) [Zone 2] of the Steel batallion.

"Hey that last duel ended prematurely!" Blanche was forced to activate Blue-Eyes Spirit Dragons effect. "I sacrifice my synchro for another synchro: Azure Eyes Silver Dragon!" The ghost of the dragon took back a living body: special summoning the Azure-eyed and golden-clawed Silver Dragon(8/2500/3000) [Extra Zone 2]. "And Azure-Eyes cancels the destruction of all dragons for two turns!" Hydra's Iron Dragon bullet failed to pierce the scales of the indestructible Silver Dragon, as it made its linear path of destruction across the second column. "However, you had to activate two effects in a row to avoid this." Hydra noted. Each time an effect resolved on the opponents field, the Soldier Dragons could special summon a new level 2 dragon from the deck once a turn. "Yeah yeah, get on with it." Blanche groaned as the first Soldiers special summoned the second(2/700/800) [Zone 3] and the second called out a third Soldier Dragons card(2/700/800) [Zone 5].

"As you wish. I Link summon, Vorticular Drumgon, using three dragons as link materials! When this card appears, I can draw one card!" The first and second Soldier Dragons disappeared along with Tiamation, creating the magazine-headed yellow dragon(1000/LINK 3) {Left/Down/Right}. "Aha! But now I can activate my trap! Since you like explosions so much, youll love this! Ring of Destruction!" Blanche sprung a rather volatile card, one that created a ring of grenades that clamped down around Drumgon's neck. "The ring?!" Hydra did not need a reminder of what it could do. The trap blasted his monster to smithereens, and caused Blanche to lose lifepoints equal to its attackpoints. He lost the same amount of life afterwards.

Blanche's LP: 7000 Hydra's LP: 7000

"Kgh. That one I did not see coming." Hydra admitted as he flew out of the smoke left behind by the blast . Still, another activated effect meant another monster for Soldier Dragons number three to summon. It used the final effect to bring in a Shellrokket Dragon(2/1100/2200) [Zone 3]. "Which means I will have to destroy the weaker one before anything else. My dragons attack the Maiden with Eyes of Blue!" Both the Dragon Soldiers and the big bullet Rokket dragon flew into the mausoleum. "Oh like Alpha eh?" The first targeted attack Blanche cancelled with the Maidens effect, which also special summoned a second Blue-Eyes White Dragon(8/3000/2500) [Zone 3] from the deck. The second attack, from Shellrokket, could not be stopped and continued on to blow up the unfortunate Blue-eyed Maiden. The blue-eyed duelist took some damage as well naturally. "Didn't that guy get sent to a nightmare realm like Void? You dont seem too heartbroken about that now." She said with a shrug.

Blanche's LP: 5900

"Alpha caused his own downfall. His cause was just, but not his anger." Hydra said as he revealed his spell card: Squib Draw. It destroyed his Rokket Dragon so that he could draw two cards. "Too many people are still too self-centered to see beyond their own emotions. But I see what needs to be done." He placed another trap card down on the field and let the turn end. During that endphase, the destroyed Shellrokket Dragon activated its effect in the graveyard and special summoned a Magnarokket Dragon(4/1800/1100) [Zone 2] to the field in defense mode. "I also see what can be done. Crescent and Void resist one items influence better with their own. I wonder if it will be the same for me." As Hydra ended his turn, the next sector of the speed circuit appeared: the empty desert.

-TURN 03-

"Meanwhile I just wonder if anyone can see us from down there... Anyway! Azure-Eyes Silver Dragon can revive a normal monster during my standby phase! Welcome back, Blue-Eyes!" One head became two, the first White Dragon(8/3000/2500) [Zone 2] got special summoned from the graveyard and left Blanche with three more zones to fill. "I normal summon Keeper of the Shrine and also the Master with Eyes of Blue! Thanks to my field spell of course." Two masters of dragon lore walked in through the lone corners of the Mausoleum: the bearded and dragonscaled wiseman Shrine Keeper(4/0/2100) [Zone 1] and the solemn dragon Master(1/300/1200) [Zone 5] in his golden coat. "When the master is normal summoned, I can add one level 1 Light tuner back from the graveyard!" Blanche took back the Sage with Eyes of Blue and promptly sent her back. "I activate the Sage from my hand this time! That way, she sacrifice one effect monster to summon a Blue-Eyes from my deck!" With a formal bow, Master with Eyes of Blue disappeared from his spot. The magic of the discarded Sage transformed him into the Blue-Eyes Alternative White Dragon(8/3000/2500) [Zone 3].

"Three dragons, the classic setup. I could never pull that off with three Red-Eyes." Hydra smirked. "Yeah about that. Why copy me, of all people?" Blanche had to ask before she could make her next move. "Because I wanted to understand you. By trying to be like you, I thought I could accomplish that. Yet you still have so many mysteries to me. To them. I still do not see how you could have saved me from Hansen, how you intercepted his champions in real life. But you do have my respect for that. Still, I cannot give you what you want." Hydra directed his open hand at Soldier Dragons, activating its effect in response to the effect of the Sage. "I special summon Omni Dragon Brotaur in defense mode! When this dragon is summoned, I can discard one card to add one card with the same type and attribute as a monster on my field!" In one swift move, the baron brought out a pocket-sized black metallic dragon(1/0/0) [Zone 5]. And, after discarding Anesthrokket Dragon from Hydra's hand, the Omni Dragon targeted the DARK Dragon Soldier Dragons to draw the DARK Dragon Autorokket Dragon from the deck.

"Sneaking in a summon during a praising session? Heh, how cute. Brotaur is kinda adorable too." Blanche grinned and dragged a card out of her own graveyard. "Time to smash it! When I activate Master with Eyes of Blue from the graveyard, I can sacrifice another effect monster to revive a Blue-Eyes monster!" Now Keeper of the Shrine transformed into a dragon. Allthough this one rose back from the graveyard like a furious ghost: as the Blue-Eyes Spirit Dragon(9/2500/3000) [Zone 1]. "How about five dragons instead of three? Blue-Eyes number one and Blue-Eyes number two: attack!" Her normal white dragons would deal with the exposed and defenseless targets: taking off and firing two burst streams of destructions to wipe out everything in the skies, starting with Soldier Dragons and Magnarokket Dragon.

"I activate Link Turret!" But, just before the first beam impacted, Hydra activated a continuous trap. Its function and form quickly vanished behind white smoke, as the trap failed to stop the damaging attacks from the normal dragons or the deaths of Hydra's monsters. "What did you just do?" Blanche did not like the name of that trap.

Hydra's LP: 3500

"Link Turret gains 4 counters when it is activated." Hydra started his answer, as a black metal turret installation (6 counters) now hovered in the air above Hydra. "And each time I take damage, one counter is added to my trap card." Six points, attached to the turret's outer ring, were glowing now. "Oh? And then you can use those counters for something else? I guess leaving everything in attack was not you being crazy. But can you keep that up?" Azure-Eyes flew out to burn Omni Dragon Brotaur away with a searing shot of green flames. And Blue-Eyes Spirit Dragon approached Hydra directly.

"I believe so." Hydra replied as he activated the set spell of Quick Launch to special summon another Rokket Dragon, Exploderokket Dragon(6/2000/2000) [Zone 5], from his deck in defense mode, which absorbed the spirit dragons blast instead. "when a monster is destroyed, I can special summon the Omni Dragon from my graveyard again." He went on to say as the Alternative Dragon's attack destroyed the defending Exploder Dragon. "Yeah I am gonna cut you off this time! Because Blue-Eyes Spirit Dragon negates one effect in the graveyard each turn!" The dark dragon spirit could not leave the graveyard, as the Spirit Dragon watched over it like a radiant hawk. "And Alternative attacks too!" The fifth dragon leveled a direct white light beam.

"I am afraid not. When I am attacked, I can special summon Checksum Dragon from my hand you see. And I gain lifepoints equal to half of its defense. This monster also cannot be destroyed by any attack" The dragon duelist shielded himself with a red and blue mechanical dragon(6/400/2400) [Zone 5], one that had a large disc on top of its head and wings that separated into three blades of healing green light. Hydra regained 1200 lifepoints, but quickly lost 2600 when the Alternative Dragons blast slammed into Checksum Dragon. "I thank you again, miss Blanche." He smiled through the damage, while his Link Turret (7 counters) kept adding more light to itself. Hydra also started to fly closer to her.

Hydra's LP: 2100

"You wanna thank me? You know that first thing I did was not really just to save you." Blanche replied as she twirled her hair. "I know. But I owe more than that to you. I know you have your secrets, far greater secrets than I ever could hide. I was just a nobody pretending to be someone. You are the opposite. Yet we both tried to be distant to those around us. But in the end we both made connections anyway." Hydra talked at length while Blanche ended her turn. "Dude. I dont know what you're trying to say here." She groaned. "Connections are everything. I will show you what I mean, Madam Blanche. But before I can do so, I have to destroy your Spirit Dragon. As long as it exists, I cannot summon multiple monsters at the same time." In the same endphase, the destroyed Magnarokket and Exploderokket Dragons effects resolved and placed two Metalrokket Dragons(4/1700/1400) [Zone 3 & 4] on the field. At least their summons happened separately.

-TURN 04-

Another turn change, another new lap for the speedsters. The next portal brought them to the castles and the royal city. It still looked empty and lifeless from up there. "Blanche, I want you to see the strategy that I developed for an occasion like this. It begins with Twin Triangle Dragon!" The two Metalrokket dragons dematerialized and turned into the triangular two-pointed Dragon(1200/LINK 2) {Down/Right) [Extra Zone 2]. As it had been link summoned, Hydra could pay it 500 lifepoints to resummon one highlevel dragon from his graveyard. "I resurrect Explode Rokket Dragon!" The explosive dragon[Zone 4] popped up on the field with its wings folded in and its effects sealed.

Hydra's LP: 1600

"And then I summon Borrelsword Dragon!" The remaining dragons (Checksum, Gateway Dragon, 2x Metalrokket) came together to upgrade into a destructive monster with four markers: the blade-winged Borrel Dragon(3000/LINK 4) {Left/Downleft/Down/Up} [Zone 4] of swords. "If it switches one monster to defense, it can attack twice in one turn!" The Borrelsword dragon targeted Azure-Eyes Silver Dragon and forced it into a defensive position. "And when it attacks your monster, half of its attackpoints are added to my monster instead! Borrelsword attacks Blue-Eyes Alternative White Dragon!" The power transfer happened as soon as the Sword Dragon(4500 atk) clashed with the White Dragon(1500), taking what it needed to overpower Blanche's monster and cut it in half from head to tail with its bladed nose.

Blanche's LP: 2900

"Yeah I know that guy is a barrel of laughs. Or a borrel of laughs. What is a borrel anyway?" Blanche winced. "Heh, a decent question. Let me answer that with another attack! I attack Blue-Eyes Spirit Dragon!" Borrelsword leered at the monster in the corner of the mausoleum and made the Spirit Dragon a permanent resident of the tombs by impaling her with his sword tail. "Thanks. I guess now we are even. But when you destroy my dragon monster, Keeper of the Shrine can summon himself from my graveyard!" The white dragon duelist called back at least one dragon mage[Zone 5] who could 'keep' some order in the violent battlefield. "We are not even yet. Not after all that you have shown me, Blanche. You and Void."

Blanche's LP: 900

"Void? Why are you bringing him into this?" Blanche asked as Hydra moved on to the next phase. "Because he showed me, in spite of his dull nature, what a duelist can accomplish. Because like me, he only cared about the game at first. But I too now, have people I want to protect and amaze. And now the pieces are almost all here. Finally, I can activate.. Boot Sector Launch!" Hydra's black dragon board integrated the new field spell, turning metallic and growing a bulletchamber in its torso. "Since you control four monsters and I control only one, I can special summon three Rokket Dragons from my graveyard!" The chamber spun thrice, and the field spat out Anesthrokket Dragon(300/2500) [Zone 2], Magnarokket Dragon(2100/1400) [Zone 3] and Shellrokket Dragon(1400/2500) [Zone 4] back to the field in defense mode. Due to the field spell, they all gained 300 attack and defense points. "And now, the effect you were waiting for. Link Turret's! During my main phase it can use one counter to special summon one Rokket Dragon from my graveyard!"

"Excuse me?!" Blanche gasped as Link Turret (7 to 6 counters) revived the Exploderokket Dragon [Zone 6] with its effects negated. "The Rokket Dragon summoned by Link Turret is banished after it leaves the field. So each rokket can only be revived once. But I have six bullets left in my graveyard! So let's continue. I Link summon, Borreload Dragon and set it at Borrelswords left marker!" Hydra wasted no time in bringing out his next link, using Anest/Magna/Shell and Exploderokket Dragon to create the Borrel Lord(3000/LINK 4) {Left/Downleft/Right/Downright} [Zone 3].

"Uhh. This is gonna take a while isn't it?" Blanche could still only watch as Link Turret(6 to 2 counters) brought back two pairs of bullets at once: Anesthrokket Dragon [Zone 1], Shellrokket Dragon [Zone 5] and two Metalrokket Dragons [Zones 2 & 4]."Link summon, Borrelguard Dragon! The materials are at least three monsters!" All four revived Rokkets formed the armored Borrel dragon(3000/LINK 4) {Up/Down/**Right**/Downright} [Zone 2]. The full picture came into frame..

"An extra link. You're trying to make an extra link!" Blanche was not blind, she saw where every marker headed from Borrelsword all the way to Borrelguard. "Yes, just like Void. I owe all of this to you too, Blanche." Hydra said as he activated another spell. "Monster Reborn special summons Vorticular Drumgon from my graveyard!" The magazine-necked Drumgon [Zone 1] returned to the field and gave Hydra another card to draw from his deck. That card was a monster that he could normal summon; the hexagonal golden Gateway Dragon(4/1600/1400) [Zone 4]. "Gateway Dragon summons one level 4 Dark Dragon from my hand!" The dragons gate slid open and put down an Autorokket Dragon(3/1900/1300) [Zone 5]. "And here is the most important part, Blanche! I link summon Topologic Gumblar Dragon! The materials are at least two monsters!" The Gateway Dragon took the three markers of the Vorticular one, and the two materials transformed into the latest Topologic Terror.

"Gumblar?" Like the Bomber Dragon, this blue metallic dragon(3000/LINK 3) {**Left/Up**/Down/Right} [Zone 4] was in fact a cyberse monster and lacked legs. But instead of a tail that looped back, its tail extended out far behind it. And four long spiraling horns were stuck to its back.

"The final push." Hydra said as he used up the last counters of Link Turret. A Turret-summoned Magnarokket Dragon [Zone 5] merged with Autorokket Dragon to link summon a MiniBorrel Dragon: a metallic dragon(800/LINK 2) {Left/Right} [Zone 1] with two heads: one draconic and one a plain gunbarrel. Link Turret then brought back Autorokket Dragon [Zone 5] and Hydra combined with Miniborrel Dragon to link summon the Triple Burst Dragon(2400/LINK 3) {Left/Up/Down} [Zone 1]. "Now your other synchro must die. Borrelguard can destroy one of my traps to bring back a monster that was destroyed this turn!" Hydra let the dragon blow up his own Boot Sector field spell, in order to special summon Blue-Eyes Alternative White Dragon [Zone 1]. "Since it did not attack this turn, it can destroy one monster. Correct?" Hydra smirked as the Alternate Blue-eyes turned against its own kind, activating its effect to destroy Azure-Eyes Silver Dragon. "Ugh. Yes."

"Then everything is in place now." With the extra zone cleared, the last obstacle for an extra link had been removed. "I link summon Saryuja the Skull Dread!" Triple Burst Dragon linked its three markers and created the chained devil dragon(2800/LINK 4) {Downleft/Up/**Down**/Downright} [Extra Zone 1]. "And complete the extra link! This, is my final gift to you, Madam Blanche!"

(To Be Continued in Line 117: Dead Sea Scrolling)

**New Cards used by Madam Blanche  
**Sage with Eyes of Blue  
Keeper of the Shrine

-  
Mausoleum of White

-  
Ring of Destruction

**New Cards used by Baron Schwarzwald/Hydra  
**Checksum Dragon  
Omni Dragon Brotaur

-  
Topologic Gumblar Dragon  
Miniborrel Dragon


	117. Dead Sea Scrolling

**Line 117: Dead Sea Scrolling**

"Oh no." Himiko instinctively felt a shiver of fear run down her spine, a sensation that could only be caused by the presence of few. "We found you." Ezra was one of them. The prophet had shown up on top of the World Ark. "And you found this. Well done, Yoro-Himiko." The wielder of the lance chuckled.

"If you think that I did this for your sake, think again. Melyria might have given me freedom, but she does not control me!" Himiko immediately prepared to defend herself. "Whoa, Himmy. We're not here to pick a fight! Just stand down! We can talk about this? Where did Blanche go?" Cherry showed up as well, trying to defuse the tense stand-off. "If you want to find her, you are already too late. She is undergoing the test right now to get ownership of this item! So you're right, its pointless to duel me." Himiko said with a smirk. She did not think highly of her chances against either of these two. "Too late?" Ezra looked ahead and saw the starlight road leading to the first portal. "It is never too late. "I will simply duel the winner and claim the Ark for myself."

"Yourself?" Himiko raised an eyebrow. Perhaps she would have to get in Ezra's way after all. "Cherry. Take down Himiko." And Ezra noticed the way the zombie princess looked at him. So he commanded. "What!? Why?!" Yet, for once, the Trickstar duelist did not feel like obeying. "_Why_ do you ask? Do you fear losing now?" He inquired. "Do _you?_ Why not do it yourself? Are you just too important?" Cherry hissed. Something in her had snapped. "The cause is more important than you or I." And his words did not convince her anymore. "Is that why Ulysses had to go? Why you sent my friends and family after Void and the others, even though they did not have a chance!? Are you just going to throw everyone at the heroes until one of them gets lucky?" But her words were ignored. Ezra walked towards the starlight road. "Hey! Listen to me!" She had enough. Cherry grabbed Ezra by the arm. "YOU DARE!?" And he lashed out immediately, exploding with blackened flames and burning eyes.

The act surprised Himiko, who took a step back and did not know what to say. Cherry also backed off at first, but found the courage to stare right back. "!... Yes. Yes Ezra! This has gone far enough! I thought this was about something else. But its just about you isn't it? Do you even care about us!? Because I did. And I cared about you as well!" She paused to reflect on her own words and shook her head. "I was okay with the attacks, this war, hurting the people who were hurting us. But now you're turning Millennium itself into your enemy! I wont allow it! I wont let you go down this path anymore!" She would even duel him if it came to it. "Anise..." Himiko finally spoke up. "No. Let me do this, Himiko." But Cherry would do better alone, she knew neither of them had a chance anyway. "I have to know.. if this is what you want, Ezra."

"Cherry Anise. I cannot let anyone stop my vision. Not even you." Ezra stepped forward. "This IS what I want."

...

Blanche's LP: 900 Hydra's LP: 1600

Skull Dread Saryuja(2800/LINK 4) {Downleft/Up/**Down**/Downleft} [Extra Zone 1] co-linked with Borrelguard Dragon (3000/LINK 4) {**Up**/Down/**Right**/Downright} [Zone 2], whose co-link further connected with Borreload Dragon(3000/LINK 4) {**Left/**Downleft/**Right/**Downright} [Zone 3]. That dragon then pointed to the new dragon: Topologic Gumblar Dragon (3000/LINK 4) {**Left/Up/**Down/Right} [Zone 4], which in turn pointed at the Borrelsword Dragon(3000/LINK 4) {Left/Downleft/**Down**/Up} [Zone 4]. The extra link appeared from the left to the right, the endresult of twenty link materials. "Ever since I saw Void perform this technique in the tournament, and Ezra twice afterwards, I had wanted to create one of my own. I found their fields inspiring, yet lacking. Ezra's link monsters were too focused on sealing the opponents moves, and Void's extra link could be too easily broken and had no endgoal. This one does.. Topologic Gumblar's full power is only unlocked when it is Extra linked with another monster!" Hydra pointed a finger towards Blanche. "Once a turn, it can discard up to 2 cards from your hand, and inflict 3000 points of damage!"

"Whoa. But I dont have any cards in my hand right now though!" Madam Blanche waved her hands freely about. All her cards were on the field; the Mausoleum of White, Keeper of the Shrine(4/0/2100) [Zone 5] and two Blue-Eyes White Dragons(8/3000/2500) [Zones 2 & 4]. "I know. The only card you have yet to use is your skill and that cannot be discarded. But I have my skill as well." Hydra said as he went on to reveal said skill. "Deus Ex Machina! We both draw one card." Hydra drew his card, and Blanche hers. "Now, you are vulnerable! So this is the end, Madam Blanche! I activate the effect of Topologic Gumblar Dragon!"

_Deus Ex Machina, Skill Card.  
__Both players draw 1 card._

"Bad news, Hydra." Only Blanche discarded one of the cards before Gumblar could activate its effect. "The card you let me draw is this one: Effect Veiler! And I use her effect on Topologic Gumblar Dragon!" The angel of the veil flew over to the cyberse of malicious code and negated its effects for the rest of the turn. "Effect Veiler. I should have accounted for that." Hydra after all knew she had more level 1 LIGHT tuners in her deck than just the clan with Eyes of Blue. "Eh, you could not have known I would be lucky. Again." Blanche shrugged, she definitely would have died if not for that coincidental draw. "Also your extra link is nice and all. But both of your endpoints have a marker pointed to my field, dont they?" Unlike with the Knightmare extra lock, Blanche could simply synchro, fusion or link summon her monsters in front of Saryuja or Borrelsword Dragon. "That is correct. However, anything but link monsters will not be able to defeat me anymore, miss Blanche. I activate Fire Prison!"

"Fire what?" Blanche recoiled as a cage of bright hot flames rose up and burned away the skies. She, the mausoleum and Hydra all were sent back to hyperspace because of this entrapment. "So much for the speed duel. Why would you.." One effect of this field spell that she quickly noticed, was the one that added attack and defense points to all dragons on the field: Borreload/Borrelsword/Borrelguard/Topologic Gumblar Dragon (3300 atk), Saryuja(3100 atk), the Blue-Eyes Dragons(3300/2800) and the Shrine Keeper(300/2400). "Because while this card exists, only link monsters can attack. And no link monsters can be brought out when they have less markers than the link monsters already on the field. I presume you have no link 4s of your own, do you?" Only a monster as pointed as the Borrels could be link summoned now. "I.. have a link 2." Blanche mumbled. "Not even that." The Fire Prison also had one downside for Hydra; he could not summon any more cyberse because controlling two would negate all their effects. "End turn."

-TURN 05-

"So no attacks, no link summons." Blanche sighed. She had no cards in her hand that would let her get rid of Fire Prison. Even if she could, and even if she could use the Mausoleum to make her dragons stronger; both Borrelguard and Borrelsword Dragon could just target her monsters during her turn to switch them back to defense mode. And she could not exactly go to defense either. Between Borreload's monster controlling or stat draining power and Borrelsword's attack stealing power, it would take Hydra less than a second to attack her directly. "I activate White Elephants Gift! I sacrifice one normal monster and draw two cards!" On the other hand, drawing cards meant risking running into Gumblar Dragon's effect. But she had to risk it, so she sacrificed the Blue-Eyes White Dragon on the left. "...I set two cards face down! Then I switch Blue-Eyes White Dragon to defense!" Fortunately she did not have to leave those cards in her hand.

"Blanche!" And she could get some moral support from an old friend.

"Hey.. Bossman!" Blanche perked up when she saw Void appear on his own speedboard. "And Echo?" The presence of the girl brought her more confusion than anything, she sat on the side of Voids speedboard like a second passenger. "Hello! I like your floating temple! Can I ride it?" She also had a less serious tone to her than her 'driver'. "Maybe later. Kinda trapped here." Blanche figured she would burn her hands if she tried to touch the fiery bars.

-TURN 06-

"Void. How did you get here?" Hydra approached the edge of the prison as well, staring right at the cyberse duelist. "Vigionair showed me the way, and then we saw this prison pop up out of nowhere. Now my turn. Why are you dueling Blanche?" The duelist replied harshly. "We are both fighting to see who can claim the sixth item." The baron answered clearly. "You found it then?" Voids eyes widened. "Then why are you working against us? Are you trying to help Ezra?!" He demanded to know. "I will not repeat what I already said to Blanche. You will find out for yourself when I take the item.. challenge me then. As for you and me, Blanche, our time is almost." Hydra drew his next card. "Blanche. Out of respect for you, and Void, I shall let you surrender now. You saved my life once, let me do the same for you." He entered the battle phase, and declared an attack with Borrelguard Dragon. It opened its jaws and fired a shot from its mouthcannon.

"Respect? I don't want that! Hows about you give me your awe instead?" And Blanche flipped her first trap card. "I activate The Ultimate Creature of Destruction! For the rest of my turn, my Blue-Eyes is unaffected by all other effects! And also it cannot be destroyed! Instead, it will destroy any monster that battles it!" The white dragon let out a howl that echoed across the void three times. "Oh!" Borrelguard's blast slammed against Blanche's monster and bounced right back. "Borrelguard Dragon cannot be destroyed by effects!" Hydra quickly stated as his own dragon deflected the countershot with its own wing. "Looks like you dodged that hot potato! But thats just a simple effect immunity. My Dragon was around long before link summons even existed! They are the strongest, the invincibilest! The ulimatest!" Blanche laughed out loud. "I am pretty sure two of those are not words." Void sighed. "Well they should be!" Echo chimed in as well. "It appears I misjudged your situation." Hydra looked on with a dejected expression. Attacking again would be fruitless. Instead he ended his turn.

-TURN 07-

"Yeah sorry for not wanting to lose all over again. But if you're upset, we can play something else!" Blanche drew her next card. "... I activate Saryuja's Dread!" The draw disappointed, but her trap card could fix that. "I draw cards equal to the link markers on your link monster! And if I have more than two cards in my hand afterwards, I have to send two cards back to my deck!" With five link 4 monsters on the field, Blanche could draw four cards and returned two. "Saryuja's Dread? You prepared a trap specifically for me?" Hydra found the use of that card doubly ironic, considering the presence of the actual Saryuja. "Maybe. I expected to duel Ezra first really. Anyway, now I can redecorate! I activate the Wingbeat of a Giant Dragon! My highevel dragon will return to my hand, and she destroys all spells and traps!" The blue-eyed white dragon made its flight back to her master, and the beating of its majestic wings woke up a storm across the field that shattered the pillars of the White Mausoleum, Link Turret and the cage of the Fire Prison.

"Huh?" Void noticed a portal opening behind them. The two duelists could continue their race across STHEREA. "Stick around Void, Echo!" Blanche yelled as she and Hydra headed off into the next sector: a realistic city skyline. Now flying with her white dragon again, Blanche and the baron on his black dragon flew high and fast. "Hey this place looks familiar!" Echo and Void could barely keep up as they had to fly a lot slower. "It does.." Void realized they were not even in the game sectors anymore, they were above the fake city that Echo used to live in. The World Ark wanted them to see all the sights.

"Hey Hydra! I think you know where this is headed now.. I activate my skill, Master of Summoning! And summon Blue-Eyes back to the field!" Just like in the duel with Crescent, her skill to summon highlevel monsters did not let her down. But a lone Blue-Eyes White Dragon(8/3000/2500) [Zone 3] could not do a lot. "By the way, when Blue-Eyes is summoned. The Ultimate Creature of Destruction, the trap, can be set back to the field. But that's just a sidenote. What I actually want to do.. is banish the Mausoleum of White from my graveyard. Because that effects lets me grab Burst Stream of Destruction from my deck!" The white field spell released one last flicker of light, in the form of a spell card. "Blue-Eyes gives up his attack for the turn, and destroys all monsters on the field! A total wipe-out!" First she leveled the backrow, now the front. The White Dragon gathered immense light in its jaws and released it all in wide continuous arc.

"Argh." One by one, the Extra Link broke apart. First Borrelsword Dragon blew up, then Topologic Gumblar Dragon, Borreload Dragon and finally the Saryuja Skull Dread that started the whole chain. The Burst Stream of Destruction spell left only one survivor.. at first. "Borrelguard Dragon still cannot be destroyed by effects. And when a monster is destroyed by a card effect! Omni Dragon Brotaur can be special summoned from my graveyard!" The tiny black dracoling(1/0/0) [Zone 3] returned to the field, glaring at Blanche with its beady red eyes. "Finally, I activate Rokket Recharger from my hand! When a DARK monster summoned from the extra deck is destroyed by a card effects, this Rokket will summon another DARK Link monster from my graveyard! Vorticular Drumgon!" The Borrel duelist managed to recover several losses even, as he special summoned his Drumgon(1000/LINK 3) {Left/Down/Right} [Zone 1] and used its effect to draw another card.

"You.. did it!" Void nevertheless cheered, as destroying an extra link this powerful was no small feat. "Well.. it was pretty at least." Echo did not really know who to cheer for herself, nor could she really follow the steps of the duel.

"I just got lucky, Void. Lets see how long I can stay lucky. I activate Bingo Machine Go!" Blanche's second card created the lottery dragon machine, which hustled the top three cards of her deck in ball capsules. If one of those three cards supported her Blue-Eyes, she could add it to her hand. "Guess I win again.." One card among the excavated, Beacon of White, could be added to her hand. "I activate the White Beacon, to special summon Blue-Eyes Alternative Dragon from my graveyard!" With her equip spell, the Alternative Dragon [Zone 3] made an immediate comeback. "It cant attack anymore. But it can still destroy your monster, Hydra!" She fired off its effect and blasted Vorticular Drumgon out of the skies. "Then I link summon Hieratic Seal of the Heavenly Spheres, in attack mode, and end my turn!" Two dragons would always be vulnerable apart, but together as the golden dragon god egg(0/LINK 1) {Downleft/Downright} [Extra Zone 1], they could protect themselves. "I set a card and end my turn!"

-TURN 08-

Their flight over the fake city did not last them long. The next turn and lap shift brought them above the clouds, the starlight road got closer and closer to the actual stars. "Lucky... indeed. You know, of all the duelists I met, you are the only one to have pushed me this far. Prospero crushed me.. but you elevate me, Blanche. I presume it was the same for you, Void." Hydra waited for Void to catch up so he could talk without having to yell. "You could say that. I let her inside my own home after all." At this point Void could hardly keep that a secret. "Oh. Yeah, about that. You might wanna check up on the place soon. I wont be able to water the plants anymore, if you catch my drift." Blanche realized she never told Void about her current whereabouts. "What?"

"It means she has her own secrets, Void. You let her inside, but she has not let you inside. Did she tell you how she saved me? How he stopped Hansen from shutting STHEREA down? Do you know what she is? I do not, but I have heard stories. Stories that involve a little girl who came into fortune through the misfortune of others." Hydra claimed as he drew his next card. "Hey, there wasnt really a good time for talking! Also that story is kinda none of your business!" The white haired duelist snapped. "It's okay, Blanche. You can tell me later. Hydra, you wont win by trying to distract her." Void shouted. "I dont know, he might." Blanche muttered.

"No. He is right. I should win the item as a duelist would." Hydra normal summoned another Shellrokket Dragon(3/1100/2200) [Zone 4]. "Link summon! Twin Triangle Dragon!" Both it and the Omni Dragon Brotaur turned into the very familiar triangle holding dragon(1200/LINK 2) {Down/Right} [Extra Zone 2], who took 500 of Hydra's lifepoints to summon Checksum Dragon(6/0/2400)[Zone 4] back to the field in defense mode. "That thing again? You're repeating yourself Hydra!" Blanche shouted.

Hydra's LP: 1100

"In the end it always comes back to this. I link summon Topologic Trisbaena!" And Hydra illustrated as much when he used Checksum Dragon and Twin Triangle as link materials for the out the four-clawed and four eye-winged monstrocity Trisbaena(2500/LINK 3) {Up/Downleft/Downright} [Extra Zone 2] "When a card is linked with this monster, all traps and spells on the field are destroyed. And you lose 500 lifepoints for each one, Blanche." Hydra activated the last spell in his hand, Borrel Regenerator. "When this card is activated, I can special summon one Rokket Dragon from my graveyard!" And the spell of regeneration would equip itself to Shellrokket to set off the Topologic Cyberse. "No! Two cards will be banished! That's 1000 points of damage!" Void gasped. Blanche did not have enough lifepoints to survive two banishments.

"Yeah I can count too, Void! And I am not gonna wait for that to happen, not when he can throw his unchainable Borrelguard in there! I activate the Hieratic Seal and tribute it to return your card to your hand! And if it tributes itself, it can special summon one dragon from my deck!" The seal cracked and burst wide open, releasing light that the Topologic dragon could not withstand. Trisbaena fled back into the extra deck, while the tributed Hieratic seal could special summon the last Blue-Eyes White Dragon(8/0/0) [Zone 3] from her deck in defense mode. Blanche also quickly activated the Ultimate Creature of Destruction trap, so that the dragon could not be touched by other card effects for the rest of the turn.

"You are as always just as fast as me." Hydra could finally resolve Borrel Regenerator and special summoned Shellrokket Dragon[Zone 3] back in attack mode. "..When Borrel Regenerator is destroyed along with its host, I can draw one card. Borrelguard switches Shellrokket to defense mode." He let Shellrokket selfdestruct, as a result of being targeted by a link monster, so that he could draw one new card from his deck. A card that he placed face down. "Heh. Well since you want to know all my secrets. I can show you this one.." And as the turn moved to the endphase, Blanche revealed the card that Trisbaena had nearly banished. "Oasis of Dragonsouls! I use it to summon Blue-Eyes Alternative White Dragon from my graveyard in defense mode. "Lets see who is faster now!" During the end of his turn, the destroyed Shellrokket Dragon special summoned another bullet: Magnarokket Dragon(4/1800/1100) [Zone 3] in attack mode.

-TURN 09-

"I see." Hydra began to chuckle. "Borrelguard!" A quick effect would be faster then the Alernative's own effect of course. Borrelguard targeted Magnarokket to switch the magnum dragon to defense. The rokket instead blew to pieces and sent Blue-Eyes Alternative Dragon to the graveyard directly. No destruction was involved on either side. "Yeah. I figured. You know, I can hand you one thing, Hydra. You definitely want this ark more than me.. Just like you want to know me more more than I want to know myself. I am just not the curious type you know." Blanche looked ahead. The final portal awaited; the finish line. "But I also know that you cannot just let things play out. Curiosity can be a good thing... I activate Dragons Mirror! I banish the three Blue-Eyes White Dragons in my graveyard, to fusion summon Blue-Eyes Alternative Ultimate Dragon!" Three streams of white light destroyed the barrier between the living and the dead, and three dragon spirits merged their radiance in one body.

"Alternative?" Like all other Ultimate dragons, the Alternative one(10/4500/3800) [Extra Zone 1] had three heads on its great white winged body. Hydra sprung his trap to destroy it as soon as it appeared, Torrential Tribute. Yet he already knew how futile his own actions were. " for showing me that Neo wouldn't cut it it anymore. Sorry, Hydra! Alternative can't be destroyed or targeted by card effects.." The tidal wave only swept away her other Blue-Eyes White Dragon. The fused dragon flew high above the water that mixed in with the dimensional sea. The two duelists crossed the final gate and returned to the realm of hyperspace. "My dragon can destroy one card on the field each turn. Or three cards in this case, since I used Blue-Eyes Alternative White Dragon as one of of three fusion materials. But now I dont even have to do that!" Borrelguard could not switch this monster to defense mode anymore either, if it ever could. "Blue-Eyes! Attack the Borrelguard Dragon!" All three heads combined their fury into one wide blast of destruction and erased the final Borrel Dragon for good.

Hydra's LP: 0

"Just one turn.." Hydra lost control of his red-eyed dragon speedboard at the final clash, and had to force a landing on the ark itself. Void, Echo and Blanche were right behind him. "Had I not...No." He clenched his hands and closed his eyes. "No. I should not make excuses. The result is the same. I lost, and you won. You were the better duelist." He talked freely and loosely, like an immense weight had been lifted off his shoulders. "Eh, I would call myself luckier. Everyone else does. Even the best duelist can lose and the worst can win." Blanche shrugged, as she never cared about being better than anyone anyway. However, because of her victory she would have to become better than others in one way. "So. Is this now all mine?" She tapped her foot on the roof of the giant structure. "I believe so." Void could only conclude as much, as he saw the starlight road disappear behind them and the portals close up. "Great? Where do I put it though? How do you do that shrinking thingy?"

All were valid questions. And all had to wait. "Ezra!" Because they were not alone on the ark.

"Void, Madam Blanche." Ezra loomed over an injured Cherry Anise, whose avatar disappeared bit by bit. "Heh. I guess you were too late after all, Ez." The trickstar duelist had the last laugh nevertheless, even as she finally vanished. "You.. you dueled her? I thought she was your best friend!" Echo took the revelation the hardest, but Blanche and Ezra also stared on with shocked expressions. "I had no need for someone like her anymore. She betrayed me." The wielder of the lance coldly responded. "You turned them all away from me. Prospero, Ulysses, Cherry.. and now Melyria as well. She left me the future, but she could not give me herself. They have all been overpowered.. by the heroes of beyond. They have all failed me." Yet he made no aggressive moves. He ignored Yoro-Himiko and Hydra as well, members of his supposed family. "We are the wielders of creation now. So let us see who deserves to own the legacy. Void, Blanche.. and Aurora too. Come find me at paradise." Ezra's voice stayed behind as an echo, while his body sank into the shadows.

"The final confrontation will be settled there..."

(To Be Continued in Line 118: The Lord's Unresolved Work)

**New Cards used by Madam Blanche  
**Blue-Eyes Alternative Ultimate Dragon

-  
White Elephant's Gift  
Wingbeat of Giant Dragon

-  
The Ultimate Creature of Destruction  
Saryuja's Dread

**New Cards used by Baron Schwarzwald/Hydra  
**_DEUS EX MACHINA_

-  
Rokket Recharger

-  
Fire Prison


	118. The Lords Unresolved Work

**Line 118: The Lord's Unresolved Work**

The last hour approached. This could be the final moment where all heroes met each other. Void, Himiko and even Hydra returned to the arena beyond, where Bionis, Crescent and Scura were waiting and ready to exchange stories. Even Zettai and Donna had returned, so they could share a tale of her own. "The virus has been removed? Is Therese certain?" Void definitely liked to hear more good news. "I didnt follow her fancy words, but I think so yeah." Donna shrugged. "That does not mean we can be at ease. Millennium, or what is left of it, will become even more desperate now that their last gambit did not pay off. A cornered duelist is the most dangerous." Zettai grunted as she glared at Scura. "Hey its not my fault! How was I supposed to know items could run away like that!?" The subterror duelist still felt the frustration of her duel with Melyria. "Regardless, we can be certain that Ezra knows where the armor is. And he must have claimed it as his own by now. What are our options? Are you actually going to accept his challenge?" The ace duelist suspected a trap.

"We have to. Ezra has lost control, turned on his own. We have to bring him down before he does more damage to himself or others. But he will have to go through us first." Void held the chalice close to his chest and also stared at the World Crown that still sat in the center of the arena stage.

"Yeah about that. Didn't Blanche beat that guy to get her own item? Or did I mishear?" Donna noticed that Madam Blanche had not returned with the rest. "You heard correctly." Hydra coughed. All eyes were immediately upon him as soon as he spoke. "She elected to stay inside hyperspace, and invited Asterisk and Vigionair to study the sixth item. The World Ark. That would probably be for the best. If Ezra has two items, he is likely to wager them both for two of yours. I believe the items themselves will not allow an unfair exchange to happen." Which would place the first burden of that challenge to Crescent and Void, the wielders of the chalice and shield. "Ah. And you arent gonna try and sneak one off yourself in the mean time then?" Donna muttered. The wrestler still had not forgiven him, or gotten around to trusting him. "No, I had my chances. I failed twice. My role in this is done for now."

"It could have been different. You would have had the Chalice yourself if Hansen had played fairly." Crescent looked Hydra in the eyes. She was not so sure if the items saw it the same way the baron did. "Perhaps. But what is done is done. Now I will go where you go. And you had better go now. I know Ezra better than you, and I know his patience has limits.."

"It's always.. dueling. No matter where I go." Before they could leave however, Echo decided to speak up again. "He is all alone now. Do you still have to fight him?" She had a question for the heroes. "I am pretty sure we wont win by singing happy camper songs at him." Scura replied by rolling her eyes. "We have to fight him! Dont tell me you're still on the fence! You saw what he did to Neo!" Bionis snapped at her as well. "Easy, Khan. Remember who you are talking too." But Yoro-Himiko managed to settle him down and approached the girl herself. "Miss Echo. I can see how you feel, but Ezra has ended up in his current position because of his own actions. He was the one who hurt his friends. And he will continue to hurt people unless he is stopped. You do not have to watch, if you do not want too. You will be safe here. But you have to understand that this is the only way. Peace does not create itself."

Himiko's words seemingly reached the girl, who looked down at the ground. "Okay. I know. I know you have to go." She would not stop them, even if she could. But she would not follow them either. "Good. Then let's do this thing!" Donna raised her fist. "Yes. One way or another, this will be finished today." Crescent Aurora took her golden card and activated it once more, so that all the heroes could come with her and Void to reach Paradise. Miss Echo stayed.. keeping her head low for a little while.

Before she slowly looked to her left, to gaze at the World Crown.

...

"Well.. Somebody did some remodeling." Blanche noted that Paradise had become a far cry from whatever she or anyone else ever saw it as. The ground had cracked. Rivers of lava flowed through the land and mountains of black rock spewed ash and fire into the sky. The sun had been blotted out, everything turned to dark. . "This cannot be real, can it? Because its hot as hell in here!" Bionis had never felt temperatures like this before. "I dunno. Dip your foot in the lava and find out." Scura suggested with a grin. "This is Ezra's doing. He wants us to stay away from him." Hydra concluded. At the center stood the immaculate black tower, they could see the wielder of the lance on his lonely throne. "I do not know what's going to happen next. The rest of you should wait here. This will be our fight." Void nodded to Crescent. "Yes." She grabbed the shield and used it to paint a bridge of many colors that would lead them to the black tower. "Kick his ass, Void!" Donna and the others would cheer them on from the distance.

Soon the two stood face to face with the deliverer. "So only you two dared to come?" Ezra immediately commented on the absence of the Ark wielder. "Even so, are you too afraid to face me alone, wielder of the chalice and crown?" He clearly understood the terms they were dueling with: that if Void wanted too, he could have bet his Crown and Chalice at the same time. "It's not about just me, Ezra. We are stronger together. Like you once were. Where is Melyria now? Where is Millennium?" Void sensed it clearly, Ezra's power had risen. "I sent her away, all of them. They never understood me. Not even Melyria, not even when she had this power.." The World Armor was part of him now, nerves of light burned on every bone of his undead body. "Not even you. You do not see what I see, how weak you are right now!" Ezra pinned his lance into the ground and expanded the platform around his throne, allowing them both to step on. "Fight me together or alone, it will change nothing!" He issued the challenge to them both at once.

"We will see." And Crescent and Void both accepted.

Team Chalice Shield's LP: 8000 Ezra's LP: 8000 -TURN 01-

A two against one duel. Since the odds were stacked against Ezra, he would get a turn for each of their turns. And Void and Crescent would have to share one field and one set of lifepoints. Void did not know how this would affect his chances for links and link summons, especially when Crescents own strategy seemed to depend on proper positioning. She got the first turn anyway. "I set one card, activate one field spell and one continuous spell." And, to the surprise of everyone else, Crescent used not even a single monster zone during her first turn. It seemed even more at odds with her strategy when one considered that her field spell, Defense Zone, protected her trap [Zone 2] in the backrow from destructive effects.. But only if there were monsters in the same column as that trap. "Crescent?" Void could not tell if Crescent was trying to bait attacks to trigger her other spell: Backup Squad [Zone 3]. That card would draw one card for each 1000 points of damage its user took during each battle, which sounded like a risky trade-off. "I know, what I am doing." Still, she left the turn at that.

-TURN 02-

"Is this the result of your evolution? Or your fear? You will never succeed, if you refuse to listen to your new calling! Aurora Crescent!" Ezra immediately took advantage of her subdued opening with a rapid sequence of spells. "I have already opened myself to Him! I activate World Legacy Survivor!" The first card allowed him to add a World Legacy card to his hand, by excavating it and five other cards from the top of his deck. He claimed a countertrap, World Legacy Sorrow, and discarded the four other cards (Danger! Mothman, Knightmare Corruptor Iblee, Absolute King Back Jack, Realm of Danger!). The next spell came after he placed the countertrap face-down. "And I will destroy anything that denies Him! I activate Card Destruction!" All the cards in each players hand were destroyed, and new cards were drawn to replace the discarded ones. Void discarded his five cards (Formud Skipper, Lady Debug, Latency, Balancer Lord, Spool Code) Crescent her one monster...

"Only those loyal to the cause are spared." ...and Ezra discarded three Danger! monsters, triggering all three of their effects. "Come, Tsuchiniko, Nessie, Chupacabra!" The first pink snake(3/1300/0) [Zone 1], special summoned itself to the field after its discard. The second wild Chupacabra, special summoned a Danger from the graveyard: Danger! Mothman(4/1800/400) [Zone 2]. The third Loch Ness seaserpent, added a Danger card, Danger Jackalope, to Ezra's hand. "Then, I activate Monster Reborn! The Knightmare Corruptor Iblee returns to me, and begins the path to your doom! Link summon Knightmare Mermaid!" With one more spell, Ezra resurrected Iblee(2/0/0) [Zone 3] the girl who was the source of the Knightmare corruption. In an instant she transformed, from a link material into the glass-bodied Knightmare Mermaid(1000/LINK 1) {Down} [Extra Zone 1]. "And so it shall continue! I link summon, Knightmare Phoenix!" Tsuchinoko and Mothman disappeared into the nightmare circuit next, two differently named monsters as link materials for the golden phoenix(1900/LINK 2) {Up/Left}. "The unknown shall burn first! The Phoenix destroys your face-down trap, Aurora!"

"No. It wont." Crescent reacted calmly, by revealing her continuous trap card. "I activate the World Legacy's Secret, to summon one highlevel monster from my graveyard. Mekk-Knight Indigo Eclipse." The trap drew a circle of pure black shadows in front of her, and released the card that Card Destruction had claimed. The Mekk Knight Indo Eclipse; a psychic knight(8/2400/2400) [Zone 2] with a metallic appearance. Instead of legs its waist fused with a four-pointed wheel. Instead of hands, its arms connected with a crescent-like ring. And the light of indigo glowed through its armor and the gem on its chest. Knightmare Mermaid did steal 1000 attack and defense points from it(1400/1400) however, as it had no co-link with any other monster on the field.

"Mekk-Knight? You changed your entire deck?" Void realized that these were the monsters that came with the World Shield. Crescent had gone one step farther than him. "I changed. So my deck had to change too. Now, World Legacy's Secret negates all my opponents monster effects that activate in the same column as my Mekk-Knight. And Indigo Eclipse can switch its position to another zone, when it wants too!" The Indigo Knight spread its light forward like a blue carpet. Right now it affected both Knightmare Mermaid and Knightmare Phoenix, but Crescent could easily catch other zones in its trap. "This power of yours is impressive. But still nothing before me!" Ezra immediately countered the effect with his skill: Legacy of Millennium. "Now your trap has no effect on my monsters!" Ezra resolved the effect by discarding one card and drawing a new one, as Knightmare Phoenix had formed a co-link already. However, he could not destroy her trap anymore because Defense Zone turned Mekk-Knight into the trap's frontrow defense.

"Nevertheless. You knew I would begin my extra link in this column. You knew I would discard your monster for you. It is almost as if the Creator whispers into your ear too. But I know he would never turn against me. Already he has shown me a new path towards my Extra Link! I summon Phantom Skyblaster!" Ezra recovered with a surprising card, a demon cannonholder(4/1100/800) [Zone 1] that could special summon one token for each monster on his field. It would fire three shots, to fill the three remaining zones. Except, there were no three empty zones.

"I do not hear. I just see what I see. Steps that are made, and steps that will be made again." Not after Crescent discarded a monster from her hand. "I activate Wattkinetic Puppeteer. The position of a monster on the field is changed." The psychic puppeteer forced Knightmare Mermaid [Zone 5] into a corner of the field. "Aha!" Void understood why she did it. Not only could Knightmare Mermaid not link with anyone anymore, meaning she(0 atk) suffered her own effect, the Knightmare also got in the way of Phantom Skyblaster.

"You.." Ezra could only create two tokens(4/500/500) [Zones 3 & 4] now, one less than he needed for his extra link. "Is He helping you more than me?! No, that cannot be" Ezra cast his doubts aside by clenching his hand so hard his bones cracked. "The future is mine! And mine alone! Link summon, Knightmare Goblin!" He used the left token and the first Mermaid as link materials for the bog goblin {**Left/**Right} [Zone 3]. Since it formed a co-link with the Phoenix {**Right**}, Knightmare Goblin could discard one card to draw one new card. "I discard Jackalope, and summon Danger! Thunderbird!" The discarded antler rabbit monster allowed Ezra to summon one more link material: the Thunderous bird(8/2800/2400) [Zone 5].

Meanwhile Phantom Skyblaster and the other token would form the next link monster. "Link summon, Knightmare Cerberus!" The three-headed hellhound(1600/LINK 2) {**Left/**Up} co-linked with the Goblin {**Left/Right}** and discarded a spell card, Danger! Feets of Strength, from Ezra's hand. "Cerberus' effect activates and destroys your monster, your Indigo Knight!" The great beast from hell tore up the bright knight of the eclipse and left nothing in between him and his target. "Cerberus, Phoenix, Goblin! Your enemy stands in front of you!" He showed neither player any mercy. "Gah!" Void got knocked down by the Phoenix's wings, and slammed into by the three-headed Cerberus. The Goblin in turn hurled its trident towards Crescent, who stood there and took the direct hit without flinching. "Since you inflicted more than a thousand damage three times, I can draw three cards now." The Backup Squad spell came in handy at times like these.

Team Chalice Shield's LP: 3200

"How is that fair? That guy gets to attack Void when he hasn't even summoned any monsters yet!" Scura protested, knowing fully well the duelists could not hear her from atop the tower. "Because they are dueling as one. Moreso then even Zanbatou and I did in the past." Yoro-Himiko mused. She did not think she would have fought half as well with a shared field. "At least Crescent is turning it into an advantage, and Ezra cannot finish them off yet." Zettai nodded to herself. But Bionis disagreed. "No, Neo lost because of that same assumption. He could still.."

"I activate my skill now!" But as it turned out, none needed to worry. "Color Imprisoning Prism! When an element inflicts damage to me, I can choose one monster with that element, drain its attackpoints to zero and gain lifepoints equal to the lost attack! That color is black!" All Knightsmares and Dangers had the same DARK Attribute after all. Crescent used the darkness of Danger! Thunderbird(0/2400) against it and for herself, draining all color from the Dangerous avian. "Thank you, Crescent." Void also felt a little better as his life got restored.

Team Chalice Shield's LP: 6000

_Color Imprisoning Mirror, Skill Card.  
__When an opponents monster inflicts damage or activates an effect; target 1 monster with the same Attribute as that monster.  
__You gain Lifepoints equal to its ATK, its AK becomes 0 and its effects are negated._

"You could have drawn more cards, had you not done that." Ezra pointed out. "I will not fall for the same trap that you forced upon Neo, Ezra. His sacrifice will also not be in vain." Crescent coldly retorted. "His sacrifice? Only a fool would see his act as heroism. He wasted his life." Ezra said with a callous tone as he placed another trap card face-down on the field. At the same time he used Knightmare Cerberus as a link material to link summon another Knightmare Mermaid(LINK 1) {**Down**} [Extra Zone 1]. "As do you all! You are squandering the Creators gifts! The nightmare is all you deserve! I summon Iblee once more!" The co-linked Mermaid called out a second Iblee(2/0/0) [Zone 1] from the deck with her effect. She and Danger! Thunderbird transformed into a second Knightmare Cerberus(1600/LINK 2) {**Left**/Up} [Zone 2].

-TURN 03-

"You were the one who sacrificed your own friends, Ezra! And you hurt mine! Then again they probably were never your friends to begin with. The only way you could control them in the end, was through fear! The only one who deserves the nightmare is you!" Void drew his next card in anger, but he knew he kept it in check. He could not let emotions dictate his moves. "Since you control a monster in the extra zone, I can special summon Backlinker from my hand! And if I tribute it, that monster in your extra zone is returned to the extra deck!" Void's little cybergremlin(3/600/0) [Zone 1] would have been the perfect answer against an extra link lock. Fortunately he did not face that kind of opposition right now while Ezra already had his counter trap prepared.

"That effect shall not see the light of day! I activate World Legacy Sorrow!" The trap of sorrow could negate any single effect if one or more co-links existed on the user's field. The Knightmares banded together and destroyed the Backlinker with a wave of nightmarish darkness. "I knew you would, Ezra! But when my monsters effect is negated, I can special summon Striping Partner from my hand! And he special summons one level 4 or lower cyberse from my graveyard!" Void leaped back into the fray with his loyal cybernetic dog(4/200/600). In turn the Partner's cries awakened Formud Skipper, a cybernetic mudskipper(1/0/0) [Zone 2] with big squishy eyes. "You think you can predict me too? You cannot even hear the voice of STHEREA!" Ezra howled.

"No. But I can hear you. I can hear what I cannot forgive! Link summon, Cyberse Witch!" The materials were two cyberse, Striping Partner and Formud Skipper. The extra deck returned with the redhaired cyber witch(800/LINK 2) {Downleft/Down} [Extra Zone 2] in silver armor. She appeared right in front of Knightmare Cerberus, but sadly could not form a co-link either and got her(0 atk) powers stolen by Knightmare Mermaid. "When Formud Skipper goes to the graveyard as a link material, I add one highlevel cyberse to my hand! I choose Degrade Buster!" Void could summon that card by banishing two cyberse monsters from his graveyard. So as soon as he added the card to his hand, he saw to it that Striping Partner and Backlinker vanished from the graveyard and the Grenade busting android(7/1500/1500) [Zone 5] could appear beneath the Witch. "And now, when a monster is linked with Cyberse Witch, I can add one Cynet Ritual spell and one ritual monster from the deck to my hand. I choose Cyberse Magician!"

"Yes! I knew it! Rituals are the answer to his deck! I bet he learned that trick from me!" Bionis chuckled proudly as he saw what Void had in store for Ezra. "He's learned a lot of tricks really." Scura mumbled. She did not feel like ruining Khan's mood however. "Crescent too it appears. They both have mastered their items well." Hydra noted, with a twinge of envy coming through. "But it wont be enough. Ezra is always one step ahead.."

"Cyberse Witch has a second effect! Since I used her first, she can summon one level 4 or lower cyberse from my graveyard!" Void continued and special summoned the Lady Debug(4/700/400) [Zone 2] back to the field. Her effect then let him add a level 3 or lower cyberse from his deck to his hand. "I take Garbage Collector, and normal summon it!" The next move would involve the trashcan robot(2/0/900) [Zone 1]. It picked up Degrade Buster and returned the cyberse to Voids hand to special summons a new cyberse with the same level from the deck. "I special summon Cluster Congester!" A flying one-eyed drone(7/1000/2200) [Zone 3] took the place of the Grenade Buster. Its colors were that of azure, gold and white: while its trigger-like body stayed afloat through various mechanical wings.

"Here it comes, Ezra! My answer to your Knightmare! I ritual summon Cyberse Magician with Cynet Ritual!" Void's offense would begin with a ritual and end with a link summon. The Degrade Buster in his hand got sacrificed through the Cynet Ritual and gave life to Cyberse Magician(7/2500/2000) [Zone 5]. "I also use my two level 2 or higher cyberse as link materials for Update Jammer!" At the same time, Lady Debug and Cluster Congester transformed into the Jamming kid(2000/LINK 2) {Left/**Up**} [Zone 4] whose effect could block all other effects during the battlephase. "You hope to seal him?" Crescent realized that this would even render the Knightmares powerless, Phoenix would not protect the others from battle destruction anymore. "That, and a little extra! I link summon V-LAN Hydra as well!" The cyberse Witch mixed her two markers with Lady Debug and transformed into three-headed cyberse snake(1900/LINK 3) {Left/**Up/Down**} [Extra Zone 2]. "The Hydra gains 300 attackpoints for each monster he is co-linked with, and can tribute one link monster that is a part of that co-link to summon tokens for each of that monsters markers!"

"Part of... our co-link?" Ezra cursed. Due to its positioning, V-Lan Hydra(2500 atk) had extended the co-link from Knightmare Cerberus {**Up**} towards Update Jammer. And the Hydra could even sacrifice Knightmare Cerberus to make two new tokens. "Already you seek to take that which does not belong to you. You truly are naive. Activate, the World Legacy Awakens!" Ezra would would sooner see his own link broken down than let a part of it aid Void. His trap card 'awakened' an immediate link summon. Knightmare Cerberus and Knightmare Mermaid combined into a triple link. "When the Knightmare Unicorn descends, your monster shall be dispelled and returned to the deck!" He only had to discard his last card (Second Expedition into Danger!) and draw a new one, as the Knightmare Unicorn(2200/LINK 3) {Left/**Down/**Right} [Extra Zone 1] linked up with Knightmare Phoenix {**Up**} and fired a beam from its horn.

"But when Cyberse Magician is on my field, no other cyberse monster can be targeted!" Void exclaimed. His ritual wizard jumped to the front and absorbed the golden beam with his body. "And you wont catch me like that again, Ezra! I still have a monster I can special summon, if I link it to another monster on my field!" Void played one last card from his hand: one very familiar to everyone. "I special summon World Legacy World Crown in defense mode!" The six-pointed incarnation of Anders Crown(6/2000/2000) [Zone 3].

"The Crown?" Even Crescent was caught off guard by this move. "Yes. There is no reason to play it safe anymore. Not all of Anders cards or Hansens cards would help my deck. But the Crown is different. Now I can negate one effect of a monster summoned from the extra deck!" Void wished he had done this sooner. "The Crown. At the very least you see that you have to use your strongest weapon against me. But you still have a lot to see, Void..."

...

Back in hyperspace, Blanche, Asterisk and Vigionair went to work on the World Ark. "Hey, are you sure you should be back so soon?" The dragon duelist had her doubts about the encrypter's recovery from Ezra's earlier mental attack. "Don't bother. Not even I could convince him to stay offline." Asterisk sighed as he watched his friend feverishly plant measuring software all over the Ark. "Not even Einstein himself could convince me! You would not want to leave either, if you read the full report on Project Flute! Exeter could erase all our memories of everything we know, as soon as we decide to leave STHEREA!" Vigionair yelled. An outcome like that would be simply unacceptable.

"Well, good thing I got this item now then I guess." Item users could stay in the network for as long as they wanted, or so Blanche heard. She did not feel very 'changed' yet though. Nor would she get the chance to stay in here forever, for other reasons. "Hm? Now what?" Because a message from the real world reached her. "What is it?" Asterisk caught her look of concern. "Well, normally I wouldn't say this. But if anyone knew already that I kinda have an in with the champions, it'd be you two." She began to say, and neither the agent nor the encrypter looked surprised. "Yeah I thought so. Well, one of them just messaged me personally: Dyzanthium. And while she was kinda vague, I think the general gist of her warning was... that we should get the hell out of dodge. Because STHEREA is finally going down."

(To Be Continued in Line 119: A Disconnect among Networks)

**New Cards used by Crescent Aurora  
**Mekk Knight Indigo Eclipse  
Wattkinetic Puppeteer

-  
Backup Squad  
Defense Zone

-  
World Legacy's Secret

**New Cards used by Ezra  
**Phantom Skyblaster  
Absolute King Back Jack

-  
World Legacy Survivor  
Monster Reborn

-  
World Legacy Sorrow

**New Cards used by Void  
**Formud Skipper  
Cluster Congester  
World Legacy - World Crown

-  
V-LAN Hydra


	119. A Disconnect Among Networks

**Line 119: A Disconnect Among Networks**

"He summoned the Crown!?" Scura never thought she would see it again, the card that represented the power of Anders. "Yeah well. Void and Crescent are giving it all they got!" Donna cheered excitedly. "Perhaps. But what if the card has some influence over its user? I hope Void knows what he has unleashed." Zettai stated her concerns. This had never happened before after all.

Team Chalice Shield's LP: 6000 Ezra's LP: 8000

Once the World Crown(6/2000/2000) [Zone 3] hit the field in defense position, Ezra realized which shackles had to be broken. "I see another death on the horizon! I activate Absolute King Back Jack from my graveyard!" Ezra banished his tiny robotic fiend with blonde hair, and excavated the next card from his deck. "Doing so allows me to set one trap if it lied on the top! And it can be activated this very turn!" His predictions still clung close to reality, as he revealed a trap card: Danger! Zone. "Now three cards are drawn, and two are discarded!" And one of the two cards he discarded (Danger! Bigfoot, World Legacy Clash) could destroy another monster. "Bigfoot's effect activates!" The beast of the woods rose from the grave and grabbed Update Jammer(2000/LINK 2) [Zone 4] by the legs. The unfortunate kid got pulled down to its own death along with the discarded Bigfoot, leaving Void's V-LAN Hydra(1900/LINK 3) {Up/Left/Down} [Extra Zone 2] with no monsters to link with.

"Not good." Void muttered. None of the co-linked Knightmares could be destroyed as a result of battle as long as Ezracontrolled the Knightmare Phoenix. So he could not destroy it or the Knightmare Goblin(1300/LINK 2) {**Left**/Right} [Zone 3]. "V-LAN Hydra attacks Knightmare Goblin!" Still, the three-headed snake's attack still did some minor damage to Ezra. "I.. set two cards and end my turn!" And he could fill the backrow with two of his traps [Zones 4 & 5]. "Now you see your own limits, and you will know fear once more." The volcanic landscape rumbled, more mountains erupted behind Ezra as he prepared his own turn.

Ezra's LP: 7400

-TURN 04-

"... During my draw phase, Knightmare Unicorn can draw one more card for each co-linked Knightmare I control!" With the Unicorn Knightmare Unicorn(2200/LINK 3) {Left/**Down/**Right} [Extra Zone 1] linked up with Knightmare Phoenix(1900/LINK 2) {**Up/Right**} [Zone 2] and Goblin, Ezra could draw three cards. And his draws did not displease him. "I wonder. What _do_ you still fear? Let us see. I activate World Legacy Succession! Knightmare Cerberus will be summoned to my field once more!" Even though Void and Crescent escaped his nightmare before, they did not get far away. The return of the Cerberus(1600/LINK 2) {**Left**/Up} started the far too quick return to the extra link lock. But Ezra had bigger plans. "And then I link summon the Knightmare Gryphon! When it appears, I can discard one card to add one card from the graveyard to my hand! Your World Crown cannot prevent this from happening, as the Gryphon also negates the effects of all unlinked monsters!" Plans involving the dark feathered gryphon(2500/LINK 4) {**Left/**Up/Down/**Right**} [Zone 3], born from the link materials Knightmare Cerberus and Knightmare Goblin.

"Ezra. You forget one thing. The more you understand your own fears, the less effective they become!" Void had his answer, a continuous trap [Zone 5]. "I activate Invincibility Barrier! Each turn I can banish one extra deck monster on my field, to negate the effects of all monsters with that same type! I banish V-Lan Hydra, which means.." All three of the cyberhydra's heads disintegrated into energy particles, to fuel a bright divine forcefield. "His monsters effects are negated!" Crescent watched as the Barrier imprisoned the Knightmare Gryphon, preventing its effect from entering the graveyard. "I have been scared of a lot of things in my life, Ezra. I let that control me more than I should have. Made me too worried to try anything outside of my comfort zone. Not anymore!"

"Then you are blind. Fear is the first teacher! Your reckless bravery has only left you weak! Your extra zone is no longer protected and neither are you!" Ezra activated two more spells. A continuous World Legacy Corruption spell [Zone 5] would avenge any link monsters death. The second, Dark Eruption, claimed a DARK monster with 1500 attackpoints or less from the graveyard. "Return to me, Danger Jackalope!" He took the green rabbit with antlers, cluing everyone in on what would come next. "And leave me, through this spell! I activate the trap: Second Expedition into Danger! It returns to my deck, to trade in one Danger monster for a new draw!" The next card activated from the graveyard, which discarded the Danger Jackalope.. and drew the last Knightmare Corruptor Iblee card.

"You have come, my Corruption!" Before he could normal summon her, Ezra resolved Jackalope's effect to special summon another Danger! monster from his deck. He chose Ogopogo, a fishfaced dark seaserpent(8/1200/3000) [Zone 1] with a spine full of spikes. "Let us spread the Knightmare anew!" Nothing stopped him after that. The normal summoned Iblee(2/0/0) [Zone 5] could special summon one link monster from the grave with its powers sealed away. The Knightmare Goblin(0 atk) {**Left/**Right} [Zone 4] returned and formed a link with the Gryphon. "I link summon the Knightmare Cerberus and Knightmare Mermaid!" Two more monsters finished the extra link: the fiery Cerberus(1600/LINK 2) {**Left**/Up} created from the Goblin and Ogopogo, and the aquatic Mermaid(1000/LINK 1) {**Down**} [Extra Zone 2] created from Iblee. "There it is..." Blanche shuddered. Even from afar, the heroes could see the horrifying field Ezra had created. "You feared this, and that is why you could not stop this. Now your items belong with me! Knightmare Gryphon, attack them directly!"

"You wont be attacking us this turn, Ezra!" Void smirked. Recklessness did not guide him, confidence did. "I activate World Legacy Landmark! It banishes a World Legacy monster to summon two monsters from my graveyard!" The confidence to give up the World Crown and split it into two revived monsters: Cyberse Witch(800/LINK 2) {Downleft/Downright} [Zone 1] and Lady Debug(4/1700/1400) [Zone 5] in defense mode. "Lady Debug adds Swap Cleric to my hand!" Since she was special summoned, the Debugger could use her powers before the Knightmares came in to destroy her. Cyberse Witch got targeted first however, and would have died if not for a certain card. "And when a link monster is attacked, Cluster Congester activates from my graveyard! I banish it and Cyberse Witch, to special summon one Cluster token for each link monster you control!" With exactly five link monsters on the field, Void could create an entire row of the tokens(1/0/0) [Zones 1,2,3,4] in defense position. "As if I would leave an opening for you, Ezra! I have someone else to protect as well now!" He nodded at his partner in dueling, who also could hide behind the Cluster.

"That only means that you have to divide your power! Your strength is still misplaced!" Ezra ordered more attacks in spite of this setback. The Gryphon let out a petrifying shriek that turned Lady Debug into crumbled dust. The remaining Knightmares each killed one of the four tokens. "And now your curse ends." Ezra had been waiting for this moment. The effect of Invincibility Barrier only lasted for one turn. So he ended his. In the next turn Knightmare Gryphons effects were released upon the field.

"You're here!" At that point, Therese Hansen suddenly showed up in the scorched paradise. "What happened.. here?" She seemed rather shocked by the drastic changes to the landscape. "Ezra happened. Maybe you should not have come here." Zettai scoffed. "I had to. I wanted to tell you that Exeter's people found Neo and brought him to an emergency ward." The Exeter duelist said with a moderate smile. "Neo!? How is he? Is he awake?" Bionis immediately wanted to know more. "His condition is stable but critical. His mind has shut down, they.. cannot say when or if he will recover." She could not give them all good news. "He will pull through. He has too! Either way that bastard is gonna pay!" Bionis felt his blood boil all over again.

"Aurora? She is dueling Ezra?" Therese finally spotted the duelists. "With Void yeah. She's doing alright. But that freak rebuilt his extra link again. Now their unlinked monsters cannot activate their effects." Donna summed up the dire situation. "And it's Aurora's turn." Therese's face turned pale with worry. Even if Crescent did have a link monster or two, she could not link summon anything since none of the Knightmares had markers pointed towards her field. At times like these, she wished she could read Crescents face better.

-TURN 05-

Because then she might have known... "I activate my Monster Reborn. And I summon your Knightmare Goblin." That Crescent Aurora found the way out. "My Knightmare?" With the Goblin [Zone 3] now on the other side, Crescent could potentially link two monsters and give them their effects back. Except her desires went a little further than that... and deeper. "Ezra. I thought I would hear something, if I could bring your power a little closer to me. You did help me, you taught me how to find the light of the creator. And now I can shape it on my own. But.." The girl looked down at the misshapen creature that she had special summoned. "I do not feel him in here. Its light is dense and black. It is a lie." And she promptly banished it to reactivate Invincibility Barrier. "Aha! Good!" Void nodded. Since they were teammates, she could use his trap just like he could. The barrier once again stole the powers of all Link monsters, including Knightmare Gryphon.

"A lie? The creator does not lie, Aurora." Ezra felt more attacked by her words than her cards. "But he can be misinterpreted. Maybe you do not even see the lie yourself, or maybe you do not want to see it. Because you cannot create, you can only feign creation. We needed each other.." Crescent surveyed the field. "But I do not want to paint what you envision. I activate the World Legacy Scars. My new field. All Mekk Knights gain 300 attack and defense points. And each turn I can discard one to draw a new card." As expected, her field changed part of the landscape dramatically. The sun broke through the clouds of volcanic ash, and its light revealed a scarred and partway sunken city. Crescent threw away her Mekk Knight Orange Sunset, to gain a new color.

"When two or more cards exist in the same column, I can special summon a Mekk Knight to that column! I summon the Mekk Knight Blue Sky!" Crescent selected the column with the Knightmares Mermaid and Cerberus, casting a pristine blue light on every zone. In it a gold and silver knight(5/2000/2500) [Zone 4] wielding two silver curved swords arrived. His flapping cape and crystal visor had the color of the brightest and clearest skies. "The Blue Sky adds two Mekk Knights to my hand when he is special summoned! I choose Purple Nightfall and Red Moon, and special summon them as well!" Crescent painted two more columns with her colors of the night. Red Moon, a cyborg psychic knight(7/2600/2900) [Zone 2] with an axe for a hand, appeared in front of the Knightmares Unicorn and Phoenix and her World Legacy Secret trap card. Purple Nightfall, a more foreboding lance-wielding knight(8/2800/2300) [Zone 5] with the starless night as its cape appeared at the outer column in front of Invincibility Barrier and World Legacy Corruption.

"Each turn Purple Nightfall can banish one Mekk Knight until my next turn, to add another Mekk Knight from the deck to my hand! I add another Indigo Eclipse!" The Nightfall knight spun his cape around Mekk knight Blue Sky and made him disappear in a blast of smoke and shadow. Since the number of cards in its column has not changed, Crescent could immediately special summon the new Mekk Knight to the field. Nightfall pulled his cape back, revealing the copy of the darkblue eclipse knight(8/2700/2700) that took the place of the Blue skies. "Ezra. It is a dark night, and a red night... Because blood will be shed." Crescent gestured straight at the opposing side. "The blood of the nightmare, and the lie. I will destroy it all in one turn! Red Moon attacks and destroys Knightmare Mermaid." battle phase, the Red Mekk Knight used the pile spear on its other arm to impale the glass Mermaid, clearing the first extra zone. Ezra could not stop the destruction while Phoenix had its effects negated.

Ezra's LP: 5800

"Then, the dimming night drowns the light of the Unicorn! And the clearing morning vanquishes the hound of hell!" Purple Nightfall hurled his spear across the volcanic gap and skewered the wings of the Unicorn, causing it to plummet to its fiery demise. Mekk Knight Indigo Eclipse on the other hand made a straightforward attack against Knightmare Cerberus, cutting off all three heads by spinning its razor-sharp ringed body around.

Ezra's LP: 4100

"Yet that is as far as you may go! When my link monster is destroyed, the World Legacy Corruption spreads! It special summons a World Legacy monster from my deck: the World Armor!" Ezra saw an opening, an untouched zone. "Not again!" Blanche and the heroes on the sideline winced as the land rumbled and split open. An untarnished giants armor(8/2500/2500) [Zone 1] crawled out of the molten lava. It found one of the few zones not colored by Mekk Knights, meaning the World Legacy Secret could not negate its effects. "I can add one World Legacy card to my hand, when this card is special summoned! I choose the World Legacy World Lance!" And Ezra also managed to snag his own item's card. The Lance could reduce a monsters attackpoints by 3000 if it battled a link monster.

"Ezra. Melyria was your friend too, wasn't she? Did that bond also mean nothing?" Crescent had to end her battle phase regardless, but she wanted more out of this turn still. "Millennium was her desire. But now I see the Creator demands something even greater. I have to carry on without her. The items were never meant to be apart." And Ezra's answers did not give it to her. "Then you want to create a bond, of just one? Millennium was a lie all along? How could you..." Crescent shook her head. "The moon still shines! Mekk Knight Red Moon can banish a Mekk Knight from my graveyard to destroy one card in his column!" Her dark and red knight of the midnight hour lept into the sky and absorbed the blue soul of Indigo Eclipse, giving his axe a dark hue. The axe came down and cleaved Knightmare Gryphon in half. "One remains, the Phoenix! The Blue Sky's effect switches the Red Moon to its column! So that it is also destroyed!" Right after its swing, the Red Moon Knight[Zone 4] changed his place on the field, and banished Mekk Knight Orange Sunset from the graveyard to destroy Knightmare Phoenix as well.

"You were not kidding." Void was impressed. Crescent had done what she said she would: dismantle Ezra's entire link. "I do not lie. But I could not have done this without your assistance, Void." Crescent moved on to the second main phase to set a trap card down. "That is the truth, Ezra."

-TURN 06-

"The truth? What is the truth? The truth spoken by those in power? They know nothing, they have existed for what amounts to nothing. Just like I once existed as nothing. I deserved nothing." Ezra reached deep into his skull, which had started to crack like marble. "Nothing? That's not.. Everybody deserves something! To live, to be!" Void tried to counter his claims. But Ezra simply returned his words with a cold stare. "Is that what you believe? What you tell yourself to give your actions meaning and purpose? I know, I can see my past self in you, Void. Like you I was hollow as well until I found the creator's gift, I filled my experiences with empty pursuits like dueling in a world of fantasy. But that past no longer matters to me. It is not important who I was. What I have become is what matters; the prophet of the creator. I tried to shepherd the hollow people towards a richer world. But they fled, betrayed me or continued to use their freedom for the same pointless desires. No more. This world came before them and will survive any power that tries to reshape it."

"And I will make sure it does, by destroying everything it does not want! I activate the spell: The Beginning of the End! I banish five creatures of the dark from my graveyard! And draw three cards!" The nightmare ruler had sent more than seven DARK monsters to the graveyard by now. So he could immediately and permanently remove five (Knightmare Mermaid, Knightmare Cerberus, Danger! Ogopogo, Danger! Tsuchiniko and Danger! Mothman) with the spell of Armageddon. His handsize shot up from three to six cards. "The cards, the world agrees with me! I activate Danger! Disaster! When this field spell exists, it can banish three Danger support cards from my graveyard!" Ezra raised both hands to the sky, as the volcanic field consumed two spells and one trap (Danger! Zone, Danger! Feets of Strength, Realm of Danger!). "And all that exists will be burned away! The field spell destroys itself and every other card!" The rumbling reached its peak, and the top of the black mountain exploded, shooting molten lava into the sky.

"Yikes! We have to get out of here! Or we're gonna go the way of the dinosaurs!" Scura panicked. Fire and rocks fell down everywhere. "But it's just an illusion, isn't it?" Donna wondered. Even as one rock landed right next to her. "I do not wish to stay here and find out." Yoro-Himiko winced. Fortunately they were protected.

"Ezra! Leave them out of this!" Void yelled while Crescent focused on her defense. She used the World Shield itself to cast a wall of light between the duelists and the rest of the heroes, keeping the eruption contained to the battlefield. "Purple Nightfall!" She also managed to save one of her cards. The Purple Knight banished the Red Knight until her next turn, adding a Mekk Knight Avram card to her hand in the process. Unfortunately, with the loss of the Defense Zone, none of her spell and trap cards could be salvaged. All of Ezra's cards were purged as well. Invincibility Barrier, World Legacy Scars World Legacy's Secret, World Legacy's Corruption, the Blue and Purple Mekk Knight and the World Armor. Nothing survived the disaster.

"They should not have been here in the first place. I understand now, what my mistake was. Melyria tried to tell me, Prospero tried to show me. I tied myself to others too much, I started believing in distractions, I clung too much to their memories and my own." By now even the ground beneath Ezra's feet had been reduced to rubble, and the wielder of the lancer hovered above the cracked ruins. "But such emotional tethers were weighing me down and holding me back! No more, I am Ezra! I am the prophet of the creator! I will continue his path on my own! I set two card facedowns and activate Danger Chupacabra from my hand!" The next of his cards revealed itself but stayed in his hand. Another Danger Chupacabra, which shuffled itself back in with the two other cards.

"Ah? The left one is..No..right." And Crescent, who could normally see which card was which, did not feel as confident about it as she did before. "Void. I think his illusions are getting stronger!" Even without her ability, they had a 33 % chance of correctly guessing where the monster had gone. But in this case they wanted to miss, to avoid Chupacabra's revival effect. "Then, we have to choose..the middle one!" Void settled on the card Crescent felt the least weird about, and she nodded. "Then you failed." And Ezra flipped the Chupacabra around. They had picked it, and made him discard the card. "Danger Bigfoot revives! AND ATTACKS DIRECTLY!" Ezra's screams reached every end of paradise as his Dangerous beast(8/3000/0) resurfaced from the smoke and tossed a giant rock at its opponents. "Ah!" The attack shattered against Crescents shield, and made more of their platform crumble away.

Team Swordchalice's LP: 3000

And it was at that moment that things would go from bad to worse. "Guys! Bad news!" Blanche and Asterisk popped into paradise, too panicked to notice the ongoing duel or the hellish environment. "They're going to flip the off switch on us! We dont have a lot of time left now!" Blanche yelled as loud and hard as she could.

"What? I thought you put a stop to that! What did Hansen crawl out of his hospital bed to push the button himself?" Scura shouted, forgetting for a moment that Hansens sister stood right besides her. But Therese let the remark pass as she focused on checking her online mail. "Yeah no, whatever is going on has nothing to do with the champions. Dyzanthium warned me in the first place that this stuff was about to go down. Maybe one of Exeter's fancy CEOs made the call. It doesn't really matter!" Blanche had seen enough companies by now to know that Hansen had people to answer too as well. He only led the technical aspects the network after all.

"No. That can't be right.." But the answers were not even that simple. "A mail was sent out to every employee just now. The government ordered a direct investigation in the company's activities, pertaining to the crisis that they have been unable to keep in check. And because of that the shareholders themselves are threatening to dissolve the company itself and let its assets be absorbed." Therese summarized the mail, and figured she would have to trim the explanation even further. "Basically, Exeter is taking the fall and will cease to exist at this rate. So they are forcing the servers to be reset across the board, and there is nothing we can do about it. The shutdown is scheduled to happen in less than ten minutes! You have to log off now, they don't know that you are still inside the system!"

"But what if this is what they want? Those shareholders are the ones with the dirty hands." Asterisk spoke up again, voicing his reservations. "Shareholders? You mean like my father and mother?" Yoro-Himiko knew what Asterisk was getting at, all too well. "I did not mean to accuse anyone directly. But we have seen what Exeter created for them. Why would they shut it down now? They wouldn't. Vigionair already found out about their secret project, their ability to rewrite the memories of everyone using the network. They might just want to flush us out so they can 'clean up' their mess and make us forget what we learned." The agent did not want to leave, not now. "But if we stay we could lose our minds, right? Do we have a choice here?" Bionis wanted to leave, he felt himself twitch from head to toe. "This is not right! What about Sundown? What about Echo? Where would they go? What about Scarlet? Even she deserves to be warned about this! What can we do!?" Donna stomped on the ground, their hands were tied.

"There is nothing you have to do. It is already done."

"Huh?" For the first time since the duel began, Ezra spoke directly to the remaining heroes. "The lance has shown me the future again, it has shown me that nothing will happen to us. They cannot shut us down. They have already tried many times." The prophet laughed darkly and madly. "They want to take this world away from us, but it is not theirs to claim. It belongs to everyone, it belongs to the minds of billions. And they cannot destroy it. All they are doing now is removing the tapestries, the game elements and scripted units. But when you strip it all away, you are still left with STHEREA itself. Run if you must, the creator will protect me anyway."

"You want us to call their bluff?" Void could not accept it. He was sure most would agree, but what could he do? "Crescent?" What did his partner want to do? Crescent Aurora said nothing, as if she wanted to wait for the end to come. "You have to do nothing. It is already happening. Face you fear, Void. Wait out the storm.." Ezra waited as well, as the minutes remaining turned to seconds. "Let the darkness fall." And seconds turned to nothing... the great network collapsed all around.

(To Be Continued ?)

**New Cards used by Void**  
Invincibility Barrier  
World Legacy Landmark

**New Cards used by Crescent Aurora  
**Mekk Knight Blue Sky  
Mekk Knight Purple Nightfall  
Mekk Knight Red Moon

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Monster Reborn  
World Legacy Scars

**New Cards used by Ezra  
**World Legacy - World Armor  
Danger! Ogopopo

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World Legacy's Corruption  
Danger! Disaster!

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Second Expedition into Danger!


	120. Exit Zero

**Line 120: Exit Zero**

Silence never came. "We're still.." Some closed their eyes and ears to await the inevitable. Others were paralyzed with indecision. And few watched with constant vigilance, as the world stayed the same. "We're still here!" Bionis let out a cry of joy. "What the hell. I thought our brains would implode into grey goop or something.. or anything..." Scura felt almost let down. All she experienced, all anyone experienced, was a sense that time had slowed down for only a few seconds. "Maybe they could no go through with.. it?" Yoro-Himiko said with a frightful shiver in her voice. "Therese? Was that the right time?" Agent Asterisk knew one person who could answer that. "It.. was. As far as anyone knows, the system shutdown worked." But even Therese Hansen could not explain why paradise stayed in one piece.

"It is exactly as I have foreseen. The end cannot arrive, for this world is without end. It is powered by thought, our own thought as well as theirs. It cannot be destroyed! This proves that I was right all along!" Ezra began to shout. Exeter's failure only bolstered his own spirit. "What does this prove, Ezra? That you are stronger then them?" Void had somehow already expected nothing to happen, perhaps because of what he learned from Mister Static. Because of that, he could not see what Ezra wanted to teach him. "That this _world_ is stronger than them! STHEREA was made for us, for the next step in mankind, to ascend! The creator calls us, calls me! But I cannot ascend until I have lost all shackles and acquired all of his gifts! Once that is done, maybe only then will you understand the choice I offer you. Only then will mankind be able to free themselves from their own fear. Away from their ugly stories they can write their own!"

Team Chalice Shield's LP: 3000 Ezra's LP: 4100 -TURN 07-

"That's not freeing yourself from your fear, Ezra. That's just using dreams to cover it all up!" Void cursed. "The choice you gave everyone was always unfair, too black and white! Not everyone has lived the life you had! Or the life that we had! People are different, you cannot force them all to sacrifice one world for another! I don't know about this creator, I was never much of a believer. But I believe this, You do not become a better man by forgetting everything that got you this far!" Void drew his next card. Their field had been eradicated, and Crescents Mekk Knights would not return until her next standby phase. But he could rebuild. "I activate Cynet Ritual from my graveyard by banishing it! When I control no monsters, the ritual spell can create two Cynet tokens!" Two cyberse tadpole critters(4/0/0) [Zones 4 & 5] popped up from a pool of air. A good start in Voids eyes.

"Then I summon ROM Cloudia! This card adds one cyberse from my graveyard back to my hand!" The black cyber-ram(4/1800/0) [Zone 1] unleashed a static charge from its wool, and rejuvenated a level 1 card: Latency. "When Latency is added to my hand from the graveyard, she can be special summoned to my field! And if she is used as a link material afterwards, I draw one card!" In one move Void performed a double link summon. The hourglass droidette Latency(1/0/0) [Zone 2] turned into the excited Linkuriboh(300/LINK 1) {Down} [Extra Zone 1], while the two level 4 Cyberse Tokens could be used as link materials for the bladekick elf Elphase(2000) {Up/Right} [Zone 2]. "Elphase summons one lowlevel cyberse if it is used as a link material! I will Elphase and Linkuriboh as link materials to link summon Transcode Talker!" The revived monster, Formud Skipper(1/0/0) could not be used as a link material however, or use its effect. Fortunately there were more ways than one to bring back lost cyberse monsters. His Transcode Talker(2300/LINK 3) {Up/Right/Down} [Extra Zone 1] possessed one such method. "Transcode special summons Update Jammer!" The earthen code gunner shot a blast into the ground and opened a door to the field for the formerly destroyed Update Jammer(2000/LINK 2) {Up/Left} [Zone 2]

"Almost there." Though Transcode Talker(2800 atk) added 500 attackpoints to all co-linked monsters (Update Jammer: 2500 atk), Void needed just a little more power. "Linkuriboh can be special summoned from my graveyard, by tributing a level 1 cyberse." He solved the problem of the unuseable Formud Skipper through sacrificial exchange: setting the Linkuriboh[Zone 3] back on the field. "Link summon, Inverted Code Talker!" The link materials were two cyberse: Linkuriboh and ROM Cloudia. Together they formed the color-inverted clone of the basic code knight: Inverted Code Talker(1300/LINK 2) {Left/Right} [Zone 3] "Inverted special summons one cyberse from my hand when it is link summoned! I choose Swap Cleric!" One moment the hovering cyber Cleric(2/800/800) [Zone 4] was there, in the next it disappeared along with Inverted Transcode Talker. "I link summon Firewall Dragon!" Two cyberse; two link materials for the ultimate dragon of protection(2500/LINK 4) {Left/Up/Down/Right} [Zone 3] who could simply bounce a monster on the field back to a players hand."

"I see the bonds you are trying to build, to keep. The lance has shown me every move you want to make before you make it, and you have taken one step too many. You should have stopped before the eight marker." Ezra disagreed. "Void. His aura..is getting darker!" Crescent sensed a sickening aura coming from the card in his hand, the one he took out. "Darkness?" Even Void felt it, like a claw on his throat.

"When the markers of all link monsters on the field numbers eight or more, I can special summon the Knightmare Incarnation Idlee from my hand! And when she is summoned, all Link monsters on the field are sent to the graveyard!" A devilish cackle, blackened eyes and hellish wings preluded the storm. What started as the tiny and innocent Fairy Lee, turned into a pale woman with a snake-like lower body and long blue hair that twisted into draconian mouths and claws. These phantasmic claws reached out and grabbed each and every link monster. "Ah!" Inverted Code Talker, Update Jammer, Firewall Dragon; one by one they were consumed by a giant demoness. She was the true form of the nightmare: Idlee the Destroyer(9/2100/2100) [Zone 3]. "I told you. Your bonds have left you weak. The ascended mind has no need for relation through blood or experience..."

You are wrong, Ezra! Friends don't make you weaker! Family is not meant hold you back! And they will always leave something behind!" Since Swap Cleric had been used as a link material for Firewall Dragon, Void could at least draw one card from his deck. And his link monster also had a quick effect that went off before it disappeared. "Firewall Dragons was co-linked to one monster, so I can still return a monster in the graveyard to my hand!" Void dug into the grave as the flames died out, and claimed his card: Degrade Buster.

"I special summon Degrade Buster by banishing two cyberse from my graveyard!" Void burned the remains of Balancer Lord and ROM Cloudia, and returned the grenade thrower flamebot(7/2500/2500) [Zone 2] to the field in attack position. "And when Balancer Lord is banished, I can special summon one cyberse from my hand. Cyberse Wizard!" Balance would be restored little by little, Void could still destroy at least one enemy once the Cyber wizard(4/1800/800) [Zone 5] showed up. "Cyberse Wizard switches Danger Bigfoot to defense mode, and destroys it!" Any little inch he could take, he would. "And when he does, my cyberse can inflicts piercing damage!" The wizard channeled one lightning bolt through his wand to make the dangerous beast cower. And the Degrade Buster released a flare from his hand to blast a hole through the defenseless defending Bigfoot's chest. "Break as many tethers as you want Ezra, we will not let you go while we can still fight!"

Ezra's LP: 1600

Ezra touched his own chest in the same place where the attack hit his monster. For a brief moment, flesh appeared on top of his ribcage. But he pulled it away again. "...It is true, we could duel each other forever as we have tasted the eternity of the creator. But while our items are infinite, our cards are not. And before your turn ends, I shall set the fuse of your own finity! I activate World Legacy Landmark!" The same trap that Void already used now activated in front of Void himself. If he could sacrifice his World Crown, then Ezra could sacrifice the World Lance. "I banish my own lance, to summon the Knightmares Unicorn and Gryphon!" With one fell stroke, Ezra returned the nightmare to the field through the bodies of the golden unicorn(2200/LINK 3) {**Left/**Down/Right} [Zone 4] and the dark Gryphon(2500/LINK 4) {Left/Up/Down/**Right**} [Zone 3]. The latter immediately sealed the activated effects of all nonlinked monsters on the field, which excluded Idlee. And since the two monsters were co-linked, Unicorn could draw an extra card during the next draw phase.

-TURN 08-

Ezra drew his two cards and placed one[Zone 1] down in the spell/trap zone. "I activate Danger Mothman from my hand!" The latter started the game of danger for one final time, forcing Crescent and Void to choose randomly from his two remaining cards. Whether or not they hit the right one did not really matter to Ezra. He would get what he wanted regardless. "Tch." The tagteam settled on the left card, and discovered it to be the Mothman itself. "You have chosen. As this card is discarded, we all draw one card and discard one card as well." The three duelists made their draw, with Void having to toss his (Cynet Regression) away immediately. Crescent and Ezra also discarded their cards (Drowning Mirror Force, Danger! Dogman) with immediate repercussions. "When Dogman is sent out of my hand, all monsters on my enemy's field lose 1000 attackpoints!" The werewolf Dogman got discarded and drained the power of Degrade Buster(1500/2500) and Cyberse Wizard(800/800) both. "Gryphon, Unicorn, Idlee! Lay waste to our enemies and claim their eternity!" Knightmare Gryphon attacked first, destroying the Degrader with blasts of wailing shadows.

Team Chalice Shield's LP: 2000

Idlee then sank her spectral hands into the chest of the defending Cyberse Wizard, leaving the team without defenders. Or so one believed. "Guess again, Ezra!" But Void could make one more interception. "I special summon Lockout Gardna from my hand in attack mode!" Since a direct attack from the Knightmare Unicorn had been declared, Void could bring down the lock cyberse robot(4/1000/1000) [Zone 4]. The Gryphon did not negate the effects of monsters that were not summoned yet after all, nor could it seal the lingering effect of Lockout Gardna that made it indestructible after its summon. "All you can do is run and hide!" The Unicorn completed its attack nonetheless and impaled the Gardna with its glowing horn. "You keep looking behind you, keep thinking of what you can lose!"

Team Chalice Shield's LP: 800

"But you must lose everything before you can go on! I have nothing left to lose now but the creator himself! And he will never be gone! I link summon Knightmare Gryphon once more!" Ezra combined Idlee with Unicorn as link materials for a second Knightmare Gryphon(2500/LINK 4) {Left/Up/Down/Right} [Zone 4], who co-linked with the first. "Gryphon, return to me the Sorrow of the Legacy! As that is all they understand!" By discarding a card from his hand, Ezra could activate the Gryphon's co-linked effect. It drew one new trap card from the deck and one old trap from the graveyard: World Legacy Sorrow. Ezra placed both traps[Zone 1 & 2] face-down in a way that ensured that Crescent could not immediately summon any new Mekk Knights to the field. Outside of one, each column only had one card in it right now. And Crescent could not use the monsterzone already claimed by Voids cyberse monster. "Those people are holding you back. That is why you will lose, why you must lose. I am freeing the items you wield from your own shackles!"

-TURN 09-

"If the creator asks us to be alone for the rest of our lives... then he asks too much. Too much of you." Crescent drew her card. At that point the Mekk Knights banished by Purple Nightfall returned to the field. Crescent painted the field in red and blue, as the Red Moon(7/2300/2600) [Zone 4] and Blue Sky(5/2000/2500) [Zone 5] descended from the clouds of another dimension. "What does the creator even want? I know what he gives, but I do not see where it all leads. Why give us this world, if all the power is meant for only one? I just do not see.. I cannot see the truth in anything you say. Ezra, what if you have fallen for your own dreams? What if the creator is just that? The items don't need to be free. You do." She activated a spell, Raigeki. "Whoa!" Void had to take a step back to avoid the massive thunder storm that came down with the speed of light. Raigeki would destroy all of Ezra's monsters if the lightning touched ground.

"I need nothing from you but the power you abuse!" Ezra of course countered it. He flipped the trap card: World Legacy Sorrow. As his monsters formed a co-link, they could negate the spell together. "And I need nothing from anyone else!"

"I do not believe you! You wanted a family too, just as much as the others! You are not stronger without them! I know I am not stronger on my own either!" Crescent snapped as she normal summoned the next member of her light army: one who would look familiar to some. "Mekk Knight Avram?" Void recognized him as the young swordsman(4/2000/0) [Zone 1] of the World Chalice, now enlisted by the Knights and given golden armor and two curved blades to wield. "I link summon the Knight of all colors! Mekk Knight Spectrum Supreme!" Avram joined hands with his comrades in Red and Blue, creating a prismatic link circuit. The Knight borne from their linking could hardly be called human anymore, but more an amalgam(3000/LINK 3) {Downleft/Down/Downright} [Extra Zone 2] of the weapons of all six colors. It held Lances, axes and swords, shields around the shoulders and a ring around the waist. Its wings were formed from glowing cyberblades and its face a cybernetic twisted helmet.

"Ezra, what I do now I can only do because of everyone else. Wagner, Therese, Void, Blanche: I would not have made it this far without them. Even your strength comes from the bonds your own monsters make! And now that strength flows into me as well" The fact that Knightmare Gryphon pointed right at Spectrum Supreme, meant that Crescent could activate Mek Knight Supreme's effect. "Mekk Knight Spectrum Supreme can send one card in its column to the graveyard to special summon one Mekk Knight from my deck!" Void's own monster did not get in her way either. The Supreme Mekk Knight cut Lockout Gardna behind it down down, burning it with a blue flame. "I summon Mekk Knight Blue Sky, who will add another two Mekk Knights from my deck to my hand!" The second of the azure knights(8/2000/2000) [Zone 5] rose from the fire to defend its Spectral ruler, and to add another Red Moon and Purple Nightfall knight to Crescents hand. Though with her current setup, she could only summon one of them.

"For the last time, the night falls!" With two cards in the fourth column, Crescent could relight the knights of the purple night(8/2500/2000) [Zone 4], linked with the Supreme one. "Purple Night sees what is in front of it, and destroys it!" The Mekk Knight of darkness threw himself at the Gryphon of darkness, causing both equally strong monsters to be destroyed in the same battle. "But now the night is over, Ezra! Spectrum Supreme can attack directly when it is the only card in its column!" All the cards in the fourth column were now gone besides the link monster itself, and all of its radiant spectral glory fell down on the Knightmare duelist himself. "Spectrum Supreme! Attack the wielder of the lance! Wake him up from his own illusions!"

"It is you who are asleep, Crescent! The dream is eternal and the waking world fades away! I activate You're In Danger! One of three random Danger creatures will be special summoned from my deck!" Ezra picked whatever remained: Danger! Nessie, Danger! Ogopogo and Danger! Thunderbird. He did not care which monster got summoned, so much as where he summoned it. "Come! Thunderbird!" The 'You're In Danger' trap settled on the red feathered thundergod(8/2800/2400) [Zone 4] and summoned the creature in defense mode, right in front of Spectrum Supreme. Her attempt to get at him directly had been thwarted. Crescent would have to adjust the target to Knightmare Gryphon, as Spectrum Supreme could at least do some damage to it.

_Except,_ this also fell in line with Ezra's visions. "The future comes to pass, the end of your legacy! When one link monster battles another, I can reveal his trap!" His final face-down card rose up; the World Legacy Cliffhanger. "Before this battle concludes, all monsters that have been used this duel will be sent back to the deck! And no link summons can be made for the rest of the turn!" A spark of light broke free as the Mekk Knight Supreme's many weapons touched the wings of Knightmare Gryphon. The spark evolved into a cataclysmic supernova that consumed the field. Crescents Mekk Knights were dismissed from the field, all of Ezra's Danger monsters and Knightmares returned to the deck as well. Even the many cyberse in Void's graveyard were forced to go back to where they came from. "You erased the field again!?" Crescent could not believe that Ezra would leave himself wide open again. Though she could not use any more cards herself this turn. "Over and over until you learn. I cleansed us of all diversions. Now our fate truly lies in the hands of the creator, Crescent Aurora.."

-TURN 10-

"The creator remains elusive. For he gave me this.. the spell card, Dark World Dealings. We each draw one card, and then discard one card." Ezra's spell extended the mystery of the draw to the next card on the deck. None of the duelists had cards in their hand anymore, so they could only discard what Dark World Dealings drew for them. "But that was only a veil before the true revelation. Now he has shown me the end. I discard Danger! Jackalope! And special summon Danger Thunderbird from my deck!" And so it seemed to be all but over. Ezra got his second strongest monster on the field, and nothing that Void or Crescent owned could stop a direct attack from the Thunderbird(8/2800/2400) [Zone 4]. "My vision came true! The Creator has chosen me! Let the curtain fall on your foolish delusions! This is your reality now!" Ezra entered the battle phase, abandoning all mercy and unleashing the flames of darkness upon both his opponents with a simple but unavoidable attack. He had done it. He had won, he had claimed the items. He would only need two more. Three more..._ Five more... Seven more.  
__...  
__..._

-TURN 09-

_Except _this did not fall in line with Ezra's reality. "What is wrong with him?" What Ezra saw turned out to be quite different from what everyone else saw. "Mister skullface used to be a chatterbox. But now not a peep." As far as Blanche and the others could tell, Ezra had become as quiet and stiff as an actual skeleton.

"It's his lance." The answer came from the one that knew him the most: Melyria Cister. "Melyria!? You were.." Crescent turned around and saw the butterfly-sized woman fly behind her. "The item is showing him another vision, the strongest one yet. You should be able to feel it too, Aurora. Void." She had not left paradise after all, despite Ezra's insistence. She could never. "I..do." Crescent reached for her head. The visions had gotten so powerful that even others could get a sense of what Ezra experienced. "But why? Why would it show him something now? And why only him?" Void would have thought an illusion used against them would be far more effective. "Normally the lance would tire him out too much. But I gave him my armor, so that he could keep using it. But I did not realize that could used it too much, on himself. He wanted to see more and more visions. But he is not seeing what is going to happen anymore, he only sees what he wants to happen. He may even believe that he has already won. I do not think I can release him from his dream."

In reality, Crescent had never made an attack against the Knightmare Gryphon, the vision began just as Knightmare Thunderbird appeared on the field. "I understand. This entire duel he used the lance to try and see ahead and to cloud our own judgment. Maybe my shield must have reflected most of it. I did not even know.. until now. Or maybe the lance does not want him to see.. that he has already lost." Crescent could still activate one more card during the same battle phase: the quickplay spell World Legacy's Memory. "I special summon a Mekk Knight from my deck in defense mode! Indigo Eclipse!" She turned back to her first color of the duel: the darkblue psychic knight(8/2400/2400) [Zone 4] of the eclipsed ring. "He switches my Mekk Knight to another main zone, my link monster!" The fourth column might have been filled in now, but Ezra's traps left their own columns unattended after their resolution. Eclipse's effect brought his Supreme ruler over to the far right side of the field, where It[Zone 5] could continue its direct attack, and avoid World Legacy Cliffhanger at the same time. "Melyria. It has to end."

"I know. I cannot do anything anymore." The woman did not even sound mad or saddened. "I thought, Millennium would be enough for Ezra. But he always wanted more.." Everything they had built together would come crashing down now. "And now he has too much. There is only one way to save him!" Crescent shouted. "Ezra! The light of the seven will dispel this starless night!" All seven weapons of the Spectrum knight cut through the air, taking a position around the wielder of the lance and armor to surround him from seven angles. Ezra still did not react, he still could not see. He did not even flinch when the first light sliced through his arm, or when the other colors finished him off with a rainbow of blades.

Ezra's LP: 0

"Why.." Ezra's perfect victory broke down in that instant, the walls of his vision shattered and brought the paradise back before his burning fields turned to hardened black stone. "What vision is this?" His mind struggled to accept what happened; to accept that both the World Armor and World Lance slipped through his hands and dropped to the molten bedrock, to accept that his own body lost its fearful appearance. "Why are you showing me this? I did everything you asked me too. I.." To accept that before him stood the new owner of the world lance. "You." The last thing Ezra saw in his world, was Void approaching him... with his face turned away from the others to hide a malicious grin. "Now you know what you are afraid of.. Ezra." Void whispered as he knelt down to pick up the World Lance. Ezra tried to scream, but he no longer had a mouth. The human world pulled him back, deleting him from the network...

"So... did you beat him!?" Bionis wanted to know. With the illusions drying up, paradise finally became empty and quiet enough for the other heroes to rejoin Void and Crescent. "Yes. But..." Crescent looked at the last member of Millennium. Melyria Cister could still challenge them for the items if she wanted too. "No. I know when I am outmatched." But the tiny woman kept her distance. "I wont fight you. I.. I will find another way, yeah. You may think that this is the end, but it is also a new beginning. They know now that STHEREA is beyond their control, that it will be here in spite of them..." She wanted to break out into a rant, yet she could not. "The armor.. the longer we're separated, the more I feel... Void, Aurora. You are the new wielders now. But be careful that you do not let the power control you.. It is not the blessing we thought it was, hm." All Melyria could do, was leave them with that warning. She logged off immediately afterwards.

"Huh. I guess there wont be any more fighting. So what now, boss?" Blanche asked. "Now, we regroup. We assess what we have, and what we still need to do. Millennium has been broken. That just leaves Exeter.." Void stated, with his expression back to normal..

(To Be Cont..)

**New Cards used by Ezra  
**Knightmare Incarnate Idlee

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Dark World Dealings

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You're In Danger!  
World Legacy Cliffhanger

**New Cards used by Crescent Aurora  
**Mekk Knight Avram

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Mekk Knight Spectrum Supreme

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Raigeki  
World Legacy Memory

**New Cards used by Void  
**Inverted Code Talker


	121. We Cannot Create Artificial Imperfection

**Last Line: We cannot Create Artificial Imperfection**

The heroes reunited at the arena beyond for one last time. There were no enemies left to duel, no items left to find.. for now. For a brief moment they could relax. "So, you are chums with the champions now? Did I get that right?" The calm gave Void the chance to finally talk to a friend.

"Oh? Oh yeah that. Yeah I am kinda a celebrity too. Well more like a starlet. I didn't wanna talk too much about it, because.. well just because. I like it more when nobody knows who I am, when I am just little lady Blanche instead of someone who gets mugged for an autograph everywhere she goes." The white haired lady laughed awkwardly. "A star? Is that why you dyed your hair? And here I thought you just liked the color of white to an overly excited degree." Void laughed right back. "Hey! It is the Best Color! But yeah, that too. Also i am like, way too rich. I guess me not telling you is not really fair when you gave me your backstory. I promise to give you the full deets when I get back. When things are less busy.. it's not all roses and sunshine either.." Blanche stopped to sigh, as an uncomfortable feeling entered the conversation. "Eheh! Buuuut, that's an issue for tomorrow's me. My own time is almost up!"

"What? But.. Blanche you're a wielder of the item now." Void replied flatly. It took him longer than he wanted too, to figure out the joke. "Heheh, yeah I heard. But that tension desperately needed some pressure relief. I almost got you, didn't I?" Blanche's time limit passed her just a few seconds ago. Now she knew for sure that the ark provided her unlimited freedom. "And now you have like what, five items yourself? Man, if I didn't know you any better I'd get worried."

"Three. The chalice, the crown and the lance." Void took a deep breath. It did not need to be said that he felt uncomfortable carrying this much power around. "Maybe Melyria was right. At the very least, In that I do not think I should 'own' more than one item." He reached into his inventory and placed both the lance and the chalice on the floor besides the crown. "It should be divided." Then he turned his eyes towards Zettai, Hydra and the others. "I hope you are not suggesting what I think you are. You already know my stance." If it had been up to the ace duelist, she would have destroyed the items long ago. Then again she did not know _how _to destroy them. "Indeed. I know you said that you felt the chalice belonged to me. But I could not accept it now. I was not on the right side of history." Hydra shook his head as well. Even the armor, the one item that would help Millennium, had no more use for him now.

"Hear me out. I am not saying you should carry them with you. But I have seen that you can willingly transfer ownership of the items to another. That is how Static took the crown from me. What I am suggesting is that I pass two items on in name only, the objects themselves will be stored away. We can't trust Exeter to hold them. That is why I want to name you, Asterisk.. the new wielder of the lance." Void picked the lance and up and handed it over to the agent. "Ah. A remarkable plan indeed." Asterisk took it and held it in his hands. "Lighter than I expected it to be. I will make sure V locks it away in a secure place. Which at this rate is likely going to be this arena itself, he has taken a liking to it." Asterisk chuckled.

"As for the Crown. I give it you, Zettai. After all, I know you would never want to use it." Void placed the crown in the ace duelist's hands. "I certainly would not." She grunted and placed the item back down at Asterisks feet. "But I believe your strange friend might discover a method that could either eliminate or disable them." She gave the agent a grim smile, and he nodded back. "But of course."

"So you will keep the chalice then? And I have the ark. Crescent, what about you?" Blanche wondered, as the Mekk Knight duelist had earned her own item by defeating Ezra. "I.. want to keep the shield. I do not want to lose myself in it, but I still think.. it needs me. There is a voice inside of it. Not a godlike voice.. just someone who needs help." Crescent's gaze drifted from miss Echo in the distance, to Scura in the corner. "Huh? Why you looking my way?" The cloaked girl flinched. "Oh no. Don't even think about giving me that creepy armor! I already told Melyria that I didn't want it!" She muttered loudly while flailing about. "But you should get something, you helped too. Oh." Crescent quickly figured out a solution. "You can have these." If Scura would not accept the item, she could at least make use of Melyria's cards. "Ah? Those Krawler things? I have no idea.. Maybe. A flippers gotta flip." While initially hesitant, Scura eventually relented and accepted the deck of cards. "I am not used to getting gifts from.. non-family members." She could not help but snicker. If avatars could blush, she would be doing that as well.

"But you intend to keep that thing. Aren't you worried that it will influence you? For that matter, what about what Melyria did to you?" Therese gave Hydra a look as well. "What she did to all of you." After all this time, the power of the armor still coursed through their nerves. "The longer you stay like that, the more you will forget your past. You still remember Wagner, not the item itself. I can now control what I remember anyway, with the shield in my hand." Technically since she did have a Legacy Item of her own, she no longer needed the armor's blessing. But there were some who were not so lucky.

"Himiko. You have been rather quiet. Is there anything I can do for you?" Asterisk, once he secured the items, walked over to the silent zombie princess. "I doubt it very much." She rubbed her arms, as if the air around her had gotten cold. "They.. they went ahead with it. They let them shut down the network, with me still inside of it." This cold feeling spawned from recent events, from knowing that a certain group of people had taken control of STHEREA. "Your parents? Surely not. Exeter had many shareholders and investors. Any one of them could have tried to pull the plug." The agent tried to assure her, as he could not even conceive of a mother or father who would willingly risk endangering their daughter. "You do not know them. They are capable of that and more.. They would burn this whole world if it could teach me their lesson." Himiko snapped, her words becoming more venomously tinted. "And that makes you afraid, doesn't it? And angered. But miss Himiko, you do not have to fight them alone. You have us."

"That is a good point though! What are we going to do now? I would like to know since my time limit is almost up again." Donna hollered. She had no idea what to expect once she logged off after all. "We should check up on Neo. Maybe if Ezra is gone.. he can get better again!?" Bionis said with hope in his voice. "Maybe. But like Therese said, he is already taken care of. I have different concerns.." Void cleared his throat. "By now Exeter should now that their attempt to shut STHEREA down has failed, right? Therese, what do you think is more likely? That the company gave in to pressure and obeyed an outside order? Or that they wanted to cover up their crimes before that order could investigate." There were definitely places in the network that people in charge would want to keep hidden. "You are suggesting that they failed to shut down the place where.." Therese side-glanced at miss Echo. " where the cities were copied?" Void nodded to her guess. "Yes. The data Vigionair took from their archives may not be enough, we have to show the world tangible proof."

"Ah. So you're gonna visit that place. Well I'll keep myself updated on the real side. Good luck gang." Donna cracked her knuckles and pulled out her dueldisk. "Wait." She only managed to type in a few keys of the exit code, before Hydra interrupted her. "Yeah? What do you want?" The wrestler snarled. "I.. I wanted to extend my apologies... for what happened to Imperius. For what I did to him." The baron offered with a stiff bow. "Heh? What got into you all of the sudden?" That was the last thing she expected to hear from him. "A few epiphanies. I misjudged some of you, most of you. You have turned into a brotherhood after all. I might have learned this, if I had not been distant from the start." No longer seeing the heroes through the eyes of a proxy gave Hydra a completely different impression. "Aha! I knew you'd get that stick up your butt one of these days! It wont help Imperius, but.. I am still glad to hear it." Donna slapped the baron on the back for good measure and logged off while joyously laughing. "Right. So we were going somewhere?" Hydra moaned.

"We were, in a second. Echo." One more person. The girl in the wheelchair had waited on them diligently, and properly introduced to everyone now. But Void himself had not gotten around to talking to her yet. "We are headed back to the city. Your city. Do you want to come along?" He thought he was asking her a simple question. "Back there!?" But she lashed out as if Void had told Echo that her best friend had died. "Oh. You.. No you do not have to go back there if you don't want too. Nor do we want to put you back. But I figured we might find some clues there about what we can do for you. I want to help you too, Echo." In a way he understood her reaction. "Oh. You really mean it? I guess... I guess I can go then. It would be nice, to walk again." She put on a brave face and grabbed the wheelchair with both hands. "It's settled then. Let's see if that world still exists!"

...

Void, Crescent, Therese, Asterisk, Bionis, Scura, Zettai and Miss Echo all made the journey. And. not only did the copied city still look like how they had left it, it appeared to be a lot more populated this time around. "Veyron!?" And an old friend greeted them right at the proverbial front gate. "Void? Everyone?" The speed duelist shared the same look of surprise as the heroes who teleported into the busy streets. "You! Where the hell have you been all this time?! Do you know how much stuff you missed!" Bionis immediately started yelling at him. "Oh, you want the long version or the short version?" Veyron replied with a quieter tone, and nudged at the other people in the streets. "What!? Who are they?" Bionis and the others noticed their odd looks, they seemed to using basic avatars with no frills attached or even dueldisks held.

"The short version then. Well, this all began when I defeated my brother Victor. I could not leave him alone, so I found him in the real world and helped him get to the nearest police station. Though once we arrived, they could not let me go without answering a few questions. That took up the better parts of today and yesterday. Well, one thing led to another, and now I am here with these investigators to give them a tour of Exeter's greatest misdeeds." The racer seemed pretty pleased with how it turned out. "Wait? You are the one who got the law to finally come down? Damn, no wonder you were gone for so long." Bionis Khan saluted Veyrons results. "Well, it helped that Exeter came under attack and that Hansen tarnished their good image by attacking innocent duelists. But there is still a lot I do not know, so maybe you can enlighten me.. and them."

"Are you the 'heroes of pandemonium'?" One investigator took that as their cue to walk up to the group. "And which one of you is the one called 'Echo'?" He voiced a worrying interest in one of them. "!?" An interest that made Echo herself want to jump out of her wheelchair and run away to hide; something she could easily do in this part of the network. "If you have any questions, you can submit them through me. These children have gone through enough already." But Therese Hansen kept the man from getting too close. "Therese Hansen. Very well.." He seemed to respect her status enough to accept her as a mediator. "Let me start by giving my condolences for your brother."

"Well I guess someone has to." Scura mumbled under her breath. "Scura, sshh." Crescent whispered.

"Nevertheless there is to be an inquiry about several unlawful acts committed by your brother... It is a good thing we found you." The man continued. "Hansen? Just Hansen? What about the others in charge? What about the CEO and the shareholders?" But Void already heard things he disliked. "We have to start where we can. But we are not here to arrest any of you, or Hansens sister. Miss Hansen, your company is being dissolved as we speak and we could not reach any other employees. Even the branch's artificial intelligence system seems to be offline. So we would like _you_ to tell us, if there are more unlisted locations like these on this network." The investigator made a decent proposal, one that Therese could agree with. "There is one location I can think off.." The sister of the CTO gave Crescent a quick nod to remind her. "You mean.. the place of memories?" They had both visited that strange area before. The sound of it got everyone else's attention as well. "Yes. Or as Exeter apparently calls it: Project Flute."

...

"Yo! V-man!" While everyone else had gone to the fake city, Madam Blanche made her way back to the hyperspace and the World Ark. "Find out anything new?" Vigionair had never stopped analyzing it in the last few hours. "First of all, you will never call me that again. Second of all, nothing directly. But there is one concern. Miss Blanche, you told me that this item opened portals for you during your duel with Hydra?" The encrypter asked with a troubled expression. "Yeah? It made portals to random parts of the game. But we can also quickjump anywhere we want, so I didn't feel like that was all that special.." The ark wielder shrugged. "It would not be if it were virtual space. But the data logs show no such activity, your duel with Hydra was never registered in those sectors. I would not make much of that, except there have been reports of unusual energy signatures over the Atlantic and the Gobi desert. Which can only mean one thing... some, maybe all, of those portals opened a path directly into the real world."

"Whaaaat? How!?" Blanche was stupefied. "I haven't the faintest idea. Apparently Static's arena also broke into the physical realm briefly. I do not know why. But now I believe that this ark is meant to be here, as a nexus of sorts. You do not move it, it moves the user." More answers Vigionair could not yet hand out. "Well that makes it easier for me I guess. At least we know what the items all do now." Blanche felt relieved now. "Not all of them. Ezra claims there is still one more out there. Who knows what it can do." Some days Vigionair wished he had never invested so much in STHEREA to begin with. No one could relax, not until the full legacy had been uncovered

...

"That was... interesting." The investigator concluded as he retracted his hand from the orb of light. One touch allowed him to see right into the activities of an Exeter employee. "But this location was on the official registry. Is this all you wanted to show me?" Though one could certainly call it strange that Exeter recorded memories of its workers and game users, it would technically be no worse than installing a camera in someone's office. "That is what I though at first too. Officially this is an experimental archive, people only record what they want to be seen. But we have reason to believe they have made more developments on this front, more than what we see here. And maybe.. you can help us see more, Crescent." Therese had seen the wielder of the shield recreate hidden areas before. "Yes." And she knew how. Crescent had no memory of what she wanted to find. But that did not matter, when the secret likely had _her_ memories. She closed her eyes and focused on everything she never wanted to forget: Wagner, her friends, Arcis da Vinci.

"Ah!?" It worked better than she expected. The shield of legacy fired a wave of light in every dimensional direction, erasing the walls of the limited archive and creating millions and millions of strands in a void without gravity. Breaking through to her own thoughts opened the door to everything else as well. "What on earth!?" The investigator gasped. "That is.. how many?" No man could ever count the number of memories that even one strand held.

"Welcome to project flute." Asterisk exclaimed. "My friend discovered the data. But it looks even more haunting in practice. Each strand represents a single persons lifetime of experiences: from present to conception. In here Exeter can adjust the memories they do not like, or outright erase information they do not want the public to have. It is all an automated process, regulated by an algorithm that filters the negative out." A shiver ran down his spine as he imagined his own life laid bare for others to see and abuse. "But how? I could understand it affecting people inside this network. But how can it change the minds of those outside? I have never been inside STHEREA before! Am I in here too? How far back does this go?" The investigator felt like he had lost his mind. "I do not know for sure. But it may be that Exeter tapped into a whole realm of thought that extends to any conscious person." Void raised his voice. "They tried to terminate the game, but they could not. Because this is not a virtual reality or a game. This is.. something that has existed long before us."

"So. You can change bad stuff here?"

"Echo?" Void winced. He had lost sight of the girl. "What are you.." He saw her hover in front of a memory strand. "Who?" He briefly touched it himself just to see why she gravitated towards this one in particular. "Midsummer?" What he saw were glimpses of a train crash, a man putting on a mask, and a conversation between that man and the girl in the wheelchair. "What? What happened?" That last moment sounded the loudest, as the most recent experience.

"Midsummer left me. He told me we could never be together forever. But I wanted him to stay." Echo narrated what Void had just seen. "He said he lied to himself and to me. But I didn't care. I liked him. But he left anyway.. which made me feel. Broken." The girl clutched her chest. "I never want to feel that way again. I am not supposed to feel that way. But he.. hurt. And they hurt me." She suddenly pointed a finger at the investigator. "They hurt me, by keeping me locked up! By keeping me asleep! And now you want to take me back there! But I am alive! I deserve to live! To be happy! I should be happy! That's why, that is why I am going to make things better!" With the same hand, she reached into the strand.

"You? You are the one?!" The investigator yelled at her, realizing that this was the girl he had been looking for. "This place is going nuts!" Scura felt rumblings in the archive. "Echo! Think about what you are doing!" And Crescent saw beams of light pierce the network of memories. Nobody knew what would happen next. "Echo!" But they were all engulfed by the light. The memory archive and project flute disappeared in that moment, and Void had to close his eyes against the overpowering radiance.

...

_When he opened his eyes again, everything had gone blurry. "Welcome back." A voice echoed on the other side of the hollow, a voice that felt somehow familiar and yet utterly alien at the same time. "Where am I? Where is everyone else?" The blast, what did the blast do? Why did he feel so weightless? "They are fine. The overload only temporarily kicked them out. They will probably be back before you know it. Then again you wont know it." He spoke again. Who was he? "Who are you?" Void had to know. "You should know that, of all people." He laughed at him! Why? Who.. "No." Void could finally see. He could see himself. It was like looking into a mirror, except the reflection was Void and the reflected.. was Charles Adami. "Thank you for the avatar, Charles." And the one inside his virtual body sounded nothing like him anymore. The way he talked, it reminded him of. "STATIC!"_

_"Bingo." 'Void' laughed out loud. Nobody but Charles heard him. "You can't be..here. I beat you!" Void shouted. "Did you? Did you really? Remember that one card I did not use?" Static replied with a sinister chuckle. "What? No! You would have used it if it could save you!" Void did not believe it, did not want to believe it. "You do not know that. And neither do the items. As long as that element of doubt exists, I could maintain the smallest of connections to their power. Of course, I would not have any use for such a link without a body. And your victory did destroy mine. I might have recovered over time, except there is one problem. You removed the greatest conflict from STHEREA. People are taking their anger out on the real world now, and that does not feed me nearly half as well. But I saw that coming, which was why I came up with this plan that you now see the results of." The Static in Voids avatar flexed his arm. "!? You're not." The arm Void could no longer control himself. "Was this your plan all along!? To take my avatar?"_

_"Somewhat. I knew I would need more than the items to escape the subconscious realm. I needed an avatar. There were plenty of duelists I could have chosen, minds suited for the virtual life. But look at the crop, see how many shining examples I reaped. And then there was you! Why did I choose you when you are so unremarkable? I did not even notice your presence until you defeated that Lightsworn ADI. But that made me realize how perfect you were! You blend in so well, I figured I could impersonate you easily once the time came for the possession. At least that is what I thought. But second drafts rarely make it to the practical stage. Sundown was my first draft, but he proved to be too unstable. You also almost ruined it with your sudden brazen attitude: joining Millennium and then even challenging me directly! If I had beaten you, who else would I claim: Bionis? Ha! No thank you. Fortunately I was able to leave some of my essential code inside you. And you never suspected because of one factor in all of this.. The way you escaped my realm in the first place, Charles. Remember how that happened?"_

_"You.. you let me." Void flinched. _

_"Yes! I let you! Your actual avatar was already banished by Ezra. Your mind remained as a pure form of thought, waiting to be pulled back to the real world. But... I made you that temporary avatar so you could duel me, a shell created from my own ribs as it were. I am simply taking back what was mine to begin with. Along with the Legacy items you held, for a while. Sure the setting has changed. People actually look up to you now, expect you to do noble things like giving the items away. That was a small setback, I cant really act out of character now. But I think I can still have some fun with them.." The man with Voids face let out another laugh. "You will never get away with this, Static! They will know its not me! I will tell them!" Even if Static forced him to go back to the physical world, he could send messages to everyone. He could..._

_"...tell Blanche? Dharma?" Static interrupted. "Ah?" Void forgot. His thoughts were broadcast everywhere in this place, Static could see it all. "I have plans for them. A little offline time can take care of a lot. By the time you even get in contact with just one of them, I will already be done with them anyway. I have a new game in mind, with new players. One that will give me all the energy I need. You could have joined the game too, but one of your recent exploits left you unqualified for a slot, heheh. You will have to find your own entertainment in that world of yours, while you still can." Their time came to a close, Static turned his back on Void.. on Charles. "Wait!" But he could not let it end like this. "I will stop you! I dont know what you are up to, but I will stop you!" He wanted to challenge him, to fight him. But he had no body to attack with, no cards to use. "You do not even have a clue of what I am going to do. Ha! But you will soon. Just a few more games and a few more legacy items, and I will have completed my arena of the beyond. Not even little miss Echo can stop me then."_

_"Echo?" Charles gasped. "What does she have to do with this? What did she do just now?"_

_"Everything. This game... my own game.. has only three players. Me, her, and the one you have yet to meet. She might not have wanted to play, but soon she will see the true nature of the mind. Your friend Midsummer already helped her on her way, made her feel more than just that joy. She's found a new toy too and that makes her dangerous. But I have new toys to fight her with now. Your friends. So I can feel more than just conflict. Not that I intend to lose this game. Because the winner.. gets to have this world and yours as well." Static finished with his loudest cackle yet. "And why am I telling you all this? Because you do not matter, Charles. Your role is over now. Goodbye." He waved his hand. "Static!" Charles leaped forward with all his might. But he would never make it. STHEREA left him behind.._

_Reality waited..._

**To Be Concluded in A Legacy of Souls II**


End file.
